Too much beer line?

[I_Keeps_It_Real]

So i have been reading up on how not having enough beer line will cause too much foam, but is there such a thing as too much line? and how much would me too much?

thanks in advance

 

[Stuntman]

I don't know that answer. I bought a two nozzle kit and the lines were never cut. They work great. I would say that they are about 5' long.

Hope this helps.

 

[Whut]

If you have a balanced system, according to what I've read on the forums at MicroMatic.com you want a minimum of 5 feet of 3/16" beverage line. Anything more than that will simply slow the flow of beer.

 

[PetVet]

I run 6 feet of 3/16 inch line in my fridge kegerator. I haven't had a problem with it but, I always want that extra foot incase I need to cut it down. More line may flatten your brew but, this may be negated by increasing your head pressure ie: if the beer style calls for 10psi, then 12-15psi may be needed. Lemme know how it turns out.

 

[david_42]

All too much line will do is give you a slow pour, like 20 seconds instead of 15. All of my lines are 12' of 3/16ths. Some people feel is reduces head formation, but you can throttle the last couple ounces and make as much or as little foam as you like.

 

[I_Keeps_It_Real]

thanks for the info guys. i decided to go with about six feet. im going to try and finish the system this weekend so ill let you know how it works out

 

[dontman]

More line may flatten your brew but, this may be negated by increasing your head pressure ie: if the beer style calls for 10psi, then 12-15psi may be needed.

It is a misconception, or semantics, that more line "flattens" beer. On the contrary. While the beer may have less head on top more line keeps more co2 in solution all the way into the glass so your beer is actually less flat/ more carbonated.

By contrast, when you have too little line and get too much foam on top that foam comes from co2 that has come out of solution which is why you hear a lot of people complain that there beer had a big head but still seemed flat once the head went down.

So if you have too much line and you increase pressure to overcome the slow pour your beer can easily become too carbed. This is okay depending on the style. A lot of beers can handle a lot of carb but I like English style beers and they really suffer from too much carb. I go to about 1.7 volumes on English beers and if I go longer than 5' on the lines they come out at a trickle. And I do mean a trickle. I had an 8' line on a bitter recently and it took close to a minute to pull a 20 oz pint.

But like David implies, it is better to have the carb level right and let the only difference be a change in pour speed.

 

[Spyd3r]

You could also change the line diameter to account for the lower psi setting. Doing this will maintain a similar line length and pour ratio for all of your brews.

 

[Bobby_M]

A slow pour is the only downside. If you don't have the vertical room to drop down the glass for head formation, it could be a problem. One solution if you have a multi-tap system is to reserve a short line for your English beers and a longer line for high carb beers like wits. If you have threaded barbs on both ends, you can even interchange them as necessary.