Help! Losing My Mind!

[quigley]

it has probably been asked a milion times.... probably answered a million times.... people are probably fed up to the gills seeing this question... but I am going off my head with it....

I have read every article, searched every thread... tried everything.... so I will just ask the simple question.... I have 1.7 mtrs of 5mm line on my tap... how much (roughly) do I need?

I was thinking of starting with 4 mtrs and working down from there... to get a glass of beer rather than foam! I have tried everything I think.... upped the pressure, downed it, force carbed, not force carbed... I;m going crazy (as you can see from my rant!).

I have to release most of the pressure to get something LIKE a glass of beer, and then of course.. because the pressure is down.... it goes flat.. so I up the pressure.. and away we go again!

Bottom line... Is 1.7 mtrs of 5mm line too little?? What should I be using?

Oops... .someone at the door.. looks like a few guys carrying a white jacket...hmmmm long sleeves.... and I wonder what those straps are for?? and that syringe???

HELP!!!!!!!

 

[razz]

You need to know your beer temp and amount of dissolved C02 you want in solution. FYI I run my beer at 4 degrees, 100kpa and 5mm line at 3.3 mtrs.
And I always get good head

 

[frogman]

I run 3 mtrs @ 80 kpa 4 tap flooded font on top of chest freezer.
At 4 degrees.
FROGMAN

 

[goatherder]

It took me a while to find it too.

This post from SteveSA has the details:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...ost&p=36815

According to this, 5mm beer line has a resistance of 38kpa/m. Therefore your 1.7m of beerline should give about 65 kpa pouring resistance. A balanced system should see you gassing at a little over 65 kpa.

 

[PistolPatch]

It's not the easiest thing to search for Quigley. The search you needed was, "line balancing" and even then it took a while to find this post by crozdog.

That post will give you the links to web pages that will show you how to balance your line.

ANother thing Quigley that I now do which others agree/disagree with to varying degrees is, I leave the gas on all the time. I get no leaks, and the beer always pours perfectly. Just make sure you won't get asphyxiated if it does leak.

Good luck,
Pat

P.S. LOL! Looks like everyone had trouble finding something. The link I have given will give an alternative to Goatherder's link.

I use about 2 m of line for my keg fridge and have no worries.

 

[pint of lager]

For all researchers out there.

When using the forum search engine, try using boolean.

If you put in the words "line balancing" it brings up every post that has line in it as well as every post that has balancing. Lots of stuff.

Try putting "+line +balancing" in. This will find only the posts with both words.

For all the new keggers out there. Don't use the Ross method first up. It is very unforgiving to new keggers.

You can use a variation. Set your gas reg to 65kpa and shake till you cannot hear gas going into the beer.

Don't waste that foam, pour into a jug and the foam turns to beer which you drink.

Check all your line for leaks.

The perfect pour is just around the corner.

 

[Hashie]

All replies lead to the conclusion that very few brewers do things exactly the same.

FYI I use 2 metres of beer line @ 70 Kpa, naturally carbed kegs.

Cheers

 

[Ross]

For all the new keggers out there. Don't use the Ross method first up. It is very unforgiving to new keggers.

Sorry POL, can't quite agree with that - Follow Als-worlds excellent pictorial
HERE & it's a breeze...

cheers Ross...

 

[pint of lager]

Like all things in brewing, you use what works for you. Carbonating at high pressure and shaking has been around for a long time and obviously works for many people.

There have been new keggers in the chatroom struggling with overcarbonated kegs due to this method.

 

[quigley]

Thanks folks for all your very valuable assistance...
I have bougth 4 mtrs of line and will try it out over the next week or so... might take longer given that it could take days to get back into equlibrium after me messing.

I just need to settle down I think...... have a beer and approach it methodically.

One think I am now sure about is that the original 1.7 mtrs is too short!

Thanks again folks.... you may have saved my sanity