Planning keezer build. A few questions and some advice needed

[dawn_kiebawls]

Hey guys and gals, I'm in the planning stages of build a keezer. My last one was thrown together and it bugged me so I would like this one to be a little nicer (though not nearly as nice as some on here!)

Anyway, I have quite a few questions regarding line length and a few other topics so I will try and keep my thoughts organized. Please bare with me.

After playing around with Stoltys line calculator and taking some advice from a couple other threads I'm going to be running 4mm ID EVA with Duotite connectors. The calculator says that for 35F beer with 2.6 volumes I need to be serving at 11PSI with 4' of line (I will add 50% of calculated line length to adjust for using EVA instead of vinyl, as recommended by @day_trippr ). This sounds about right, but one of my questions is: would I be able to serve a (much) higher carbonated beer through the same line? Say, a highly carbonated Cider or a Wheat beer at 3.6 volumes which would require almost 12' of line (including the additional 50% of calculated line). Would I need a flow-control faucet to make that possible?

If a flow control faucet is the only solution, should I plumb the faucet with 6' or 12' lines? I currently have 2 630SS faucets but want 4 taps, so adding flow control wouldn't be a big deal.

If I were to plumb the keezer with 12' lines to accommodate the higher carb levels (I typically like mine with slightly higher volume levels, anyway) would the only drawback be that lower carb level beers pour (much) slower? At first a slow draw doesn't seem that bad on paper but I could easily see how a 30 second pour would start to piss me off lol.

If I decide to use EVA for my gas lines would I be able to use the same 4mm ID lines? Is there even an advantage to running EVA for gas?

Since I always have time to drink beer but don't always have time to brew, I'm also planning on having a Sanke coupler available since there is only one brewery in town that will fill my corneys and they're clear across town. How do I go about serving a commercial beer without knowing what their carb level is (commercial beers would be anything from Kettle sours, IPAs, Stouts, Lagers)? I guess, my concern is balancing the system. Or, should I just hook the Sanke up, set it to 12 psi and go for it?


I had planned to go all out and make an exotic wood, laminated lid for the keezer but time and budget are working against me so I will go with the standard collar approach since this needs to be running with all the bugs worked out by September 15th. Planning to use the Inkbird ITC-1000 to control temps, kitty litter for condensation management and run a PC fan to prevent stratification. Are there any other things I need to include or should consider? I suppose I should look into a manifold or a couple secondary regulators...Software is out of the question at this point in time.

As always, I appreciate any and all help from you guys. Thanks again. Cheers!

 

[garzlok]

If I decide to use EVA for my gas lines would I be able to use the same 4mm ID lines? Is there even an advantage to running EVA for gas?

Since I always have time to drink beer but don't always have time to brew, I'm also planning on having a Sanke coupler available since there is only one brewery in town that will fill my corneys and they're clear across town. How do I go about serving a commercial beer without knowing what their carb level is (commercial beers would be anything from Kettle sours, IPAs, Stouts, Lagers)? I guess, my concern is balancing the system. Or, should I just hook the Sanke up, set it to 12 psi and go for it?

I’m going to cherry-pick and answer using EVA as a gas line...Yes, you can run the 4mm ID as a gas line. Primary advantage, the EVA will significantly minimize O2 diffusion into your system, therefore minimizing oxidation of your beer (even on the CO2 delivery side).

The one caveat...if you are going to use barb fittings on your regulator or manifold, you will have a hell of a time swaging the ends of the 4mm ID onto those barbed fittings. The 5mm ID makes that process a “little” easier, but it’s still a bear. I would highly recommend moving from the barb fittings to a 1/4 MFL (flare) fitting. You then would put on a Duotight Female Flare to Push-in fitting and then you can run either the 4mm or 5mm ID tubing with ease.

As far as the sanke set-up. If you’re running EVA and Duotight fittings, you could keep dedicated line lengths for particular styles of beers/pressures. Since you’ll be in a keezer, I don’t imagine it taking long to swap a 12ft Beer line to an 8ft beer line (Or whatever length needed)....just a thought.

 

[eric19312]

There is a lengthy thread on here about the EVA lines. I think key takeaway is the line balancing calculators don’t really apply. I’d get 7’ lines and trim them to the fast pour you like on your 11psi kegs but leave one full length for higher psi kegs. It will still work for low psi, just somewhat longer pour, but you will have it available for the wheat beers when needed. 12’ is really long for this stuff.

also Agree with suggestion to switch out all barbs for MFL. This duotight stuff is awesome...like first time you played with legos as a kid. You will really love ability to push on and pull off when needed. You can get the duotight fittings for your shanks too...do get them.