Proper diameter for CO2 and beer lines

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

explosivebeer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
437
Reaction score
3
Location
Tacoma, WA
For some reason I'm having a tough time finding this information either by browsing or by searching.

I'm finally getting around to hooking up my kegerator taps rather than just opening the fridge and using a picnic tap.

I'm running a line off a large CO2 tank to a splitter and then out to three cornies. Two of the cornies then run to the built-in taps while the other will still be using the picnic tap.

What diameter hoses should I be using for the CO2 and for the beer lines? Does it really matter much since they're only running a few feet and won't be put to heavy use?
 
Beer lines matter because you need to balance them in order to keep the beer from over-foaming when you pour.

The CO2 side matters not so much. 1/4" is the "standard" homebrewer size for the gas side.
 
Sir Humpsalot said:
Beer lines matter because you need to balance them in order to keep the beer from over-foaming when you pour.

The CO2 side matters not so much. 1/4" is the "standard" homebrewer size for the gas side.

Ok that is good to know. I think my beer lines are right since I have some of the hoses from the previous kegerator owner. They are a fairly small ID - I'm guessing 3/16th's or so. Does that sound about right?
 
I've only used pre-hosed picnic taps, but you want to match the pressure drop across the hose with the serving pressure of the beer. We use a 6' long 3/16" hose on our picnic tap with good luck. IIRC, a 10' line should be 1/4" ID for about 10 psi of drop.

For gas line, we used high-pressure water hose (the clear plastic stuff with reinforcing threads) from the local home repair store. Nice and cheap, and they have plenty of barb-to-thread fittings to match.
 
Scotty_g said:
I've only used pre-hosed picnic taps, but you want to match the pressure drop across the hose with the serving pressure of the beer. We use a 6' long 3/16" hose on our picnic tap with good luck. IIRC, a 10' line should be 1/4" ID for about 10 psi of drop.

For gas line, we used high-pressure water hose (the clear plastic stuff with reinforcing threads) from the local home repair store. Nice and cheap, and they have plenty of barb-to-thread fittings to match.

It is so great to be able to rely on HomeBrewTalk for whatever random brewing issue or question one may come across.

So thanks to you and to the HBT community in general for being so helpful. Consider this a drunken "I love you man" to all the brewers out there.
:mug:
 
Back
Top