Beer line length / balancing

[Paul Cannell]

Just got a keg set up and just about a carb up my first lot. After much research I have decided that I will set my pressure to 10psi and leave it to carbonate in the fridge for a week at about 2 or 3 degrees.

I have some questions about beer line length and co2 line length. It seems there is quite a science to this and I need some help determining lengths. I have about 3m of line (I'm not entirely sure what daiamata) and I plan to use this for beer and co2 line. The reason I'm having issues working out line length is because I will be using a picnic tap and most formular seem to require a height difference between the top of the keg an the tap. I'll just have my entire setup siting in the fridge and the tap will most likely sit on the bottom at the base of the keg but will be lifted up when poured from.

Can you see my conndrum? Any suggestions?

Also is there any requirements for co2 line length? The co2 bottle will be sitting right next to the keg in the fridge.

[Hamish Jones]

in chopping I mean consuming at a leasurly pace ;)

[Tilt]

Aah - gotcha!

[Matt Smith]

Same deal here, all of the calculations gave me similar pressures and lengths and I had the same foaming issues as you, so I doubled like John H did to 3 meters and its perfect. If its warm outside, and your taps are mounted outside your fridge, then the first 100ml or so is a little foamy as the cold beer runs through the warm tap. Other than that its all good.

Perhaps the restriction calculators don't adequately account for the extent to which C02 comes out of solution more rapidly at warmer temps than at lower ones.

[Matt Smith]

Sorry just noticed I repeated half of what was already covered