Kegging PSI for wheat beer ...

[OZZ]

First time brewing, first time kegging, first time .... well, you get the picture.

Ive looked at the charts, read a zillion threads and it sounds like this wheat needs to be at 3-3.5 volumes which means I need to set my regulator at 22 PSI(40 deg). Thats fine and dandy but Im finding a million conflicting threads regarding the length of time.

Will 5 days do it or do I need to go longer?

Lastly, whats this bit about line length. Ive got 5' lines on a two tap kegco kegerator. I racked to the keg tonight, set it at 30 PSI for an hour or two before I found the chart threads so dialed it back to 22 PSI. Am I going to be serving foam with 5' lines??

I think I got it but the line length bit is throwing me for a loop now.

Thanks in advance!

Heres the link to the kegerator: http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/kegerators/dualkegerator/Kegco_K199B-2.shtml

The beer is just the northern brewers american wheat extract kit they have. Im doing an all grain for my second batch on thursday (gonna pitch my yeast starter tomorrow) the centennial blonde recipe I found here in the recipes forum.

 

[giraffe]

Its likely to take 10-12 days of set and forget carbonation to reach full carbonation.

22 psi and 5 foot lines, well it depends on the diameter of the lines, but that is likely to foam alot. But after its fully carbonated you can lower the psi for serving, especially if you have one way valves on your beer lines.

This is what I go by, roughly:

http://beersmith.com/blog/2011/07/14/keg-line-length-balancing-the-science-of-draft-beer/

 

[mikeal]

I had to use 20' of hose at 22 psi and it is still a little foamy. I just use the Home Depot 3/16 ID clear PVC tubing. $3 for 20'.

 

[OZZ]

Thanks for the input guys. I read through those links, so I'm supposed to change out my beer lines every time I change beer styles in my kegerator?? What am I missing here that can't be right.

If every beer type needs a different pressure and if you gotta change line lengths every time you change pressure... What a pita! Lol

 

[OZZ]

I think the easiest route seems to be force carbing at the appropriate psi for the style then burp and lower to serving pressure.

How do you guys do it? Swap lines or just force carb burp and drop to serving pressure,?

 

[mikeal]

There is some flexibility there. I have 7' and 20' lines. Some people add plastic epoxy mixing inserts to their dip tube to adjust the flow rate.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/cure-your-short-hose-troubles-100151/

 

[OZZ]

You mean you swap out lines between 7' and 20' or do you just have one tap at 7' and the other one at 20'?

 

[Rockn_M]

5ft of line is a little short but not out of question of working. You just need to find the balance.

No need to change your lines. 3/16 beer line is all you need. 22 psi seems high. What temperature are you carbing at and what temp will you be servering?

I also have a Kegco kegerator and I usually set my regulator around 10-12 psi for 2 weeks and I have perfectly carbed beer without excess foaming.

Another thing you need to keep in mind is that the beer that is in the tower and taps are warmer than the beer in the fridge portion so your first pour will always be foamy because the co2 wants to escape the beer at higher temps. You can setup a 120MM fan to blow the cold fridge air up in the tower to keep the temps down.

 

[mikeal]

You mean you swap out lines between 7' and 20' or do you just have one tap at 7' and the other one at 20'?

I swap out lines as the pressure changes with different batches.

 

[jmorris62]

I don't swap lines at all. I don't serve at 22psi either. I think the best bet would be to force carb to desired carb level and then burp and bump the regulator down to serving pressure (8-12psi). This is how I handle all of my kegged beers.

 

[OZZ]

5ft of line is a little short but not out of question of working. You just need to find the balance.

No need to change your lines. 3/16 beer line is all you need. 22 psi seems high. What temperature are you carbing at and what temp will you be servering?

I also have a Kegco kegerator and I usually set my regulator around 10-12 psi for 2 weeks and I have perfectly carbed beer without excess foaming.

Another thing you need to keep in mind is that the beer that is in the tower and taps are warmer than the beer in the fridge portion so your first pour will always be foamy because the co2 wants to escape the beer at higher temps. You can setup a 120MM fan to blow the cold fridge air up in the tower to keep the temps down.

I hear 10-12 is fine for typical ales but this is a wheat and everything says it needs to be around 3-3.5 volume. Temp in the kegerator is very uneven but approx 40 deg or so.

According to the carb charts a wheat needs to be at 22psi at 40 degrees for 3.2 co2 volume.

 

[OZZ]

I don't swap lines at all. I don't serve at 22psi either. I think the best bet would be to force carb to desired carb level and then burp and bump the regulator down to serving pressure (8-12psi). This is how I handle all of my kegged beers.

I think that seems easiest. I still think I may get new beer lines in the 8' range just to help out a little. Then just force carb/burp/drop the higher carb beers when serving. The others could probably be set and forget at 12 psi then.

Sound about right?

 

[Rockn_M]

I've done a few wheats and haven't had any issues with setting my psi at 12. If you are wanting to have it at 3.2 volumes you'll either need to decrease the temerature so the psi isn't so high when servering or you'll need to upgrade to 10+ feet of beer line. I say 10 so that way when you go with a lower co2 volume you won't need to change the beer line out.

 

[jmorris62]

I think that seems easiest. I still think I may get new beer lines in the 8' range just to help out a little. Then just force carb/burp/drop the higher carb beers when serving. The others could probably be set and forget at 12 psi then.

Sound about right?

I think you are on the right track. Ultimately you will figure out what works for you and what doesn't. Until then its trial and error. I strictly used the set it and forget it method for 2 years because I was afraid of overcarbing my beers, once I finally tried force carbing and had good results, I look back and wonder why I never tried it before.

 

[OZZ]

Honestly I'm not in a hurry and won't typically be so I'd just assume set and forget. Tonight I'll grab some line, swap it out to 10' per tap, and then drop my psi to 12 and let it be for two weeks. There's no rush so no biggie!

I like the idea of just going with one line length I don't want to swap constantly. 10' lines sounds like a good middle of the road.

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm all ears if anyone has any other input.

 

[Rockn_M]

Honestly I'm not in a hurry and won't typically be so I'd just assume set and forget. Tonight I'll grab some line, swap it out to 10' per tap, and then drop my psi to 12 and let it be for two weeks. There's no rush so no biggie!

I like the idea of just going with one line length I don't want to swap constantly. 10' lines sounds like a good middle of the road.

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm all ears if anyone has any other input.

Let us know how this turns out.

 

[Callacave]

At 22 psi you're always going to have issues with foam. Most systems can't handle vols and pressure that high. Possibly a combination of mixer sticks and at least 20 feet of tubing will help mitigate the problem.

Unless you're drinking your kegs in a week or two, when you carb high, and then set the pressure lower to avoid foamy pours you'll lose carbonation over time.

 

[OZZ]

Double post

 

[OZZ]

At 22 psi you're always going to have issues with foam. Most systems can't handle vols and pressure that high. Possibly a combination of mixer sticks and at least 20 feet of tubing will help mitigate the problem.

Unless you're drinking your kegs in a week or two, when you carb high, and then set the pressure lower to avoid foamy pours you'll lose carbonation over time.

Sounds like you agree setting it at 12 psi and leaving it for a few weeks to be a better option then?

Also I just looked it up the beer lines are 5/16"

 

[Callacave]

If you leave it at 12 psi your carb volume will be lower than what you originally intended, but that's fine for some people.

You're already going to have issues with your beer lines at 5/16. It won't provide as much resistance as 3/16

 

[OZZ]

My mistake they are 3/16 .... The gas lines are 5/16.

Thanks everyone... Appreciate the input

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the input guys. I read through those links, so I'm supposed to change out my beer lines every time I change beer styles in my kegerator?? What am I missing here that can't be right.

If every beer type needs a different pressure and if you gotta change line lengths every time you change pressure... What a pita! Lol

No, you just have longer lines. There is no problem with longer lines, except it takes a few seconds longer to pour a beer.

I have 10' lines, but I serve almost all of my beers at 12 psi at 40 degrees. I don't tend to have higher carbed styles now, but when my kids were home I served soda. That was 30 psi, and used about 25' of line to balance it.

If you know you want to carb "to style", and have effervescent carbonation in some styles, then longer lines would be required to serve that. But you could still serve a lower carbed beer with the same lines.

 

[chickypad]

I hear 10-12 is fine for typical ales but this is a wheat and everything says it needs to be around 3-3.5 volume. Temp in the kegerator is very uneven but approx 40 deg or so.

According to the carb charts a wheat needs to be at 22psi at 40 degrees for 3.2 co2 volume.

It doesn't "need" to be at any specific volume, it's whatever you prefer. Personally I enjoy my wheats, Belgians, etc. at the same 2.5 vols that I drink my other beers and it's not worth it to me to mess with carbing and balancing at different levels (except for things going on the stout faucet). The problem with carbing at one pressure and then dropping it down to serve is that the keg is going to gradually decarb to that level. If you want to carb to style and keep it that way for the length of the keg you probably should get one or more secondary regulators.