Beer line

[Rodcx500z]

When i bought keg kit it came with a party tap, the beer line is i think 3/16th from the disconnect to a connecter with about 4'' of 3/8th to the tap, i have played around with it and made 3/16th bit shorter down to 2 meters and it poured fine for 3 glasses at 2 to 3 psi then flat as a pancake i turned it up to 10 psi no joy, my question is is the 3/8th making it lose all the pressure to get a head on the beer, all help appreciated

 

[RoomWithABrew]

There's a few things.
Decide what beer you have and then it needs to be carbonated to the correct vols of CO2. This is temperature dependent. I use this calculator others are available.
https://drhansbrewery.com/beercarbonationcalculator/
Then your next issue is getting the beer to the glass correctly, setting up my keg fridge I used this beer line calculator
http://www.mikesoltys.com/2012/09/17/determining-proper-hose-length-for-your-kegerator/
a lot of useful info on that site.

If the beer is overcarbed you pour foam so big head but when foam settles, you have flat beer, even though the beer was overcarbonated.
Under carbed beer doesn't get livelier if you push it with more pressure.
Unfortunately serving beer from a cask is not like turning the water tap on where you open the tap and more liquid comes out. It's difficult because there is a mixture of liquid and gas, which is stable in the keg, but change the environment ie the tube and glass and it all wants a different balance.
Hope the above helps.

I did buy a flow control ball lock but it was not all it was hyped to be at all and really you do need the right length beer line and the right diameter as well.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Looks like i need to experiment a bit, cheers for your help

 

[crowcrow]

When I first set up my keezer I was at 20psi and it seemed OK. But lately I've been at 5psi and it all seems far happier and better pouring beers with better carbonation. Slower pour but I'm not in a rush. I have 6 foot (ish) of 3/16 line.

 

[LeeH]

It is very simple, and most over complicate it.

Set the temp to your liking, add pressure to achieve the volumes of co2 you require for that style. Add or reduce 3/16 line so you get slow and steady pour.

If you start reducing pressure you’ll end up with flat beer as you change the all important temp/pressure ratio. Remember it takes a week to carbonate a keg at serving pressure approximately.

SET, FORGET AND BE PATIENT!

 

[Rodcx500z]

When I first set up my keezer I was at 20psi and it seemed OK. But lately I've been at 5psi and it all seems far happier and better pouring beers with better carbonation. Slower pour but I'm not in a rush. I have 6 foot (ish) of 3/16 line.

Cheers crowcrow, i think it's the short piece of 3/8th that goes into the tap, should i get rid of it and have 3/16th.

It is very simple, and most over complicate it.

Set the temp to your liking, add pressure to achieve the volumes of co2 you require for that style. Add or reduce 3/16 line so you get slow and steady pour.

If you start reducing pressure you’ll end up with flat beer as you change the all important temp/pressure ratio. Remember it takes a week to carbonate a keg at serving pressure approximately.

SET, FORGET AND BE PATIENT!

Cheers for reply Lee, i will post a pic

 

[Rodcx500z]

This how it came from BKT

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Not really, tap is wider diameter than your earlier beer line, follow the formula, if picnic taps were meant to only have a small line they would have a means of attaching the thinner line.
So many factors in play. You could suggest to insulate your line to keep the beer cool all the way along as that changes the solubility of the CO2, most don't bother but it does play a part. The temp of beer poured is warmer than in the keg.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

SET, FORGET AND BE PATIENT!

Good advice in my opinion

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I do notice that no gas line is on your keg, really difficult to get consistency when you are burst CO2ing your keg.

Same temp, same pressure, same tap height.
Yes things change as keg empties but that's a minor issue. Can be expected that keg will be more " foamy " at the end, you have more gas surface area to volume of liquid. But you aren't there yet.
There is no easy way, there is no cheats method.

 

[Rodcx500z]

That keg is waiting to go in the fridge i just gassed it to 20psi and i thought i would pull a half it was perfect, like i say it's all new to me and a huge learning curve thanks for your help appreciate it i will get there

 

[LeeH]

Nothing wrong with that picnic tap set up, you do not need 5/16 just because the barb size is for that.

A flow control tap is my preferred option direct from the keg but both work.

 

[foxbat]

SET, FORGET AND BE PATIENT!

Good advice in my opinion

+1 to both of these. If you're new to this then start out at 10psi for an ale and 20psi for a lager and change to your taste with future kegs. Set it once and don't touch again for that keg!

 

[Rodcx500z]

+1 to both of these. If you're new to this then start out at 10psi for an ale and 20psi for a lager and change to your taste with future kegs. Set it once and don't touch again for that keg!

Cheers Foxbat i will do that on my next keg much appreciated

 

[hoppyscotty]

been messing around with my kegarator build. Initially started with 5/16 and 5/8 line and it was just foam. Carbonation for me is 12psi at 5 degrees C. I replaced all my Iines with 3/16 (3 metres/10 feet) and dropped the fridge temp down a degree or so. I have minimises the length of the 5/16 line that connects to the tap. Now have a lovely pour and carbonated, but its a bit slow. I am using a flow control ball lock fitting on the keg so will swap that out for a normal ball lock fitting in case that is causing a restriction even though it is set to the fully open position, but other than that I might need to choose between slow flow but decent draw, or speed it up a bit and produce more foam.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Those flow control ball locks are inconsistent. Much less flow fully open than on normal ball lock. I am underwhelmed by the performance of it, also notice they aren't available anymore from kegland, perhaps due to the many issues with them.