Inline Restricters

[Ross]

OK guys/gals

Just fitted an inline restricter to my lager keg, asuming this would allow me to dispense a higher carbonated beer than my usual pommie ales & it's a disaster - Just pouring foam, even hooking up to my porter which would normally pour beautifully it's coming out nearly all head!!!!!!

Not happy as I've just cut my beer line in half - any ideas, PLEASE???

 

[Gout]

they do work, because i had mine working like a dream for a long time, then it stuffed up when i added it to my taps... not sure why as i havn't had time to look at it

- make sure its hooked up in the right direction, make sure its sealed (not sucking in air etc)
make sure its clean

ummm not sure what else u can try

 

[Ross]

Direction is correct as marked by arrow, all seems well sealed & certainly no leaks. as it pushes the beer through (rather than sucking) I don't see how it would suck air in, but then I'm no scientist...

I'll try hooking the other one on instead, as I bought 2, & just check it's not faulty...

 

[Mothballs]

Hi Ross,
I have recently put a restricter (thanks Roach) in my miracle box set up which consists of a 15 metre stainless coil (thanks GMK) in an esky with a brumby tap attached. I have found that it works really well.

Prior to using it I had some problems when pouring through the miracle box. I found it very difficult to maintain a good consistent pouring pressure. I spoke to a bloke from Lancer Pacific and his advice was to run a fairly high pressure (200kpa) when dispensing with a set up like this. I had previously been trying to run 50-100kpa. Using 200kpa and the restricter has given me a huge improvement in pouring consistency. I had to fiddle a bit first to get it right but the practise beers always taste good

How do you have yours set up? I have the restricter pretty close to the tap in the esky. Approx 4 inches from the tap. I found that if there were any bubbles in the beer line before the resticter this would cause lots of foaming. I pushed the beer through until the bubbles were gone and then fiddled with the restricter till I was happy with the pour.

I have pushed 3 kegs through my miracle box with the restricter fitted and it makes a huge difference. Can you post a photo of how you have it set up. Unfortunately I can't post a piccy at the moment (no digital camera).

:beer:
anthony

 

[Ross]

Set up about an inch from the tap with a short lead (1m) going straight down to a keg underneath. Any air in the line travels up the line & forms by the tap, I pour this off first, but the beer is coming out the tap mixed with free CO2 - Straight after the pour the 1" of line after the restricter is 50% CO2...

 

[Doc]

Ross,

I had a similar problem setting mine up initially. It took me a little while to get the right setting on the restrictor to correspond with the gas pressure to then result in an acceptable pour speed.
Off the top of my head I have my gas at about 80kpa and the restrictor at about 1/3 open (ie. screw it all the way in, then back it off about 3 turns).

I'll check my config again tonight if you still aren't having any joy.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Doc]

Forgot to add that my beer lines are actually quite long too as they must get up the font, and my restrictors are pretty close to the keg.

 

[jgriffin]

Ross, are you getting breakout in the line after the restrictor?
The way i set mine up is to wind them totally shut, set the pressure to what i want, then slowly wind it out while pouring a beer.

 

[Ross]

Ross, are you getting breakout in the line after the restrictor?
The way i set mine up is to wind them totally shut, set the pressure to what i want, then slowly wind it out while pouring a beer.

[post="60651"][/post]​

yes I am - exactly that....

 

[SteveSA]

The way i set mine up is to wind them totally shut, set the pressure to what i want, then slowly wind it out while pouring a beer.

That's exactly how I set mine up and it works well.

Edit: quote didn't attach first time around.

 

[Asher]

What pressure is your keg set at Ross?
These things are not a solution to an overcarbonated keg. Youll just end up with foam... If the keg is overcarbonated, you still need to de-gass the keg first.
FWIW My lagers are served through one of these reducers with the keg pressure set to 100kpa...

Asher for now

 

[vlbaby]

Ross,
I have been told that the better way of reducing the pressure in your beer line is to fit 3-4 metres of 4 -5mm ID beer line. I have this in my setup, and I carbonate and dispense at up to 25 psi with no problems.

I think the difference between this and an inline restrictor is that the restrictor attempts to drop the pressure too quickly allowing the co2 to come out of solution thus causing the beer to froth, even inside the lines before it gets to your gun/tap. Using the rolled up coil of hose allows the pressure of the beer to be dropped gradually as it travels to the tap.
Anyway, I'm no scientist either but this expanantion seemed to make sense to me.

I think there is a formula to calculate the size and length of line required on the grain and grape website if you interested in giving this a go.

vlbaby.

 

[Asher]

In-line restricters are designed for large commercial set-ups where more than one tap is serving the same beer (through a beer manifold for example). As each tap will have a different length of beer line depending on where it is located along a large bar thus a different keg pressure would be required to get then all to pour correctly. With a restricter each tap can be fine tuned separately to achieve a good pour (balanced) from the one keg serving pressure.

As Vlbaby suggests 4m of beer line will achieve sufficient pressure drop to give a good tap flow rate. the only reason In-line restricters are used in homebrew set-ups is so you don't end up with a fridge full of beer line especially when your running multiple taps...

If you want to serve different styles of beer at different carbonation you should invest in some low pressure regulators (compressed air ones from supercheap work) and set your keg pressures accordingly... don't expect the restricters to do this very well.

Make sense?

On the side... this is why nitrogen mixes are used for cellar dispensing. Due to the large head pressures in the beer lines, the large keg pressures would over carbonate the beer in the lines. by adding different percentages of nitrogen you can increase the keg serving pressure to overcome the head pressure without over carbonating as nitrogen requires a higher pressure before it's accepted into solution....

Asher for now

 

[scott70]

on another note. If you don't over carbaonate your kegs and just add a bit of pouring pressure every few pints then you don't need a resticter. you only even if you have 2m of line

 

[tangent]

What was your solution Ross?
You've certainly got multiple beers on tap and each different style seems to need different pressures.
Did you persist in twiddling with restricters or get the glycol installers to sort it?

(Awesome font btw!)

 

[Ross]

What was your solution Ross?
You've certainly got multiple beers on tap and each different style seems to need different pressures.
Did you persist in twiddling with restricters or get the glycol installers to sort it?

(Awesome font btw!)

[post="95320"][/post]​

Still working on it & my new setup has thrown a heap of other problems into the mix as well - working with the installers as we speak & will post some info - either questions/remedies, depending on how we go...

 

[markws]

Ross,

I posted a similar comment several months ago - as I too was having a similar problem.

Yesterday i decided to have another go at using the inline restrictors - and followed Doc's settings - Have to say they worked a treat - will be setting up my second one this afternoon. Currently running 100 psi and 2 turns on the restrictor from being completely closed.

regards

MWS

 

[Rex]

Currently running 100 psi and 2 turns on the restrictor from being completely closed.

[post="98389"][/post]​

You mean 100kpa?