Carbing volumes question

[pig140]

I have a question about carbing volumes for the English Bitter I made. I see there are ways to determine line length based on pressure and temp, but what about inputting line length and temp to determine pressure? I'm about to keg this batch and want to carb and serve at around 1.8 volumes at 45 degrees. For carbing, that's 7psi. I have close 6 feet of beer line and my system is balanced for commercial kegs. What pressure do I need to push this homebrew at to maintain my carb volume level?

I have extra line, so I can add it if I absolutely have to, but I'd rather not because I wanna be able to switch between homebrew and commercial.

 

[billl]

Just carb to your desired pressure and serve. It should be fine. You might get a slightly slower pour rate then you are used to, but were talking about an extra couple seconds.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]I'm about to keg this batch and want to carb and serve at around 1.8 volumes at 45 degrees. For carbing, that's 7psi. I have close 6 feet of beer line and my system is balanced for commercial kegs. What pressure do I need to push this homebrew at to maintain my carb volume level?[...]

That's easy: 7 psi.

Cheers!

 

[pig140]

Thanks! I wasn't sure if I had to figure in line length for pressure drop or if that mattered.

So line length doesn't matter?

 

[day_trippr]

Of course line length matters, but it doesn't dictate your CO2 pressure.
It's the other way 'round: your dispensing pressure - which ideally is the same as the carbonation pressure at the same temperature - determines the length of the beer line.

If you try to turn that around you'll end up changing the carbonation level of your beer...

Cheers!

 

[pig140]

So let me make sure i got thus right....

Using the calculator for line length, I get 2.77 feet, which is for a proper flow rate at 7psi. Since I'm closer to 6 feet - I gotta settle for slow pouring.

 

[billl]

Eh - try it and see how "slow" you think it is. If you are running a busy bar, it might make a slight difference. In your house? It will be fine.

The flip side is trying to carb higher than your line length can handle. That causes a ton of foaming and will prevent a good pour.

Most of us just use 10 ft or so of line and don't worry about an extra second or 2 to fill a pint.

 

[pig140]

Ok. Thanks! I'm balanced with normally pouring commercial American ales (and a few Irish reds) carbed to the 2.2-2.5 range. 6 feet of line at 12 psi pours absolutely perfect. But dropping the co2 volume had me worried. I'll give it a shot at 7 psi and see! It's a homebar so I can wait on it!