CPBF disaster..Too much foam- does beer line length matter?

[troyp42]

So back when I started brewing and made my kegerator they didnt have the fancy push in fittings that I can get from Kegland now so I had to use 5 and 6mm ID hose so I could get it over the barbs..just.

Problem was I had to serve my beer at very low pressures or it would foam up. I found that when I got my CPBF and tried to bottle there wasnt enough Co2 in the beer and it went flat quickly.

Recently I switched to 4mm ID hose and changed the length to 3 metres on one tap and 1.5 on the other to see how it went. I could now set my reg at around 85KPA (12 psi and the beer would pour great with a nice creamy head. But tonight I tried bottling and each beer had a really big head of foam at least 3 inches tall. I switched to another keg I needed to bottle and also swapped out the beer line from the 5mm 1 metre length I was using to a 4mm 2 metre length. Its as much better this time but I dont know if it was changing the beer line that fixed it or because I used a different keg. (Although both kegs are connected up to the same regulator same gas settings etc.)

So have I learnt a valuable lesson in that you should bottle with the same beer line ID and size that you have in your kegerator? I set the pressure to 4 psi to bottle but still had issues with the first keg.

 

[troyp42]

Ok....So not many CPBF experts around..lol. Anyway Ive attached a carbonation cap to 3 bottles and connected gas up to them in the hope that they re absorb the CO2. I don't see why it shouldn't work.

 

[bkboiler]

my understanding is that generally you want to bleed off the pressure in the keg temporarily to use a CPBF.
After bottling you'll want to increase it back to carbing and serving pressure.
It sounds like your system balances better at 4mm ID 2 meter line, perhaps even longer...
Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, recalling some of the Blichmann Beer Gun threads (<= hint) users consistently recommended using plenty of beer line between keg and gun (like 20 feet of 3/16" ID tubing), dunk the bottles in cold no-rinse sanitizer and only pull them out to fill, and be sure to use the same pressure in the keg as the gun...

Cheers!

 

[troyp42]

Cheers guys, it did work better with 2 metres of 4mm line so I will try 4 metres or more next time. I freeze my Grolsch bottles after I sanitize them but I didnt bother with the plastic bottles as they warm up to quickly. I might try keeping them in the freezer and pull them out one at a time.

 

[day_trippr]

A wet bottle reduces nucleation sites. Cold and wet is good.
A frosted bottle has a buttload of nucleation sites. No bueno...

Cheers!

 

[Jako]

A wet bottle reduces nucleation sites. Cold and wet is good.
A frosted bottle has a buttload of nucleation sites. No bueno...

Cheers!

i wish Texas Roadhouse knew this.

 

[troyp42]

my understanding is that generally you want to bleed off the pressure in the keg temporarily to use a CPBF.
After bottling you'll want to increase it back to carbing and serving pressure.
It sounds like your system balances better at 4mm ID 2 meter line, perhaps even longer...
Cheers!

Bleed it off to what? What should you set the regulator too?

 

[bkboiler]

This is a bit different than a CPBF in terms of the valves and order of operations, but it nails the recommended bottle prep and pressure /line recommendations:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun.24678/

 

[troyp42]

This is a bit different than a CPBF in terms of the valves and order of operations, but it nails the recommended bottle prep and pressure /line recommendations:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun.24678/

Cheers mate, will drop it back to 5 psi and use longer line next time.

 

[Advance]

What CPBF are you using? Are you using a single regulator setup with a gas tee, or a dual regulator setup?

 

[troyp42]

What CPBF are you using? Are you using a single regulator setup with a gas tee, or a dual regulator setup?

A single regulator setup with a gas setup.

 

[Vale71]

Cheers guys, it did work better with 2 metres of 4mm line so I will try 4 metres or more next time. I freeze my Grolsch bottles after I sanitize them but I didnt bother with the plastic bottles as they warm up to quickly. I might try keeping them in the freezer and pull them out one at a time.

Are actually using a counterpressure bottle filler or just filling from your taps?
If it's an actual counterpressure filler then line balancing is unnecessary as you have the pressure in the bottle (or better yet the rate at which you release pressure) to regulate filling speed. You must also ensure that pressure in the keg and in the bottle is always slightly above equilibrium pressure for your beer, even during filling. Releasing pressure from the keg is the worst thing you could do as it is the same as opening a beer bottle and moving it around a little and expecting the beer never to start foaming. Again, since with actual counterpressure you already have full control over the fill rate you don't need to change anything else, especially not pressure in the keg, to achieve a perfect fill.

 

[Advance]

This post might help you out:
Optimizing speed of counter pressure filling.