The cure for your short hose troubles

[ruffdeezy]

Just ordered a 12 pack. Wish they would say how much shipping is but I doubt it's much more than 10 bucks if it is. I bet they are wondering why they have such a spike in demand for such a random item.

 

[splobucket]

Just placed the order for mine from McMaster Carr, I hope you guys are right! This will solve all my headaches.

 

[GroosBrewz]

Just placed the order for mine from McMaster Carr, I hope you guys are right! This will solve all my headaches.

This will DEFINITELY solve your headaches... I cant imagine not having them installed not that they've been in place for 6 months or so.... Not often you get a fix to a problem that is cheap, easy, and fast! This is all those...

 

[dustinp]

So I read through all the pages and I have decided to order these sticks and put them in the dip tube. I have a Honey Weizen that will be in the keg in a couple weeks after the secondary is completed. This will be the most carbonated beer I have kegged so far. According to the charts I have looked at, I will want this beer at 3.3-3.4 Volumes. At 40 degrees this will have my pressure around 23psi. My lines are 5', and I have fridge taps. Has anyone tried the sticks at that high of pressure? If so how many would you suggest and do they work at that pressure range? Also, if I am wrong at the 3.3-3.4 please step up and let me know. Thanks for all the help for I am new in this site and I am learning a lot. I wish I would have found it a long time ago.

 

[dustinp]

So I read through all the pages and I have decided to order these sticks and put them in the dip tube. I have a Honey Weizen that will be in the keg in a couple weeks after the secondary is completed. This will be the most carbonated beer I have kegged so far. According to the charts I have looked at, I will want this beer at 3.3-3.4 Volumes. At 40 degrees this will have my pressure around 23psi. My lines are 5', and I have fridge taps. Has anyone tried the sticks at that high of pressure? If so how many would you suggest and do they work at that pressure range? Also, if I am wrong at the 3.3-3.4 please step up and let me know. Thanks for all the help for I am new in this site and I am learning a lot. I wish I would have found it a long time ago.

I just ordered the mixers. That was the easiest online order I have ever placed!! In and out of the website in under 30 seconds!!! Also, they are coming from about 3 hours away, and they ship out today, I should have them in a day or 2!!!!

 

[pjj2ba]

..........According to the charts I have looked at, I will want this beer at 3.3-3.4 Volumes. At 40 degrees this will have my pressure around 23psi. My lines are 5', and I have fridge taps. Has anyone tried the sticks at that high of pressure? If so how many would you suggest and do they work at that pressure range? Also, if I am wrong at the 3.3-3.4 please step up and let me know. Thanks for all the help for I am new in this site and I am learning a lot. I wish I would have found it a long time ago.

The highest I've gone so far is 18 psi at 45*F. I have 8 ft lines, and two inserts worked great. Try two and if you need another, it is easy enough to add.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

These are great and work very well. I just placed an order for another two dozen and will stop off and pick them up tonight! I keep forgetting that all the new kegs I got dont have these in them and one tap has a nice slow pour then the next is a rocket! For my setup 14 PSI and two of these with 5' of hose is golden.

 

[jtrainer]

I said in an earlier post that I got one of the inserts stuck in the rootbeer line.. I meant to say i got it stuck in the diptube...

I have two inserts in the dip tube for my dedicated rootbeer setup and it works great. Excellent pour..

How long is your serving line now?
What PSI do you run at?

 

[GroosBrewz]

How long is your serving line now?
What PSI do you run at?

I am still serving on a 5 foot cobra tap and serve at about 15 PSI..

 

[dustinp]

Here is a question for all of the mixer stick experts!!: Is there any other side effects to a slow pour besides waiting for your glass to fill up? For example, any carbonation, or head retention issues? The reason I ask is because I am set at 20psi for a honey weizen and have 2 mixer sticks in the keg liquid tube. The beer is not fully carbonated yet, but this question popped in my head after a few glasses of good beer!!!

 

[pjj2ba]

Less foaming = better carbonation and potentially longer lasting head

 

[pdbreen]

Just got my first 12-pack and put the first two in a beer I'm force carbing overnight at 30-psi.

I'm impressed - I drew a sample at 30psi through a 5' hose attached to a ventmatic faucet with one of the smaller diameter nozzles from centerline and it poured like it was at about 15-psi or less. I'll definitely be ordering a bunch more for all my kegs.

Thanks for the tip - this is definitely something I never would have discovered without this great forum and exchange of ideas!

 

[Shooter]

Wow, these REALLY slow down the pour and reduce the foam. My kegs were naturally primed, but, due to short hoses, I was turning them down to 5 psi to serve and had to remember to bump them back to 10 psi at the end of the evening. Adjusting the regulator with that stubby screwdriver was getting to be a pain, especially after a few pints. Now, I can just leave the thing at 10-12 psi and not have to worry about it. Thanks for the GREAT tip on these!!

I think I'll go pour myself another pint of my Simcoe IPA!

A perfect pour, still a decent pour speed and a great head with just the right amount of foam. I am a happy brewer/drinker this evening!

Just for reference for others, I am using the standard five foot hose with picnic tap setup from Keg Connection.

 

[GroosBrewz]

Here is a question for all of the mixer stick experts!!: Is there any other side effects to a slow pour besides waiting for your glass to fill up? For example, any carbonation, or head retention issues? The reason I ask is because I am set at 20psi for a honey weizen and have 2 mixer sticks in the keg liquid tube. The beer is not fully carbonated yet, but this question popped in my head after a few glasses of good beer!!!

I am using 5ft lines at 12-14 PSI with taps in the fridge door (also used them for months with picnic taps) and have never had a problem with head retention or anything else.. the only "problem" I have heard of with these things is the slow pour you mentioned.. Personally, I dont mind waiting 8-10 seconds to fill my glass... Except that I have to stare at my Seahawks tap handle the whole time and that gives me more time to get even more disgusted with them.....

 

[Shooter]

I am using 5ft lines at 12-14 PSI with taps in the fridge door (also used them for months with picnic taps) and have never had a problem with head retention or anything else.. the only "problem" I have heard of with these things is the slow pour you mentioned.. Personally, I dont mind waiting 8-10 seconds to fill my glass... Except that I have to stare at my Seahawks tap handle the whole time and that gives me more time to get even more disgusted with them.....

Wow, I've seen many of your posts and never noticed you were in Colfax! I'm a WSU graduate and have been through there many times.

 

[Pickngrin]

Does anyone have any concerns about these not being food-grade? I was tempted to order some, but am having second thoughts.

Thanks

 

[GroosBrewz]

Does anyone have any concerns about these not being food-grade? I was tempted to order some, but am having second thoughts.

Thanks

Speaking only for me, I have never really given it a second thought. Since it has become so important to my kegging system, they are just too important to worry about..

BTW, I am pickin' and grinnin too....

 

[BrewNinja1]

I soaked mine in sanitizer for a few days before I used them. I figured any leeching would happen pretty quick. Also, since they are being used in cold temps, if there was anything bad in them, it should leech at a much slower rate. Personally, Im not that worried about it since they are so small. Even "food safe" plastic isnt always safe. Look at the nalgene/bpa plastics. We are all gonna die sometime...might as well enjoy a perfectly poured homebrew first

 

[Pickngrin]

hmmm.... I'm just thinking that every drop of the keg comes in contact with that piece.
Are people that are inserting vinyl tubing into the dip tube having similar positive results?

 

[nathan]

I just built a new kegorator and instead of sweating adding resistance with these, I used all flare connections and started with 4' lines and made a set of extensions in 6", 12" and 24". Then I calculated line lengths (with the spreadsheet here) since I know my temp and I know the vols of CO2 for each beer, and I can put in extensions to lengthen lines with a few seconds effort. So far so good.

I now have to figure out which of my 17 kegs has the swirlygig in the dip tube...

 

[broadbill]

hmmm.... I'm just thinking that every drop of the keg comes in contact with that piece.
Are people that are inserting vinyl tubing into the dip tube having similar positive results?

I have some ice maker tubing stuck in the dip-tube of my keg. It seems to help some on the 3ft serving line I'm using now, but could be a little better. In other words, I'm not getting the SPECTACULAR results with this method that guys using the epoxy mixers are getting. However, it might be much better if I swap it out for a 6-8ft line(which I've been meaning to do).

I'm guessing the epoxy mixers work so well b/c of the baffles; it presumably increases the surface area significantly (increasing resistance) as compared to "necking down" the inside diameter of the dip tube with the vinyl tubing.

I can't comment on the safety of the plastic. Based on the looks of them, I would guess they are made of HDPE, same as food grade buckets. As for being food-safe, I'm not going to make this a homer bucket debate

 

[Pickngrin]

I get good pours now, but I would like to be able to shorten my beer lines to a) declutter my fridge and b) minimize the amount of old beer left in the line when I switch kegs to a different beer

 

[nathan]

pickngrin, what size beer line are you using? I'm running 3/16" and for a pilsner at 40F I'm getting a calculation of about 5', and my pour on a porter last night on 4' of line was perfect with about 11.2 psi.

You could also consider using thinner lines right behind the shank, called a "choker" to help.

 

[RDWHAHB]

How much did shipping run with only those on the order? Don't need anything else from them now (well, except everything). Hate to spend too much on shipping though.
Jeff

 

[splobucket]

From what I remember my total came to 13 dollars... maybe 5 dollars shipping?

 

[BrewNinja1]

They charge actual shipping rates, so Im sure for that it would be the base price from UPS. $5 sounds about right. My entire order (was fairly large) was $5, but it all fit in a pretty small box (was mostly screws and stuff like that).

 

[cheesecake]

Mine came in today cant wait for the rest of the kegging stuff to come in

 

[poto101]

I just ordered 6 for a total of $12.78

this did wonders, thank you so much!

I love cheap, simple solutions.

 

[legaleagle]

Bought a few of these and am ready to try them with a keg this weekend. Have a question for those who have used these inserts and force carb their kegs: how do they work when forced carbing the beer with the shake method? When I force carb, I send the gas thru the "out" (dip tube) side to saturate the beer directly. I set the pressure at 25-30 psi and shake the keg vigorously for a bit. I am just a little bit concerned that the inserts might get forced out the bottom of the dip tube by the gas pressure/shaking combo - any known issues with that?

 

[pdbreen]

Bought a few of these and am ready to try them with a keg this weekend. Have a question for those who have used these inserts and force carb their kegs: how do they work when forced carbing the beer with the shake method? When I force carb, I send the gas thru the "out" (dip tube) side to saturate the beer directly. I set the pressure at 25-30 psi and shake the keg vigorously for a bit. I am just a little bit concerned that the inserts might get forced out the bottom of the dip tube by the gas pressure/shaking combo - any known issues with that?

Unless your pickup is about 2-3" above the bottom of the keg, I don't see how they could ever come out. Also, if your pickup tube is of the bent variety, they actually don't make it past the bend.

I think I may try force carbing through the "out" for my sodas - they seem to be taking forever (much longer than beer) to get a good carb on.