beer line too long causes?

[RRL]

So recently had a pour issue with a cream ale using 6ft lines at 13-14psi.


I purchased 12ft lines which fixed the too fast pouring issue, now I do know if the lines WAY to long you will get bubbles in the line at the faucet but I am not quite at that point.



with 12 ft lines (3/16) bevlex thick lines at 15psi I get a pretty slow pour with ideal head... What I am worried about is will there be any cons to it other then a slow pour?

 

[Psylocide]

What's slow?

Have you ever checked the liquid out dip tube to see if it's clogged?

At 15 psi, you should get a full glass in ~5-6 seconds, maybe less.

When I first had issues, it was a clogged dip tube, then I had more issues on a different keg and it turned out that the beverage out QD was just crap.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

some of my lines are pretty long, like 25' to serve belgians. I have a regular 'ol helles on that line now and I notice the CO2 seems to leave the beer that is in the line over time. If I go a week between pours on that tap the first half pint will be flatish. Not a big deal in my mind and IMO this is way better than losing all my CO2 to a crappy/fast pour.

 

[RRL]

sorry should of specified...

I got a commercial keg with a sanke D coupler.


I clean my lines and all that fun stuff, so shouldn't be any blockages.


So from what ive read it just seems the beer in the line itself has a potential to go partially flat over time.

I know i could cut away a couple feet to improve flow speed but at this point its pouring nicely other then the fact its slower then what im used vs using 6ft at 13-14psi on a blond lager thats way more forgiving with fast pours.

The current beer is a cream ale (from a microbrew) which seems to be super sensitive on pours.... at 14psi it had c02 separating in the lines so I upped it to 15 and has been fine since.


One thing for sure.... since the longer line (since getting decent pours) the head seems to be not as appealing and "creamy" if that makes any sense. its almost like a tasteless foam vs before the head was creamy and flavourfull mind you it was also half the glass lol.

 

[soccerguy83]

Just keeping tabs on this one.

 

[RRL]

i should add also that the volume is around 2.7 or so seems to be the going avg

 

[JuanMoore]

I purchased 12ft lines which fixed the too fast pouring issue, now I do know if the lines WAY to long you will get bubbles in the line at the faucet but I am not quite at that point.



with 12 ft lines (3/16) bevlex thick lines at 15psi I get a pretty slow pour with ideal head... What I am worried about is will there be any cons to it other then a slow pour?

Long lines will not cause bubbles to form in the line unless your lines are kept at a much warmer temperature than the keg. I have a 50' line for soda that I occasionally use for beer, and there's never any bubbles in the line, and the beer in the line never loses carbonation. If either of those things happen, the cause is something other than the line length (usually temperature stratification). To answer your question, the only side effect of super long lines is a slightly slower pour. Nothing else to worry about.

 

[RRL]

thanks for the info!!!

guess I went across some bad info on a search in regards to bubbles forming on longer lines. (not surprising lol)

good to know other then a slow pour there isn't any ill effect. time to forget about it and enjoy it!