[meegs]

Fellow Brewers - I'm interested in buying tubing in bulk, like say by the spool. Where can you find the various tubing (racking/bottling, gas, beverage) a homebrewer needs in bulk at a decent price?

[a10t2]

I bought a 100' spool of beverage line from Micromatic for about $45.

[beerocd]

Lowes will sell you the whole spool. Figure shipping VS taxes and it's probably a break even.
What tubing are you specifically going after?

[mikeypedersen]

I bought a 100' spool of beverage line from Micromatic for about $45.

+1 I have done the same from Micromatic.  Very fast.

[dontblake]

Lowes will sell you the whole spool.

I thought that the stuff that they sell at Lowes / Home Depot isn't quite the same as the food-grade racking and bev line.
something with the vinyl or plasticizer or something. 

anyone know for sure?

[beerocd]

Best I can do is tell you it says FDA approved. It actually means nothing if it was made in China, who knows what's in there. PVC also has BPA in it so depends on how into all this you are.

[majorvices]

I've never seen the thick walled beverage tubing at lowes.

[nyakavt]

Cheapest I could find it was ebrew.com:

http://www.ebrew.com/keg_equipment/draft_hose.htm

$0.385/ft if ordering over 20 ft.  This stuff is 3/16" ID and 7/16" OD, so it's the real thick stuff.  Shipping is around $9 for me, so for 50' it's $0.565 / ft.  This is more expensive than the 100' from micromatic (about $0.55 / ft w/shipping) but you don't have to order so much.

[joelambic]

I'm another in the happy Micromatic customer camp.

I have also used Banner Equipment with good resutls.  While they have a consumer/home section, most of the good toys are on the commercial side.  They can be a little difficult to deal with as a consumer though since they're really set up for working with businesses.

Banner is headquartered near me and there is a Micromatic distribution point about 80 miles away so both have quick turnaround for the Chicago area.

[beerocd]

Just thought I'd follow up on the stuff at Lowes. I emailed the mfr...

We can not recommend for it's use in the beer and soda industry due to the sensitivity of smell and taste issue.  It does not have any BPA in it.

[boulderbrewer]

I have bought tubing from Mc Master and Carr. They have a lot of variety. I'm pretty sure the thick wall tubing I bought was 3/16 id by 7/16 od.