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Author Topic: Beer Line Management  (Read 4654 times)

Offline flbrewer

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Beer Line Management
« on: June 01, 2015, 03:16:51 pm »
My new kegerator can hold 2 corny kegs and a 5 lb. CO2 tank, allegedly. Keeping 10 feet or so of beer line in order is a challenge.

Anyone care to share best practices or pictures of their beer lines inside a fermenter?

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2015, 04:11:33 pm »
I coil the beer line into a loop maybe a foot across and use a couple zip ties to keep it coiled. Don't pull the zip ties tight enough to restrict flow.


EDIT -  Obviously be sure to leave enough room in the loop to get the QD onto the post of your kegs.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2015, 04:20:15 pm by HoosierBrew »
Jon H.

Offline BrewArk

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2015, 04:13:17 pm »
Get 3/16" instead of 1/4" & you won't need a long a piece.
Beer...Now there's a temporary solution!

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Offline flbrewer

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2015, 04:40:41 pm »
Get 3/16" instead of 1/4" & you won't need a long a piece.

I'm using 3/16" at 5 feet a piece. Upon further inspection, looks like I only need 4 feet of line based on the keg line balancing equation. 10 PSI, 2.2 lbs. of resistance on the line, and 3 feet or so from the middle of the keg to the tap equate to just under 4 feet of line!
« Last Edit: June 01, 2015, 04:55:12 pm by flbrewer »

Offline thetooth

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2015, 04:41:33 pm »
Get 3/16" instead of 1/4" & you won't need a long a piece.

This right here.  I'm running 6 ft lines.

Offline rjharper

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2015, 08:17:44 pm »
I run 9' lines at 3/16 - I've always found that 2 psi/ft restriction a bit liberal, more like 1.25-1.5 which makes a difference.  Here's my setup with 7x lines, held with 1.5" pipe hoops.

https://twitter.com/AngryScotBrew/status/460576796560224256

Offline brewday

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2015, 08:35:02 pm »
I run 9' lines at 3/16 - I've always found that 2 psi/ft restriction a bit liberal, more like 1.25-1.5 which makes a difference.  Here's my setup with 7x lines, held with 1.5" pipe hoops.

https://twitter.com/AngryScotBrew/status/460576796560224256

Holy....!!!  That's a thing of beauty.

Offline JT

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2015, 08:48:03 pm »
I run 3/16 lines and most beers get away with under 4 feet at 40 degrees.  No issues.  My English Mild was rocking about 2 feet.  I'm currently carbing up some higher volume brew that I expect to need 6 ft lines to properly serve. 

Offline flbrewer

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2015, 08:31:19 am »
Thinking of the beer length equation, is that reliable most of the time? I wanted to ask before I cut off a foot or two of beer line.

Offline flbrewer

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2015, 08:32:16 am »
*i should probably cut my gas line back as well. No need to run 3 feet IMO.

Offline narcout

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #10 on: June 02, 2015, 09:51:44 am »
Thinking of the beer length equation, is that reliable most of the time? I wanted to ask before I cut off a foot or two of beer line.

I would start with a couple more feet of line than you think you need and see how it pours.  If it works well, leave it alone.

You shouldn't have an issue if your lines are a few feet longer than what the equation suggests, though you will have foamy pours if your lines are too short.
Sometimes you just can't get enough - JAMC

Offline narcout

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #11 on: June 02, 2015, 09:55:38 am »
*i should probably cut my gas line back as well. No need to run 3 feet IMO.

Having one long gas line in your system (like 10 feet or so) can be handy for purging kegs, racking under CO2 pressure, etc.  If you get a gas manifold with one more port than you would otherwise need, you can have a dedicated line for those kinds of things.
Sometimes you just can't get enough - JAMC

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #12 on: June 02, 2015, 10:17:05 am »
I run 9' lines at 3/16 - I've always found that 2 psi/ft restriction a bit liberal, more like 1.25-1.5 which makes a difference.  Here's my setup with 7x lines, held with 1.5" pipe hoops.

https://twitter.com/AngryScotBrew/status/460576796560224256

+1.  I'm using 8' of 3/16 and like it pretty well.  And yeah, that's a thing of beauty.
Jon H.

Offline thetooth

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #13 on: June 02, 2015, 11:27:23 am »
I run 9' lines at 3/16 - I've always found that 2 psi/ft restriction a bit liberal, more like 1.25-1.5 which makes a difference.  Here's my setup with 7x lines, held with 1.5" pipe hoops.

https://twitter.com/AngryScotBrew/status/460576796560224256

Wow... that's some organization.  Looks great, although I know I'll never do it.  LOL

Offline rjharper

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Re: Beer Line Management
« Reply #14 on: June 03, 2015, 12:18:12 pm »
Thanks guys. Actually since that photo's been taken, I've continued the pipe loops round under the gas manifold, where they all branch out. And somebody mentioned the gas lines, I have mine at 4' so they reach the corners of the freezer, with the exception of 1 which is 12', for use when purging kegs outside the unit.