So I'm putting together the household bar, and making a santa list. One of the things I need is beer line, from the corny keg to the tap. On brew Uk (which is where I'm shopping cause I have £60 voucher) they have 3 sizes,
3/16 3/8 and 5/16
What would people recommend? Cheers.
I personally think you've more control and less potential foaming with 3/16 line.
Only thing is, most tap and keg connections are 3/8 so you'll need a few of those wee JG connectors to step down from 3/8 to 3/16 and back up again.
Cheers,
- Barry
Not a kegging expert but I have 5/16 in my system and I get a lovely foam free pour.
3/8 for standard beer or cider
5/16 for Stout
So what I'm getting is it's personal preference?
Lots of articles online on this with calculator etc - for example here http://www.calczilla.com/brewing/keg-line-balancing/. With a wider line you'll need a much longer one. Thinner line balances the pressure more and reduces foam.
I use about 8 foot of 5/16 OD line and connectors to 3/8 into my Corny disconnects. From what I remember with 3/8 OD all the way I'd need twice as much to have a normal pour.
Not with flow restrictors
Must look into those!
It really depends how far away your taps are from your kegs, both vertical and horizontal distance. There's also the factor of desired beer carbonation volume vs temperature. If you can list all of that I can help you work out what you need.
Horizontal distance:
Vertical distance:
Beer temperature:
Carbonation volumes:
Hmmm the distance would be about 1m horizontal and maybe about 1/2m vertical.
The other two will vary I guess depending on the style i brew at the time, but usually pale ale styles.
Quote from: belfastjacko on December 02, 2016, 06:41:24 AM
Hmmm the distance would be about 1m horizontal and maybe about 1/2m vertical.
The other two will vary I guess depending on the style i brew at the time, but usually pale ale styles.
You need to use 2m of 3/16 stepped up at each end with a JG reducer to 3/8 line of 10cm.
Cheers.
Does anyone know of anyway way to connect two beer lines together other than John guest fittings?
I bought a beer tower that comes with a short length of line, it's close to 3/16" but doesn't quite fit into the John guest fitting.
Is there a barb connector or something that could join them together. I've had a good google around but can't find what I'm looking for.
Only know of John guest fitting for this. You should be able to get one to fit if it is beer line.
This might do the job?
http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/universal-connector-418-mm-p-1508.html
If you could find something like that in metal?
Where did tap come from
If you use some tubing with 10mm interior diameter, you can wrap it around the 3/8 line and secure it with hose clips.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/381789151598
This is the one. It's 10mm OD. So it's just slightly too big for the 3/8 connector. I tried to "shave" it but obviously I can't be accurate enough, I tried to heat it make it more malleable but it's just not playing ball.
My original post was wrong it's close to 3/8" not 3/16". Can't get my head round these imperial measurement.
The 3/16 fits snugly inside it, might get a jubilee clip to secure that, then use JG after that.
Why not just get rid of short lines and fit one the lenght you want ?
Can't get my hand anywhere near the taps to undo the jubilee clips that came with it, and as far as I can tell the top doesn't come off.
I think I've worked a solution out in my head anyway. Thanks for your help sometimes just venting can help.
Top should come off ... imho.
If no just look for stainles pipe which is can fit in to you lines make a piece around 4cm long and secure it with clips ...
be careful interruption to flow can cause foaming
I remember a long,long time ago at the Shakespeare NHC beer day, Will Davis welded together two beer lines of different sizes using a cigarette lighter for someone who went on to Yellow Belly!
The original pipe had to be fitted on the first place so the tap has to come apart to allow this to happen
Yeah that's what I thought but it doesn't turn nor does it "wobble" off, don't want to break it
Quote from: belfastjacko on February 21, 2017, 01:06:34 AM
Yeah that's what I thought but it doesn't turn nor does it "wobble" off, don't want to break it
Would you.please upload a photo of the problem part/area? Sometimes the John Guest fittings have plastic inserts that can be added in/removed to widen/narrow the hole in the fitting. I have some taps with very narrow fittings that have very small John Guest adaptors clipped in. They are very difficult to remove & I wonder if you have something similar?
Shanna
Sorry folks. Managed to get the top off the tower, a hammer and a plank of wood sorted it. So I just attached the standard size to the taps and worked from there.
First load of pints were massively over carbonated, but now I've moved the keg into my chiller and it seems to have balanced out.
Thanks for all your help you guys have been invaluable. I'll get some photos up when I get the place fully sorted, although now the beer is flowing the tidying stuff away part doesn't seem nearly as important.