I know there have been a few hundred posts on balancing lines, of which I've read quite a few, so forgive me for bringing this up again. I just want to make sure I have everything straight and get a few questions answered because this has been the bane of my brewing experience.
Correct pressure to carbonate is determined by the desired volume and temperature. So 2.5 volumes at 40 degrees would be about 12.3 psi. As I understand it, removing the keg from the fridge would cause the CO2 to escape from the beer to the headspace.
Q: How long does that take to happen? For example, if I take the keg without any cooling to a party for a few hours, will there be any noticeable difference?
Once the level of carbonation is achieved, the line must be balanced.
Q: What's the point of balancing/serving at a low pressure (4-5 psi)? Some people seem to crank it down that low, but except for saving a few bucks on line, it seems that over time you'd lose carbonation in the beer to the headspace again. The only thing I can *maybe* envision is that the beer comes out less forcefully with a lower pressure.
So on top of all of this, I just came across a flash chiller for really cheap and couldn't pass it up. I assume the principle is similar to a jockey box, but how does this affect carbonation and serving? If serving from a warm keg (80 degrees), would raising the pressure and line length allow for a suitable pour? At that temperature the pressure would be around 35 psi, which seems really high to serve.
Any input/help/corrections would be appreciate....thanks!
Correct pressure to carbonate is determined by the desired volume and temperature. So 2.5 volumes at 40 degrees would be about 12.3 psi. As I understand it, removing the keg from the fridge would cause the CO2 to escape from the beer to the headspace.
Q: How long does that take to happen? For example, if I take the keg without any cooling to a party for a few hours, will there be any noticeable difference?
Once the level of carbonation is achieved, the line must be balanced.
Q: What's the point of balancing/serving at a low pressure (4-5 psi)? Some people seem to crank it down that low, but except for saving a few bucks on line, it seems that over time you'd lose carbonation in the beer to the headspace again. The only thing I can *maybe* envision is that the beer comes out less forcefully with a lower pressure.
So on top of all of this, I just came across a flash chiller for really cheap and couldn't pass it up. I assume the principle is similar to a jockey box, but how does this affect carbonation and serving? If serving from a warm keg (80 degrees), would raising the pressure and line length allow for a suitable pour? At that temperature the pressure would be around 35 psi, which seems really high to serve.
Any input/help/corrections would be appreciate....thanks!
