I need help choosing more flexible beer lines.

[IwanaBrich]

A couple years ago I made a kegerator out of a smallish apartment sized upright refrigerator. I was able to fit two 5 gallon and one 2.5 gallon kegs into it. I installed the three faucets through the door and used 3/16" Accuflex Bev-Seal Ultra tubing for my beer lines. The Accuflex Bev-Seal Ultra tubing works well meaning I get good pours and I don't get any "off" flavors but it is just way too stiff for my application. I need to fuss with and rearrange the tubing EVERY SINGLE time the door is opened and I just can't stand it any longer.

So I'm hoping you folks can suggest another brand or type of tubing that is flexible enough to allow me to open the frig door and still not offer any of those "off" plastic flavors.

Your help is appreciated.

Bob

 

[cubalz]

The only thing I can think of is using silicone tubing which is super flexible. Legal disclaimer: I do not use it in any of my Beverage Air beer cabinets but I do use it for every transfer line in my brew room. It is expensive but well worth it.

 

[Robert65]

EVA barrier tubing (from Kegland, sold by William's, MoreBeer and others) is super flexible (like 1 inch radius) and is the best oxygen/gas barrier tubing available today. (Silicone is the most oxygen permeable material you can get, not at all suitable for beer and gas lines, and regular vinyl tubing like Bevlex isn't much better.) Its small inside diameter allows for extremely short lines while providing sufficient restriction, opposite of Accuflex. EVA barrier is also a lot less expensive than any of the alternatives. There's just no reason to use anything else now. It uses PTC fittings (John Guest, Duotight, etc.) so is also simple to install.

 

[Gduck]

EVA barrier tubing (from Kegland, sold by William's, MoreBeer and others) is super flexible (like 1 inch radius) and is the best oxygen/gas barrier tubing available today. (Silicone is the most oxygen permeable material you can get, ot at all suitable for beer and gas lines, and regular vinyl tubing like Bevlex isn't much better.) Its small inside diameter allows for extremely short lines while providing sufficient restriction, opposite of Accuflex. EVA barrier is also a lot less expensive than any of the alternatives. There's just no reason to use anything else now. It uses PTC fittings (John Guest, Duotight, etc.) so is also simple to install.

I absolutely agree with this. I used to use Accuflex, but got rather tired of its more ridged nature... I also always had trouble taking it off when I was replacing lines. So I switched to the EVA barrier about a year or so ago and it has been much better. Easier to coil or move it so that it’s out of the way, and really easy to take on and off the connectors when I replace lines. I haven’t had issues with bad pours, funny flavors, or lines getting dirty.

 

[day_trippr]

10-4 on the EVAbarrier tubing. The bend radius is crazy tight - I'd guess close to an inch. And at 8mm OD it's skinnier than most 3/16" ID (or 1/5" ID for the 235 stuff) so that much easier to route through tower columns, etc...

Cheers!

 

[IwanaBrich]

I went with EVA, I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks for your input!

 

[brew703]

EVA barrier all the way. I switched to these about 2 months ago. I will never use anything else.
Use John Guest or Duotight fittings. Will make your life easier.

 

[IwanaBrich]

I received the EVA tubing and its WAY more flexible than the Accuflex. The Accuflex is good stuff but its just too stiff for my application. Thanks for your input!