How Far Will Co2 Push Beer?

[monahanajj]

I have converted a tuckerbox freezer to be a fridge (it holds 6 - 8 kegs). I would like to have the fridge down stairs and have my taps upstairs on my deck. Distance is approx 3 meters - will CO2 be able to pust the beer up that far without increasing pressure and risk over carbonation- or will I have to go to a 60/40 mix?

 

[Jye]

Hey monahanajj,

I am fairly new to kegging (so I maybe corrected) but I cant see why not. I think most keggers have about 2m of beer line inside the fridge between the keg and tap. As for the pouring pressure it might be a bit of trial and error, just gradually turn the pressure up until the beer is pouring nicely. If this pressure is higher than the carbonation pressure just remember to turn it back down after so you dont over carbonate between sessions :beer: Have you thought about to keep the beer line cold? Or will there be a sacrificial half a pint at the beginning of each sessions

Jye

 

[Tony M]

One atmosphere (100 kilopickles) will lift the beer about ten metres so if you are lifting 3 metres I guess you will lose about 1/3 of your dispense pressure but if you are gassing at 80 to 100 kpa you will still have plenty left. in fact the lower flow at the font will probably give a smoother pour. You will also get a bit more of a pressure drop with the extra line length but I think the only real problem is you will have to drink real quick to keep the line cold.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Dont know much about kegging, but I do know from first principles that 3 m of vertical head requires 30 kPa extra pressure over what would be required for the tap at the same height as the keg.

 

[monahanajj]

Thanks guys - I suppose it is trial and error, I have a small bar fridge and thought of using it to cool the beer - perhaps a coiled copper line inside the bar fridge to keep it cool - dont know if i will loose carbination though. Again, trial and error.

 

[user 865]

One of the points will be the size of the beer line that you use. If you find that the pressure you need to use to dispense is too high, then beer lines with a greater internal diameter will restrict the flow of the beer less and let you use lower pressures - a big help for long runs. Websites like (http://ceisites.com/balance.html) describe the "formula" for calculating, although no doubt there will still be a healthy amount of experimentation. I did try the figures off of the website mentioned and found that the "minimum" resistance values were closer (for the 3/16" tubing I had). I ended up testing a long length of the hose and raising the pressure till it would pour properly, thus determining the resistance for myself, cut the tube a bit too long and cut it back bit by bit to arrive at the correct length.

As an idea, a bit over 2m (close to 2.5 I think) of 4mm ID tubing is around the mark in my bar fridge with font setup (for a more highly carbonated beer style), however with 6 or 7mm tubing you should easily get the beet upstairs without having to raise the pressure on the keg.