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Dude Your Beer Line Stinks! Wash It Out!

Every so often beer lines need to be cleaned. They can get so dirty the poured beer will smell and taste funny. This is a normal issue that all home brewers, bars, and restaurants have to contend with.

The off colored crystalline sediment is officially known as beer stone (Calcium Oxalate). It builds up over time naturally. This line was used for probably two months. Already it has a large deposit on the inside. Even if the line is used regularly, beer stone build ups can happen in a matter of weeks. Whenever I notice beer stone building up I change the line. I’m kind of surprised it got as far as it did this go around, but hey it makes a good blog post!

You may note ‘goaty’ smells and flavors in beer served through a dirty line. This is can be a common problem in bars or restaurants that take a lax approach to beer line cleanliness.

What does Goaty really smell like, you ask?

For scientific and journalistic purposes, I have subjected myself to analyzing the aroma of this beer line. At first it smells like a sweaty locker room with a bit of wet animal and a hint of stale beer. I also get rotten cheese, curdled milk, and rubber. The rubber is no doubt from the hose itself. All in all, flavors we do not want in our beer.

Cleaning process:

It is pretty simple to clean the line. Start by soaking the line in a solution of line cleaner. Line cleaner can be purchased inexpensively at your local home brew store (LHBS). A little goes a long way. A splash of the line cleaner in a quart of warm water does the trick. Then the next day, I pour out the hose, and run a specially designed four foot long line cleaning brush through it. From there I flush thoroughly with hot water in both directions, then hang it up to try. Ready to use again!

Keep a backup serving line:
Beer stone and the need to regularly clean beer lines is a downside to kegging beer at home. I keep a clean, ready to go serving line in case I notice a serving line is dirty. That gives me plenty of time to clean out the dirty one while keeping the beer flowing.

For more about beer stone, and a detailed look at removing it:
https://www.birkocorp.com/brewery/white-papers/removing-beerstone-a-look-at-alternative-cleaning-methods/

Posted in Equipment, Kegging and CO2 | No Comments »

Why Kegging Home Brewed Beer Just Feels Right

Cracking open that first bottle of your own home brew is a satisfying feeling and a great accomplishment. The rush of CO2 as the seal is broken, the anticipation, the smell, and ohh the taste, and mmmm another sip…

Along the same lines, your first pour of kegged beer will be equally satisfying. Kegging offers a fast and easy packaging process, consistent carbonation, less exposure to oxygen, and no residual priming sugar. Not to mention, having home brewed beer on tap at home just feels right!

At this point in my brewing progression, I’m focused on quality and saving time. Brewers can save money by sacrificing time and or quality (see Better Faster Cheaper Beer). The other night, with all my kegs full, and a batch of home brew ready to package, I was busy soaking ~40 bottles of various sizes. It felt tedious. I began to add up all the extra steps bottling involves. Then I realized kegging is a convenience factor and a quality factor in one.

When converting to kegging, most people make the mistake of starting with a simple one or two keg setup. My advice is to buy a keezer big enough to handle at least 5 kegs. Trust me, if you are this far into brewing, you’ll want the extra room to expand later. I added a collar to my keezer so I could fit 5 kegs. In retrospect, I should have gotten a larger freezer chest to begin with. Now that I have 5 kegs, I wish I had 7. I don’t think it ever ends really…

Yes kegging is expensive to get started. One way to save money is to have just one picnic tap and switch it between the kegs for dispensing. The added benefit is the line doesn’t get goaty as fast because it is being cleared regularly. I also use one regulator. That means all my kegs are at the same pressure and volumes of CO2. That is not a big deal to me.

A breakdown of kegging vs. bottling:

BOTTLING:

1. Plan how many bottles you need of each size using our bottling calculator.
2. Make a priming sugar solution, calculate how much sugar you need using our priming sugar calculator.
3. Cool down the priming solution.
4. Add some fresh yeast if it is a lager.
5. Meanwhile, sanitize the bottles.
6. Rack beer to bottling bucket, add priming sugar, lift bottling bucket up to table.
7. Begin bottling and capping. Stir gently at a regular interval to avoid variation between bottles and ensure consistent carbonation.
8. Label 50 bottles (the fastest method I found is to write a short code on top of each cap with a sharpie – ie IPA, ESB, P for porter, PA for pale ale, etc).
9. Wait 4-6 weeks for bottle conditioning (stress about bottle conditioning in the interim).
10. When pouring make sure to decant off the small amount of sediment in the bottom.
11. Clean out said bottles after using, dry, and put away for later use.

Organizing bottles is a challenge:

KEGGING:

1. Sanitize 1 keg and parts.
2. Rack into keg.
3. While racking is happening, assemble keg parts.
4. Label 1 keg.
5. Hook up to gas line, carbonated in 14 days. Our keg carbonation calculator can help.
6. Drink and enjoy.

Other Thoughts:

• The big downside of kegging is the initial cost. At approximately $50 per used corny keg, a 5lb CO2 tank, keezer, temperature controller, hoses, the gas manifold – it adds up quick.
• Keg lines do need to be cleaned regularly. I have a 4ft long wire brush to assist with that.
• If I want to take my beer somewhere I fill a growler.
• When you open a 22oz, you are stuck with it. Can’t just have a sip like you can with beer on tap.
• A basement bar/brewery man cave looks awesome with tap handles on display.
• I have noticed my kegged beer tastes fresher, has consistent carbonation, and is preferred by my guests.

Posted in Kegging and CO2 | 3 Comments »

Beer on the Go in PET Bottles

Check out this nifty method of packaging beer from the keg into light weight plastic bottles.

I started kegging after almost 2 years of bottling. I fell in love with the fact that I now had one big “bottle” to clean and sanitize rather than about 50.

One of the challenges that emerged after I started kegging was taking homebrew with me when we’re away from home. Often I didn’t want to bother taking a keg with me.

I began looking for solutions. I frequent HBT (Home Brew Talk), and was soon acquainted with the now-famous Biermuncher Bottle Filler. This method of filling bottles is often referred to as the BMBF, for short.

It detailed how to fill 12 oz or 22 oz bombers without an expensive counter pressure bottle filler. Hundreds of posts on dozens of pages show how effective it is. I quickly made one, followed his process, and began enjoying convenience of beer on the go even though I keg.

Here’s a summary of Bier Muncher’s method:

1. You fill from a picnic tap hooked up to your keg.
2. You use a plastic racking cane. At the end of the long end, you cut a 45 degree angle.
3. You use a #2 drilled stopper – best to get food grade.
4. Put drilled stopper on racking cane, attach short end cane into the picnic tap – it fits snugly.
5. Shut off CO2 to keg. Bleed the keg of pressure. Turn regulator down to 5-6 psi. Refill keg with CO2 at that pressure and leave regulator at that 5-6 lbs pressure.
6. Put cane into beer bottle, adjust the stopper so it seals the bottle opening. Begin to fill the bottle.
7. When beer filling slows/stops, burp the bottle…that means the CO2 pressure has filled the headspace and the beer won’t flow. Keep burping on occasion until bottle is full. Let it go all the way to the top. You’ll burp about 2x for a 12 oz bottle.
8. Remove cane from bottle. Place cap on bottle, but don’t seal. Hold it down, invert bottle, right the bottle, let the foam spill out (this fills the headspace), then replace cap while the foam spills out and seal it.

Here’s a photo of my BMBF – notice that 45 degree cut at the bottom of the racking cane:

If you decided not to read the post, here’s a summary: you use this item – a plastic racking cane with a 45 degree angle cut at the bottom, plus a #2 drilled stopper – by inserting it into a picnic tap attached to the keg. You use it to fill the bottle. It’s easy, but there are some important details to his process that make it effective. If you want to try it you need to read the post! Later on I explain my process, and you won’t understand some of it unless you’ve read the post.

While this method worked great for events around town, once camping season rolled around a problem surfaced – I wanted to take my beer along in non-glass bottles. Part of that was due to no glass at campsites, and the other part was simply weight…camping for a week and taking a bunch of homebrew is heavy! I didn’t want to take a keg and regulator…I wanted the simplicity of bottled beer but not in beer bottles.

I started thinking about alternatives, and quickly settled on PET soda bottles. They come in lots of sizes, are durable, super light, reusable or disposable as circumstances dictate, and they’re made to handle even higher PSI beer – soda is has a much higher carbonation level. I decided I’d adapt the BMBF for PET and see how it worked.

“The Carbonator” cap is another alternative, but they’re expensive and can only be used on one bottle…multiple bottles get expensive at around 15 dollars each! The BMBF process adapted for PET has most/all of the benefits at a much lower cost!

Here’s what “The Carbonator” looks like:

The #2 stopper for glass bottles wasn’t sized for PET bottles. It took some research but I figured out what size stopper will work with PET bottles – a #4. It was not easy to find a food grade #4 stopper…my LHBS didn’t have them and many online brewing supply sites didn’t. I finally found them and ordered a few.

Take a look – #2 on the left, #4 on the right:

Once the #4 drilled stoppers arrived, I went to work trying the process out on the PETs. It worked great! I now don’t even bother with glass bottles. PET is my beer on the go solution. Part of the benefit is that you can even get to a growler size with PET – a 2 liter bottle!

Check out all the possible sizes – Left to Right: 12oz, .5 Liter (about a pint), 1 liter, 1.25 liter, 2 liter:

If you follow the BMBF process to the letter, the PET bottles kept a cold temperatures (so the CO2 will stay in solution better) will hold appropriate pressure for 1 week, and is often still acceptable for 2 weeks. Eventually the seals on the caps begin to wear out with reuse, so I recycle the bottle when I get a beer that’s flatter than I’d expect. Letting your beer-filled PET bottles get warm can also affect the CO2 retention in the bottles.

When you fill a PET bottle using the BMBF process, it should end up very firm…approaching but not equaling the firmness of a new, unopened bottle of soda.  What typically happens is that it’s pretty firm right after filling. I place the bottle in the fridge and check it again in 10 minutes. If by then the bottle isn’t very hard, I invert the bottle and cap on the foam once more. That usually takes care of any storage issues. If it still isn’t firm after a second try, I know the PET bottle cap is likely worn out. I switch out for a newer cap, and throw away/recycle the old cap.

Here’s a photo of an never opened 64 oz soda bottle. Almost no indentation with a firm squeeze:

Here’s a filled 1 liter right after filling and capping on foam. It’s pretty firm…see how there is some give?

Here’s how it looked 20 minutes later and still chilled – much more firm, and of a firmness that will allow extended storage that maintains adequate carbonation. If it wasn’t as firm as shown, and it wasn’t going to be consumed that evening, I’d have topped off the bottle with more beer, inverted, and capped on foam again. That normally does the trick.

This is how I take small/medium volumes of homebrew around locally. It’s my exclusive method for camping now. I fill some small singles for that afternoon quenchers – low volume times when we wouldn’t drink a whole growler. I also fill some 2 liters (growlers) for the evenings around the fire telling fish stories, etc. when we’ll be drinking at a pace that the beer from growlers will still be appropriately carbonated.

In earlier blogs I talked about taking Summer Shandy and also Honey Chamomile Wheat to parties. In both those cases I filled 2 liter PET bottles – 6 of them – with these brews. I put the 6 growlers in a big freezer bag (the ones you can buy at Costco) with some cold packs. It works great and you can leave the growlers behind after you leave without losing anything valuable. Also, they aren’t breakable if the party gets rowdy.

The great part is that between you and friends you can get a ton of PET bottles for free! Many families drink soda , sparkling water, etc. Just ask them to save you the empties. A bit of Ivory dish soap cleans them out and rinses well for no aftertaste.

If you’re looking for a durable, convenient, almost free, and effective way for beer on the go, give the BMBF process a try with PET bottles. You might find it suits your beer on the go needs as well as it does for me.

Post by Brewer kcpup

Posted in Equipment, Kegging and CO2 | 3 Comments »

Draft Beer At Home – Keezer Build With Collar

Close your eyes and imagine your personal in home bar, complete with a draft system, stocked full of home brew!…. Congratulations! You are thinking of a Keezer! Here’s how to build one:

What the heck is a keezer?  Very simply, a keezer is a chest freezer that has been converted into the ultimate refrigerated beer serving chamber!  Keg + Freezer = Keezer.

Why does it have to be “converted”? Chest freezers often lack the height inside to comfortably accommodate 5 gallon cornelius kegs and the associated draft plumbing. There is a hump inside for the compressor that eats up a good amount of floor space. Even more important to note is that these freezers have extensive plumbing running through the walls of the appliance. Do you REALLY want to drill through the wall of a freezer to install a shank and hope that you do not ruin your freezer? Probably not.

The basic process for building your Keezer is to install a wooden collar on top of the keezer (below the lid). That extends the Keezer’s internal height, allowing it to hold more corny kegs, and providing a place for all the taps to go.

This project is fairly easy to accomplish and requires few materials to complete. In one afternoon, you can easily convert an old chest freezer into a keezer, which will reliably cool and serve your homebrew for years to come.

What you will need:

• Tape measure (measure twice, cut once!)
• Circular saw (to cut your lumber to length)
• Lumber (this will vary on the height of the collar you wish to build, 2” x 6” is a good start)
• Power drill (for drilling pilot holes, shank holes and installing screws)
• Wood screws (for building the keezer collar)
• Construction adhesive (to seal the gap between the wooden collar and freezer lid, as well as attach the freezer lid gasket to the keezer collar)
• Hole saw (for drilling holes in collar for the shanks)
• If you don’t already  have one, a temperature controller for your freezer chest to keep the beer at serving temperature (as opposed to freezing it).
• We highly recommend getting a moisture absorption product for placement inside your keezer to avoid condensation and eventual mold build up.

Steps:
#1. Remove the lid from your freezer, this will make measuring and fitting the collar that you are about to build, much easier. You will also want to REMOVE the hinges from the lid, as soon they will be mounted to the collar, allowing the lid and collar to swing up and out of your way when you open the keezer.

#2. Remove the rubber gasket that seals the lid to the freezer when the lid is closed. You will not need it on the lid after building the collar, and you will want to use this on the base of the collar, or the ledge of the freezer, to properly seal the collar to the freezer when it is fully assembled.
You’ll want to re-use the gasket from the lid. Be sure to use the measurements of the gasket (perimeter) to determine the size of your collar (perimeter). This will assure that you can reuse the gasket, and assure that you will have a collar that is capable of providing a proper seal. In essence, build your collar so that the dimensions match that of the gasket you previously removed from the lid.

#3. Be sure to measure properly and take into consideration blade kerf when cutting your lumber to length. For a nice clean build, be sure to cut your (4) sides (8 ends) using 45 degree angles so that you have no end grain showing when the build is complete.

#4. Secure all four sides of your keezer collar by drilling pilot holes and installing two wood screws in each corner. For added strength, you can also opt to add corner gussets to strengthen the structure. Keep in mind that soon you will be attaching this collar directly to the underside of the freezer lid that you removed in Step #1 which will provide some inherent structural stability.

At this time, you can utilize a hole saw to drill the holes that will accommodate the shanks for your taps. This can also be reserved for later. You can also sand, stain, laquer or otherwise prepare and preserve the wooden collar. This will not only protect the wood, but it can also add an aesthetic dimension to the keezer as well.

#5. You must secure the collar to the underside of the lid of the freezer. This can be done with a combination of “L” brackets and construction adhesive. Both will provide excellent holding power, but the combination of the two will provide positive holding power as well as the ability to seal the area where the collar meets the lid with an air tight seal.

#6. Install the gasket that was removed from the lid in Step #2 to the bottom edge of the collar, or the ledge of the freezer. This can be accomplished with the use of a good construction adhesive.

#7. Finally, you will want to mount the hinges that you removed from the freezer/freezer lid, to the collar itself. This will now allow the collar (and taps) to swing up and out of the way when you open the keezer for routine maintenance and cleaning.

This post was originally written by The Pol from HBT (one of the Brewer’s Friend authors) way back in 2009! We were cleaning out the archive and realized it had not been published. Doh!  The same facts hold true today about Keezers as they did in 2009.

Hope you enjoyed the article and are inspired to keg at home and build yourself one.

Posted in Equipment, Kegging and CO2 | 4 Comments »

Using a mini-fridge as a keezer FAIL

In an attempt to save money, space, and time, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a mini-fridge online for use as a keezer or fermentation chamber. Turned out there was not enough room.

All mini-fridges have a hump inside them where the compressor and fan are located. This eats up some of the usable internal space. The shelves on the door further constrain the internal space. The lesson: going online to buy a fridge/freezer for use as keezer is a bad idea. Sometimes the product description will list internal dimensions, but that’s not enough to go on since the floor might be sloped or the shelves might be in the wrong spot.

The best thing to do is make cardboard cut outs representing the foot print of what you want to put in the fridge. Also note the heights of the containers, leaving room for airlock, hoses, couplers, etc. For example, a corny keg needs 27″ of vertical space to leave clearance for the couplings and is 8-1/2″ – 9″ diameter. Take the cutouts with you to the store and bring a tape measure. Then you can be sure what you are buying will work out.

The humps inside mini-fridges and chest freezers are a real drag. In my keezer, the CO2 tank sits on the hump along with a moisture absorption tray. One trick is to build a 4” collar around the top of the keezer. The hatch will have to be removed and then re-installed when the collar is in place. Often this is enough to take the hump out of the equation so 1 or 2 more corny kegs can be placed inside.

Towards the middle of my project todo list is a fermentation chamber. This is done by removing the door from a mini-fridge and building an insulated box that extends the conditioned space. With a temperature controller, a mini-fridge in this setup can be used for precise temperature control during fermentation. What I’m not sure about is how to safely heat the chamber, in the event it gets too cold in the shed (let’s say I want to keep it at 65F, but outside it is 40F). More on that when I get there.

Posted in Equipment, Kegging and CO2 | 13 Comments »

Moldy Wet Keezer Solution

Here’s quick tip for your keezer if you are having moisture or mold problems. Purchase a moisture absorbing product like DampRid or DryRid and drop it in your keezer (clean your keezer first if it is moldy). You can find DampRid or a similar product at your local hardware store next to the cleaning products. I spent about $10 on this and I’m very pleased. My keezer is now bone dry and the mold has not returned.

Freezers are designed to operate below freezing. They naturally collect condensation on the interior walls. Normally the condensation freezes and builds up a thin layer of ice. When a freezer is hooked up to a temperature controller set between 34-50F, the moisture is kept inside the keezer. The higher temperature and humidity creates a breeding ground for bacteria and mold. When beer is spilled it gets even worse. Every drop of spilled beer can turn into a mini breeding colony in a matter of days. Do not try keeping a towel in the bottom, it will just trap moisture and make it worse.

My moisture problem eventually led me to completely clean out my keezer. I let it dry out for about a week after cleaning it. I caulked the interior joints where water would seep into. When the caulk was dry I used an exterior primer paint to coat the surfaces to hide scrapes and rust spots that had developed. Two coats did the trick. It looks brand new inside. With the damp rid bucket in the keezer, it is now completely dry when in operation. I’m not sure how long the bucket will last me. It cost about $10. I set the Damp Rid on the hump so it is not taking up valuable storage space for kegs.

There are other products out there besides DampRid. I looked into buying reusable crystals that you microwave when they change color. There are also electronic devices that you can plug-in every so often to purge moisture. After reading reviews I decided I didn’t want to spend the money for a large unit, and choose to ignore the cheapo units. The cheapo units would require plugging in every one or two weeks, and that would be a hassle. The smaller products are designed for gun safes or closets. An environment like a kezzer where moisture is constantly collecting requires a stronger solution. I also wanted a hands off solution, so the bucket did the trick.

For my setup, I am using a picnic tap to dispense beer from my corny kegs. It takes extra care to keep beer from spilling. I keep a rag inside the keezer to set the picnic tap on so it absorbs any beer left in the spout of the tap. The rag is also handy to wipe up spills.

It might be possible to purchase moisture absorbing crystals in bulk. I believe it is just Calcium Chloride. Maybe one of our readers knows more about this?

Posted in Kegging and CO2 | 13 Comments »

I love my Keezer

Home brewers who keg their beer have a keezer or kegerator to keep it cold.

Kegerator = keg + refrigerator
Keezer = kegerator + freezer
Keezer = the place where my beer is kept cold and on tap

I prefer the Keezers, not to be confused with Geezers…

A kegerator or keezer can also double as a way to lager. I have used a standard fridge (kegerator) in the past. In the image above, the bucket on the right is a German lager bubbling away. In my opinion, the chest freezer setup (keezer) is much much better than a top/bottom fridge (kegerator). The keezer was cheaper to get setup, it holds more, and it is quieter. I think it also draws less power than a fridge.

Most setups will require a temperature controller. Freezers are designed to go below 32F, so to avoid freezing the beer, the temperature controller cuts power to the compressor when the desired temperature is hit. I keep mine around 40F, but raise it to 50F when doing my primary fermentation for lagers. You can just barely see in the bottom left corner where the senor probe is duct taped to the inside of the freezer.

The unit I went with is the Frigidaire 7.2 Cubic Ft. Chest Freezer from Lowe’s, Model #FFC0723GB. I paid $228 with free delivery! The top/bottom fridge I bought was $499.

Home Brew Talk has an awesome thread about the options here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/sizing-your-chest-freezer-corny-kegs-75449/

You can choose between getting one that holds anywhere from 2-10 corny kegs!

The only down side I have found is it is a little harder to lift full buckets, carboys, and corny kegs into the unit.

The inside of chest freezers have a ‘hump’ where the motor is. Corny kegs are too tall to sit on top the hump because the lid would not close. The way around this is to build a collar extension that raises the height of the lid. Most people put their taps through the collar.

In the image above there is a rag to catch drips from the picnic tap. I have read that keezers can get gross inside if not taken care of. Once I spilled a bit of beer on some bottles and did not take care of it. A few weeks later mold started growing. It wasn’t too bad, but I’m glad I caught it early. To avoid any future mess I make sure any beer that goes astray is wiped up immediately. Sometimes the walls of the keezer have moisture on them so I wipe them off occasionally.

Posted in Equipment, Kegging and CO2, Lagering | 4 Comments »

How to bottle beer from the keg

Once a brewer begins kegging, he/she will never go back to bottling, or will they? There is something to be said for the convenience of bottled beer. It travels well, it can be given as a gift and it is the only way to get it to a competition. How do we get that sweet carbonated nectar into the bottles?

There are commercial CO2 bottling wands, guns, beer guns… but they are entirely too expensive and unnecessary to accomplish this simple task. There is no need to spend $50, $60, or $100 dollars to fill a bottle with beer effectively. Here is how:

1. You will need a 7’+ beer line with a picnic tap on the end Fig. 1
2. You will need a plastic bottling wand OR racking cane (this will fit into the picnic tap) Fig. 2
3. You will need a #2 drilled rubber stopper Fig. 3

Fig 1.

Fig 2.

Fig 3.

Assemble these components in this manner:

1. Cut a 45 degree angle on one end of the bottling wand/racking cane to allow the free flow of beer into the bottle
2. Slide the uncut end of the bottling wand/racking cane into the picnic tap
3. Slide the #2 stopper up onto the bottling wand/racking cane (this will seal the bottle while filling)
4. Attach the beer line to the keg itself.

See Fig 4.

Fig 4.

You are now ready to bottle beer, and there are some simple rules and procedures to follow to be successful.

1. Be sure that your beer line and bottles are cold, this will reduce foaming during bottling.
2. Shut off the gas to your keg, use the pressure relief valve to relieve excess pressure.
3. Turn your regulator down to 3-5 PSI and turn the gas back on to the keg, this will give you a gentle flow rate to reduce foaming.
4. Open the tap and run a small amount of beer out as waste, this will prime the bottle filler.
5. Place the bottle filler in the bottle and seal the bottle with the rubber stopper. Fig. 5
6. Open the picnic tap to LOCKED position, and as the flow slows due to pressure, squeeze the side of the stopper to relieve the pressure and fill bottle until beer flows out the top, not just foam.
7. Move to next bottle and repeat.
8. When finished, give all bottles a quick shot of beer to top them off (place the tip of the bottling wand about 1” below the level of the beer in the bottle and secure the stopper when accomplishing this step)
9. Place caps on all bottles.
10. One at a time, tip each bottle on its side and upright again while holding the cap on. When the beer foams over, lock the cap on, repeat with all bottles (purging CO2). Fig. 6

Fig 5.

Fig 6.

Remember when you are finished bottling, to again increase your regulator pressure to maintain the proper level of carbonation in your keg. Happy bottling!

Posted in Kegging and CO2 | 5 Comments »

Getting A Good Pour – Kegged Beer CO2 Line Length and Pressure

There are several variables that play a role in achieving this goal, AND you will need a calculator!

Factors that play a role in the quality of your pour are the following:

Beer Temperature: This will affect how readily the beer absorbs CO2. Colder beer absorbs CO2 into solution more readily. The lower the temp. the lower the pressure required to obtain a given number of volumes of CO2.

Keg Pressure: Along with beer temperature, this will control the actual volumes of CO2 in solution.

Beer Line Inside Diameter: This provides resistance, keeping CO2 in solution by slowing the pour.

Beer Line Temperature: Warm beer lines will warm the beer as it travels from the keg to your glass, causing a release of CO2.

Beer Line Length: This provides resistance, keeping CO2 in solution by slowing the pour.

Beer Line Rise to Tap: The height of the tap from the center of the keg. This provides resistance, keeping CO2 in solution by slowing the pour.

There are some simple rules to follow as well as an equation to help you balance your beer line length to accommodate the pressure needed in the keg to sustain your desired CO2 volume.

1. Keep your beer lines cold. For some this is not an issue, but if you use a draft tower you need to take care to refrigerate those lines and insulate the tower to keep CO2 release to a minimum, thus reducing foam in the glass.
2. Beer line length MUST be balanced with the amount of pressure in the keg used for serving. The longer the line, the more resistance you have.
3. Beer line inside diameter MUST be included in the beer line length calculations to properly determine length. The narrower the line, the more resistance you have.
4. Beer line RISE from the keg to the tap MUST also be included in the beer line length calculations to properly determine length. The greater the rise, the more resistance you will have.

Numbers 2-3 all work together to provide a total amount of resistance between the keg and your glass. Too much resistance and you will have a slow pour, too little resistance and you will have nothing but foam in your glass.

Here is an example of how to determine the proper temperature, pressure and beer line length for a given scenario.

BEER STYLE CARBONATION GUIDE

Beer Temperature: 38F

Keg Pressure: 21.7 PSI

Volumes of CO2: 3.50

Beer Line ID: 3/16” inside diameter plastic beer line

Beer Line Temperature: COLD (ideal)

Beer Line length: 6′

Beer Line Rise to Tap: 24”

Beer Line Length Formula:

L = (P -(H x .5) – 1 ) / R

Where:
L = length of beer line in feet
P = pressure set of regulator
H = total height from center of keg to faucet in feet
R = resistance of the line from the following table
1 = residual pressure remaining at faucet (this can be increased to 2 if you need to increase pressure to increase dispense rate)

L = ( 21.7-(2 x .5)-1 ) / 2.7

L = 7.3 feet of beer line, or 7′ 4”

In this scenario the beer line length is too short, ideally one would have over 7′ of beer line to create enough resistance to counter the 21.7 PSI in the keg to obtain the volumes of CO2 for this German wheat beer. If you simply reduce the temperature of the beer to 33F and reduce the pressure to 18.3 PSI you will still achieve 3.50 volumes of CO2 in your beer, but the reduction in pressure will now not overwhelm the 6′ beer line that you have. Pressure and resistance are now balanced.

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Beer styles and relative CO2 levels

To begin, consider a brief refresher from chemistry class. Gases dissolve into liquids; the amount of gas that can be dissolved into a liquid is inversely proportional to that liquid’s temperature. At one extreme, boiling liquids contain very little dissolved gases; most home brewers know this, either directly or indirectly from having to oxygenate their boiled wort before adding yeast. But there are two other stages where we have to consider carbonation levels & temperatures.

The classic axiom for bottling home-brewed beer is ¾ cup of dextrose / corn sugar (or 1 cup of malt extract, or ½ cup of honey) for a 5 gallon batch, leaving 1-2” of air at the top of the bottle, regardless of size. Home brewers are strongly urged not to exceed that amount of sugar, as too much sugar leads to excess pressure and potentially exploding bottles. This one-size-fits-all approach will work for novice and intermediate home brewers, but for more exotic beers, or for more advanced brewers, there is room for more variation.

First, consider the style of beer. Most European Lagers and American Ales have the same carbonation levels, but there are exceptions. Porters & Stouts, along with British ales, tend to traditionally have lower carbonation levels, with Belgian ales lying between the Porter/Stout and the American/European beers. A few beer styles, such as fruit Lambics and German wheat beer, have very high carbonation traditionally.

Next, consider the bottling temperature of the “green” (uncarbonated) beer. A colder bottling temperature means more CO2 is dissolved in the beer. A “green” Lager kept at 40 degrees F will have almost 50% more CO2 already dissolved than a “green” Ale kept at 60 degrees F, which goes a long way towards explaining why a finished Lager often has more foam than a finished Ale.

Finally, consider carefully modifying the type amount of bottling sugar. Because even small changes can result in a big difference, consider using dried malt extract, or even liquid malt extract instead of sucrose, as these types of sugars are less efficient for the yeast, and gives you the brewer a little more room to work within. Since few home brewers attempt Lambic-style beers, mostly you’ll be reducing the amount of bottling sugar for your Belgians, Porters, Stouts, and British Ales by a few teaspoons, down to an absolute floor of ¼ cup of dry malt extract for a 5 gallon batch.

There is another way to modify the amount of CO2 in bottled, home brewed beer. Leaving less air in each bottle causes pressure to build up more quickly; increased pressure results in reduced yeast activity, and thus less CO2. Conversely, leaving more air in the bottle will cause faster fermentation and more CO2, but more pressure inside the bottle means more risk of exploding bottles, and safety has to be a priority in this case.

There’s something here even for the non-brewers: what temperature is best to serve beer at? Remember, the temperature of the beer determines how much CO2 is dissolved, and how much foaming will occur. Beer styles with less CO2 can be served at a higher temperature, because there’s less CO2 dissolved in the beer; serving these beers at a colder temperature means more of the CO2 is dissolved, and less will be available to provide effervescence and foam. A Stout served at near-freezing temperatures will fail to produce a solid head, and may even taste flat. Conversely, a Lambic served at room temperature will bubble & foam like champagne or worse. This is why many of the English bitters are served at ‘cellar’ temperature (55F), which is warmer than fridge temperatures.

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