Beer Line length...

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CUSTOM-441

Robobrew v3.1 35L
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I know there are a few variables and an equation for this sort of thing, but I'm not looking for a precise answer. I'm about to order all the bits I need to build my keezer in the new year and the package I'm buying has an option for 6ft or 10ft of Bevlex line. Obviously 10ft is the safer bet, but would 6ft be enough? Just curious what most of you folks have been using for beer line length in your standard keezer setups.

Incase it helps, I'll be using a Danby 5.5cu freezer with a 2x6 collar & 5gal ball lock kegs on the floor.

Cheers!
 
Stay away from regular vinyl Bevlex 200 lines. There are much better alternatives.

Since EVABarrier tubing is available now in the US, I'd use that for both gas and beer lines. Use the 4mm ID stuff, 6' should be enough.
Also get the appropriate John Guest or Duotight adapters for the shanks, gas and beer QDs, and your MFL manifold.

I currently have 19' of BevLex Ultra 235 lines on each tap. Changing over to EVA soon...
 
Don't be shy with beer line. Slowing down serving your beer never hurt anything.
 
As a previous long time Bevlex 200 user I refitted my keezer and all three fridges [edit: both beer and gas lines] with EVAbarrier tubing earlier this winter and I could not be more pleased. Much shorter lines is a huge plus (just over half the length of the Bevlex runs I used prior, and way shorter than Bev Seal Ultra Series 235 requires), no evident odor or taste, and beer sitting overnight doesn't taste like beer sitting overnight anymore.

Frankly, using anything else is a self-owning malfeasance ;)

Cheers!
 
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I too am an EVA/Duofit convert. I bought enough line and fittings to do three of my six taps, to see if it's worth doing. I want to see if this brand met the hype I was reading in the EVA vs Bevflex 235 thread. Since I had done a 10 gallon batch of amber ale recently, I decided to hook up the second keg to one of the "new" lines and see how it compares. I planned on waiting a couple of days and see if I could tell the difference between one keg hooked with my old lines and the other with the new lines.

For the time being, the gas line from my co2 tank to my distributor is the same, Bevflex 200. From the distributor onwards:

Amber 1- Bevflex 204 for the gas line, EJ Barrier for the beer line, MFL swivel barbs on the lines.
Amber 2- EVA Barrier 5mm for the gas side, EVA Barrier 4mm for the beer side, Duofit PTC connections for the lines.

I poured a 6oz sample into a glass from each line. The aroma was night and day. Beer from the EVA line seemed to smell very malty while the beer from the EJ line smelled kinda like a band-aid. The tastes were also as different. The EVA line I was able to finish the entire sample. The EJ sample, I spit out the first draw back into the glass. It tasted very medicinal. After dumping the first few ounces out of the EJ line did the beer start to taste the same as the beer from the EVA line.

Hardly scientific, but it's good enough for my taste buds to notice. I intend on doing the other three lines, but I have to have my other three shanks ground flat before I can use the Duofit connections.

The ease of installation with the PTC style connections, price per foot ($0.38/ft for EVA vs $1.99/ft for the EJ), and not having to dump the first few ounces of brew makes this a no brainer. This is especially true if you're putting together a keezer/kegerator for the first time.

EVA/Duofit for the win. Hope this helps.
 
I got mine from Williams. I don't know if they ship to Canada or not.

Also, when you get the EVA line, I'd recommend the push to connect fittings (either Duofit or John Guest). It makes installation a lot easier.

I'd also make sure you know what kind of shanks come with that kit if you're intent on buying it. I'd bet the barbs on those shanks are attached. Others have posted the 4mm line is a ***** to get on the barbed shanks. You'll have to grind them smooth (what I did) or use the larger 5mm line for both gas and beer.
 
I'd also make sure you know what kind of shanks come with that kit if you're intent on buying it. I'd bet the barbs on those shanks are attached. Others have posted the 4mm line is a ***** to get on the barbed shanks. You'll have to grind them smooth (what I did) or use the larger 5mm line for both gas and beer.

The ID on the beer line with that kit is 3/16", so around 5mm. Hopefully it won't be an issue!
 
Amber 1- Bevflex 204 for the gas line, EJ Barrier for the beer line, MFL swivel barbs on the lines.
Amber 2- EVA Barrier 5mm for the gas side, EVA Barrier 4mm for the beer side, Duofit PTC connections for the lines.

I poured a 6oz sample into a glass from each line. The aroma was night and day. Beer from the EVA line seemed to smell very malty while the beer from the EJ line smelled kinda like a band-aid. The tastes were also as different.

I love these type of side-by-side comparisons. One question I have is if your Bevflex lines were used, and if so, how often/recently cleaned? I recently was doing some trials with the Cannular, trying to dial it in, and I was comparing the canned beer to my keg. As a surprise result, I saw how nasty my beer lines were. What's funny, is, I'll go to a bar/restaurant and immediately spot beer poured from dirty lines and shake my head at poor draft line cleaning regimen. But at home, I used to regularly clean lines, and lately I've gotten lazy. I didn't even realize how I was ruining my beer... I guess I was mentally conditioning my palate to like band-aid flavor!
 
But at home, I used to regularly clean lines, and lately I've gotten lazy. I didn't even realize how I was ruining my beer... I guess I was mentally conditioning my palate to like band-aid flavor!

At the risk of side-tracking my original post, how often are you supposed to clean your lines? This keezer build will be my first foray into kegging, so I'm green as can be!
 
There are different guidances out there. You can always reference the Brewer's Association draft beer manual (free), and that will probably guide you to every couple of weeks. The more common practice seems to be every time you change a keg out. This is actually what Kegland recommends.

I used to do a multi-tap connection with a submersible pump and clean all 4 taps at once with a recirculating set-up. But I've now come up with a new plan since I've started purging my kegs with StarSan before kegging (to eliminate oxygen). Since I use the StarSan to sanitize the keg and purge the lines, I generally just pump it out with CO2 and save some and dump the rest. So my new idea is to take the keg I'm purging, that's filled with StarSan and hook it up to each line to run through inside my keezer until I've gotten through all 4 lines. So with this method, I plan to clean all 4 lines every time I'm filling a new keg with beer from a fermentor.
 
I love these type of side-by-side comparisons. One question I have is if your Bevflex lines were used, and if so, how often/recently cleaned? I recently was doing some trials with the Cannular, trying to dial it in, and I was comparing the canned beer to my keg. As a surprise result, I saw how nasty my beer lines were. What's funny, is, I'll go to a bar/restaurant and immediately spot beer poured from dirty lines and shake my head at poor draft line cleaning regimen. But at home, I used to regularly clean lines, and lately I've gotten lazy. I didn't even realize how I was ruining my beer... I guess I was mentally conditioning my palate to like band-aid flavor!


After every keg kicks, I always do a hot rinse followed by star-san before hooking up a new keg if I blow through the previous keg fairly quickly. Every other or 3rd, I'll do a hot rinse, PBW or BLC, hot rinse, star-san run. Same is true if the last keg took a while (too long?) to finish. With the amber ale, I did a hot rinse followed by Star-san since I went through the prior keg pretty quick.

I know what you mean about dirty beer lines. There's a Mexican restaurant near my house that's become my second home. I love their food, but the beers I've ordered there tasted pretty bad. I love a good amber or dark Mexibeer (Dos Equis, Negro, etc.) but those beers there taste horrid compared to the same beers from other places.

Good thing they also sell bottled beer.
 
At the risk of side-tracking my original post, how often are you supposed to clean your lines? This keezer build will be my first foray into kegging, so I'm green as can be!


Per above, If you're a bit slow going through a keg it wouldn't hurt to do some rinse/wash/rinse/sanitize regiment after each kicked keg. If you blow through one pretty fast you could get by with a rinse/sanitize.

For me it's more about time in the lines than the number of kegs I've pushed through them.
 
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