Kegging Pressure and Line Confusion (balanced system)!!!

[craniumbrew]

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum and to kegging and am confused by a few things. I am working on making a balanced system and the numbers don't seem to be right at all. I have been looking at force carbonation charts and I understand that if I want my beer to have 2.5 carbonation at 40 degrees F then i have to set my regulator at 13 psi. Here is where the confusion starts.....

Is that 13 PSI just to get the beer to 2.5 or does that also include dispensing....I think is it only to get the beer to 2.5. I also want to make a balanced system and my keg setup came with 5ft of 3/16 ID line. From what I've read my line loses 3 psi/ft, so 15psi for the whole line plus 1 psi for the picnic tap and 1 psi for the beer to be dispensed, so from keg to glass I lose 17 psi which means i have to set my regulator to 30 PSI!!!!

This seems crazy high to me and I'm just looking for some input...

Thanks!

 

[mlyday]

I always found this link useful.

Crockett Brewing Keg System Balancing

You really only want 1 psi at the picnic tap. You should be carbonating and serving at the same PSI, and adjusting the line length to acheive the right pour.

 

[BrewThruYou]

That's not right. Try this link: Crockett Brewing Keg System Balancing

 

[Cambone]

You have three things to adjust when setting up a system; keg pressure, line length and temperature. Your temperature is at 40 degrees which seems like a good compromise so I'd leave this alone. Now if you want each beer you keg carbed to different levels, ie different keg pressures you are forced to adjust your line length.

The easiest solution (although not most cost effective) is to adjust your line length so your carbing pressure is your serving pressure. For your keg pressure of 13PSI, using the formulas from the previously posted links we arrive at a line length of 4 feet. SO if you snip a foot off that line, your system will be balanced. And if you set your regulator to 13 PSI you wont have to do a thing until the keg is kicked.

The problem arises when you want to do another beer with a different carbonation level. Now most beers are around 2.5 vol. and your 4 foot line will likely work at most C02 levels around that. But it wont work at 1.7 vols., a common pressure for dry stouts and milds. So you would have to shorten your line again (or use the scrap). If you brew a Belgian that needs 3 vols., you will have to buy a longer line.

As you can see this method doesn't work perfectly for a variety of beers. Other options? All beers at the same carbonation levels. I find this to really be a hindrance, especially with low gravity ales like milds, bitters, and stouts. Or you just set your regulator at the appropriate carbing pressure until the beer is ready and then turn the regulator down (or up) to the required serving pressure. After serving for the day, return it to the carbing pressure. This might work for some, but is a real pain for the one pint a day crowd.

 

[craniumbrew]

Thanks for the quick replies!

@ mlyday and brewthruyou,

I checked the website and the equations closely resemble the ones that I have been using (Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - Techniques - Balancing your Draft System: Advanced Brewing).
From the Crockett Website calculator I left pressure blank, but in 5 feet of line at 3 resistance and height of 2 and it gives me 16 for pressure. Is this pressure for the beer line only? If so i have to add this to my keg pressure (13) to get 29 PSI for a 5 foot line. If the pressure from crockett's calc. is for the whole system then it never takes into account temp of keg of CO2 of beer.

@Cambone,

I too have thought about having different length lines for different types of beer, but with one line costing $13 -$14 (for tap, beer line, hose clamp,and disconnect) we are looking at $35+ just for three beer lines!!

I feel that there is a way that I can use one beer line for multiple types of beer and just adjust the regulator one time to a certain psi to get the CO2 i need but I seems to be more complicated then I originally thought

any opinions?

thanks again for the help!!!