a few questions re: kegging root beer.

[user 15951]

first, is there a thread that covers the basics?

i just ordered 4oz of hoptech #1 root beer, and i plan on kegging it for my boys' birthday party here in a month. do i force carb just like a beer then serve at 5psi as i would my beer? does it need to be a higher serving pressure? serving line length need to be a consideration, or is it all just like beer?

thanks!

 

[user 15951]

forgive me if there's a rtfm somewhere....

 

[dataz722]

You need to carb and serve at a much higher pressure and you need much longer lines. I think it is 35psi or around there.

 

[matticus]

You need to carb and serve at a much higher pressure and you need much longer lines.

Hi. Why do you need longer lines?

 

[Yooper]

Hi. Why do you need longer lines?

Soda is carbonated at a much higher volume than beer. I use 30 psi for my soda, but only 12 psi for my beer. If you serve something at 30 psi out of your regular kegerator lines, it'll come shooting out like a firehose and the root beer will be all foam. I use 8-10 feet of line for my beer, and 30 feet of line for my soda.

I didn't want to use expensive beerline for the soda line, so I bought 50' of line for $.15 cents a foot at McMaster Carr. It's a bit more rigid, so it curls up nicely and works great. If anybody is interested, I could try to find the parts number. It was a couple of years ago, but I found the thread here on this forum so I can dig it up again.

 

[matticus]

If you serve something at 30 psi out of your regular kegerator lines, it'll come shooting out like a firehose and the root beer will be all foam.

Wouldn't want that! Thanks for the info. I've seen lots of posts saying that you need the longer line, but couldn't find any that explained why.

I think I found part number 5392K13 which should work.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I have 2 dedicated kegs and one dedicated cobra tap for my Root Beers.

I don't place my Root Beer in the kegorator because I would have to change those lines out after the RB is gone.

Soda and beer taps and lines are segregated.

It also helps if you have 3 CO2 cannisters with splitters on them and another with a 4-plex manifold.

 

[homebrewer_99]

line disconnected...

 

[Whut]

Soda is carbonated at a much higher volume than beer. I use 30 psi for my soda, but only 12 psi for my beer. If you serve something at 30 psi out of your regular kegerator lines, it'll come shooting out like a firehose and the root beer will be all foam. I use 8-10 feet of line for my beer, and 30 feet of line for my soda.

I didn't want to use expensive beerline for the soda line, so I bought 50' of line for $.15 cents a foot at McMaster Carr. It's a bit more rigid, so it curls up nicely and works great. If anybody is interested, I could try to find the parts number. It was a couple of years ago, but I found the thread here on this forum so I can dig it up again.

Yoop, all good to know. Question though - if soda is carbonated at 30psi is it also served at the same setting? I'm beginning to understand why my soda last year had issues and I believe this is the last missing piece. Thanks in advance!