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Author Topic: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!  (Read 7167 times)

Offline thomasben

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Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« on: April 18, 2013, 07:07:35 pm »
Hey everyone. I'm honestly baffled I can't figure this out on my own but here it goes. This is a nitro problem. I kegged my special bitter and hit it with 4psi just to give it around 1 volume of co2. After that I connected my beer gas(75% nitro, 25% co2) and hit it with 25psi. After a couple weeks I go to pour a pint and it comes blasting out. Waaaaay too fast. I have no guesses after playing around with it the last week. Any help would be great.

Stout faucet has all pieces in it too btw.

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2013, 10:56:00 pm »
How long is the beer line, and what is its inner diameter?
What is the temperature of the beer?

1 volume of CO2 at 4 psi works out to ~67F.  Where is it now?

Putting it on 25 psi with 25% CO2 means it is now under 7.25 psi of pressure.  Presumably it is also colder now, so it probably has more like 2 volumes of CO2.

For 25 psi you need something like 15 feet of 3/6" line.  Some sources will say less than that, but my experience is that you need more.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline thomasben

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2013, 11:08:20 pm »
Beer line is about 7 feet. 5/16 i think, not 100% on that. Temp is 45 in the keezer.

Do you think its the line? I was told 25-30 psi for beer gas.

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2013, 11:53:05 pm »
It's everything - the system has to be in balance.

First, decide how many volumes of CO2 you want in your beer.  It is currently at ~1.9 based on the pressure and temperature.  That is totally fine and roughly where I put mine, but it's your call.

If you are ok with that, then 25 psi is fine.  Now you need a line long enough to restrict that pressure.  7' of 5/16" is not enough restriction, that is only about 3 psi of restriction.  Even if it is 3/16" and we go with the max reported of 3 psi / ft, that's only 21 psi.  In my experience though, the actual restriction is under 2 psi / ft, which is why I recommend going with at least 15 ft of line.

Let me ask you this - you had 7 ft for some reason, at what pressure?  If this working for you on a different beer, it can help you figure out what kind of restriction you were getting with your line.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline majorvices

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Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2013, 07:26:02 am »
I know you say all the pieces are in the faucet but are you sure the restricter is in place? Doesn't make sense that it is coming out "way too fast" at 25psi

Offline dean_palmer

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2013, 08:00:11 am »
I know you say all the pieces are in the faucet but are you sure the restricter is in place? Doesn't make sense that it is coming out "way too fast" at 25psi

My first thought is if he was using a stout faucet at all, or if the restrictor plate was there.

5/16" tubing is wrong for serving in this case as someone else mentioned already.

Offline thomasben

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2013, 09:07:35 am »
Restrictor plate is in yes. Full stainless stout faucet. Sry my mistake. Lines are 3/16
« Last Edit: April 19, 2013, 09:13:23 am by thomasben »

Offline thomasben

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #7 on: April 19, 2013, 09:11:20 am »
All my lines are seven feet. Serving pressure is always fantastic,  beer is always delicious. This my my first exp with beer gas. We got everything we needed for nitro, regulator tank faucet shanks etc...

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2013, 12:45:53 am »
All my lines are seven feet. Serving pressure is always fantastic
Yes, but you're not serving your other beers at 25 psi and 7 feet of 3/16 line, are you?
Tom Schmidlin

Offline thomasben

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #9 on: April 20, 2013, 06:27:03 am »
No its 12 psi and I knock it down a bit after it's carbed because that's just straight c02, this is nitro-thought it was different....

Offline thomasben

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #10 on: April 20, 2013, 08:48:44 am »
So apparently beer gas is a different animal, so should I go get 15-20ft of tubing and see if that helps?

Offline denny

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #11 on: April 20, 2013, 11:19:16 am »
So apparently beer gas is a different animal, so should I go get 15-20ft of tubing and see if that helps?

Absolutely.  Start with more than you think you need since you can always cut it down.
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Offline thomasben

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #12 on: April 20, 2013, 11:20:12 am »
Thanks Denny. I'll do that. Beer is blasting right out of the stout faucet! Great special bitter though...

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #13 on: April 21, 2013, 04:06:57 pm »
So apparently beer gas is a different animal, so should I go get 15-20ft of tubing and see if that helps?
No, beer gas is not a different animal.  The problem is that you are pushing the beer through a short line at high pressure.  Your pressure is correct for what you are trying to do, so you need a longer line to balance it.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline thomasben

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Re: Problems serving beer!! Help needed!
« Reply #14 on: April 21, 2013, 04:10:32 pm »
Added 16 feet. Helped a lot.