How the hell do I get the plastic taste/smell out of beverage line so my beer doesn't taste like plastic????
Beverage Hose Question
- Thread starter ace0005
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Replace your vinyl lines with barrier tubing. For a bunch of experiments that arrived at this conclusion, see the thread starting at
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...-16-for-15-beer-line.37060/page-2#post-458780
I went with BevSeal Ultra 235. Other people have had luck with EVABarrier.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...-16-for-15-beer-line.37060/page-2#post-458780
I went with BevSeal Ultra 235. Other people have had luck with EVABarrier.
OP
OP
thank you
crazyjake19
Well-Known Member
How do you like the BevSeal 235? I have 60' coming tomorrow to replace my cheap vinyl lines. Very exciting!
I also went with Bev Seal Ultra 235 tubing, and I am very happy with it. I did my conversion to this tubing before the EVA Barrier tubing came out, but from what I've read, it can also be a good option, and it is more flexible. You can also get smaller ID tubing so that you don't need as much. Many are happy with both.
I had space in my setup for the more rigid tubing, and I already had converted a lot of fittings to 3/8" OD john guest fittings, so getting 3/8" OD bev seal ultra 235 worked really well for me (I had to change out my faucets to 650ss flow control faucets due to the low restriction, but that was also a nice upgrade to my system).
I had space in my setup for the more rigid tubing, and I already had converted a lot of fittings to 3/8" OD john guest fittings, so getting 3/8" OD bev seal ultra 235 worked really well for me (I had to change out my faucets to 650ss flow control faucets due to the low restriction, but that was also a nice upgrade to my system).
fwiw, I guarantee you aren't going to get Ultra 235 to do this - at least not without heating it up...
That's around an 1-1/4" radius bend right there...
Cheers!
That's around an 1-1/4" radius bend right there...
Cheers!
I definitely can't do that with my tubing! The coffin box I made from the walk-in does provide me with greater clearance, so I didn't have to worry about it.
OP
OP
Thanks for all the feedback. My 100' of 3/16" ID Accu Flex Bev-Seal Ultra 235 has shipped 
. Incidentally, it only cost me $40 at Birdman Brewing and free shipping! However, they wanted to charge me $14.00 shipping for $17 worth of John Guest fittings.... so I passed on those. I'll probably get them from Amazon or somewhere else.
. Incidentally, it only cost me $40 at Birdman Brewing and free shipping! However, they wanted to charge me $14.00 shipping for $17 worth of John Guest fittings.... so I passed on those. I'll probably get them from Amazon or somewhere else.
dpeters
Well-Known Member
I don't believe I ever got the plastic taste from my vinyl lines but if I have a jalapeno beer I do have to replace the line before putting a new beer on tap. Also if I have not poured a beer from a tap in a while I will fill a glass half way and dump it first. I wonder how many people experience this?
Beer lines are gas permeable, some much more than others. At one end of the scale is solid vinyl (pvc) which is highly permeable, at the other end are barrier lines (like EVAbarrier and Ultra 235) that are highly non-permeable. If you leave beer in pvc it will oxidize much more quickly than in barrier tubing, which darkens the beer, attenuates its characters - and may flatten it to a degree as well. As a result it's not uncommon for folks to dump what was sitting in the beer line - usually a little less than a couple of ounces (for 12' of 3/16" ID line it's ~ 1.6 ounces) - so as to better enjoy what's still in the keg.
Switch to barrier tubing and this problem becomes much more long term oriented - overnight or even multiple days between pours are not going to show the same issues...
Cheers!
Switch to barrier tubing and this problem becomes much more long term oriented - overnight or even multiple days between pours are not going to show the same issues...
Cheers!
With Bev Seal Ultra 235, I can go at least Sunday to Friday with an pale lager in a beer line and perceive no off flavors. My line length is pretty long (I have 1/4" ID tubing) so I have about 60% of the beer coming from the line rather than the keg in the first 16 oz pour (300 ml / 475 ml). I couldn't go 24 hours with my old (much shorter) vinyl lines.
Another benefit of barrier tubing is that I can go DIPA -> lager -> Ribena -> lager with just a StarSan flush between beverages. I use BLC every two to three weeks for a thorough clean.
That was me before I changed to the Bev Seal Ultra 235 tubing. I was regularly throwing away 2 oz of beer from each line that I wanted to drink from. I often just take samplers of my beers, and it felt like I was throwing away as much beer as I was drinking! It was infuriating, and why I decided to change out my lines to the barrier tubing. It was an expensive upgrade since I added all new john guest fittings and had to change out all my faucets for flow control ones to increase the resistance, but it was definitely worth it for me.
crazyjake19
Well-Known Member
I really wanted to go with John Guest fittings for mine but it would've cost way too much. I can't find any site that has all the parts I need (shank to 3/8 OD, 3/8 elbow, and 3/8 to 1/4" FFL), so I'd have to pay shipping on 2 or 3 different orders. I test fitted a 1/4 barb on the end of the spool I got, and the line fit just fine, so I'm hoping I can make it all work with my existing barb fittings.
I'm still with Ultra 235, 19' per tap, x5 in an upright keezer.Thanks for all the feedback. My 100' of 3/16" ID Accu Flex Bev-Seal Ultra 235 has shipped
I will change to EVA Barrier at some point, but my vinyl gas lines will be replaced with EVA and Duotight or JG fittings soon.
Freshwater Systems has many JG push-fit fittings.
RiteBrew has the 3 basic JG fittings for a keezer, bottom of page.
You will need MFL keg QDs for the push fit adapters.
Using EVA Barrier tubing for gas MFL shutoffs on your gas distributor or regulator to use JG or Duotight fittings make it easy. Otherwise use hot water to stretch and clamps.
Second freshwatersystems.com. Check out their handy PTC selector page. Between the 1/4" flare stuff all over my brewery on both beer and gas (and water) sides, the 5/8 BSPP faucet shanks, and the 3/8 BSPP flow meters, I could have gotten all of the fittings from that one site...
Cheers!
Cheers!
The costs really do add up quickly! The tubing itself was one of the cheaper parts of my upgrade. I definitely paid for a lot of fittings - I did John guest for all my lines, and extra to put on my spare QD's. I also later upgraded the acetal ones on my gas lines to brass ones since I had broken a few of the acetal versions - I didn't feel comfortable with brass on the beerlines though.
I bought about 300 ft of the bev seal ultra, but I only used about 8 ft per line, and since I am using 1/4" ID tubing, that meant that I needed a way to add more restriction. I went with Perlick 650ss faucets so that I could add the restriction at the faucet. I have 14 lines, so you can see that this added up really quickly. For this upgrade, I had to get 14 of the 650ss faucets, 14 BSPP john guest fittings for the shanks, 28 flared fittings (gas and beer), and the line itself. I also made my own 3/4" stainless hex tap handles, and had to buy a 12 ft bar from the metal shop.
Adjacent to this upgrade, I also bought another two 650ss faucets to make direct draw keg adapters so that I could sample directly from a keg in the walk-in. I also built a 7 port manifold with John Guest fittings so that I could recirculate BLC in parallel, and also 7 growler fillers for the connections there (I heat up the solution, pump in through one of the faucets, the lines inside the walk-in are connected to the manifold, 6 lines return back through the growler fillers into the pot for the recirculation).
I also upgraded my three jockey boxes to the bev seal ultra line and john guest fittings. Yes, this hobby gets pretty expensive pretty quickly if you let it!
SuckingStones
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I can second the love for the EVABarrier/Duotight combo. I've found it really easy to work with, trouble-free and sensibly priced.
I third the love for EVA Barrier/Duotight. Love my setup as well. 4mm for the beer and 5mm for the gas. I used some spare 5mm line and fittings to make a conical/keg transfer line too.
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