I've done a search to no avail. I have a 3 tap kegerator with a 3 barb manifold inside. I've been doing keg beer out of picnic taps using a fridge for years so I know the basics, but I have transitioned to the kegerator and have questions. Kegerator set to 38F. I have 2 kegs in there right now. I originally carbed the 2 kegs in my old fridge utilizing my trusty dual regulator setup since I didn't have the kegerator set up for my pin lock setup yet, now I do and they have been in the kegerator 3 weeks. Question 1. If I want to push the beer out at carb pressure (~10psi), since using the splitter, do I set the regulator to push 10psi total or 20psi since the 10psi is split between 2 kegs? 2. I was having foaming issues, probably due to tubing length, so I'm turned down to 5psi, and pours were fine but it seems like over time the beer will be undercarbed, won't it? (I will be adjusting line length, I am using what came on the kegerator until I get question 1 answered.
You don't double the pressure for a splitter, 10 psi is 10 psi throughout the system. 5 psi is not going to work, the beer will be flat. Your system is unbalanced if you have to go to 5 psi to serve. Kegerator 'being set to 38' doesn't mean your beer is 38, you need an accurate beer temperature. Typically kegerators come with 5' lines which are not very tolerant of being unbalanced. Most swap out for 8'-10' lines which are much more tolerant. I'd suggest starting at 10' and cutting back if the flow is too slow.
Many thx. That was my hunch but didn't want to change out tubing until I was certain. I built a temp controller for the ferm fridge. Would you suggest that or is there a thermometer that attaches to the keg? Will that be accurate enough considering the kegerator is still reading ambient?
You take the temperature of actual beer - start with a room temp glass. Pour a beer. Immediately chug or dump, and pour another. Take the temp of this beer (not foam, not the side or bottom of the glass). You should use a calibrated thermometer.
If you have a dual body regulator you can have two serving pressures, two carbing pressures etc. One outlet can be set to whatever you prefer, say 12 psi for serving. Hook that up to the manifold. The second outlet can be set to perhaps 16 for the Belgian or Weisse you have on. You choose. The pressure to the manifold will be delivered equally to each keg on the manifold. Further, if you do not have check valves the pressure in one keg will increase or decrease until the system equlibrates. That is to say that if the regulator is at 12, and one is at 14 and the other is at 10, the 14 psi will degas slowly until it matches the regulator pressure and the 10 psi keg will soak up gas until it matches the regulator. If you are home brewing it is usually a good idea to have at least one outlet dedicated to high pressure for force carbonation. The same outlet can be used to purge oxygen easily with little modification. This is a great help in all things brewing. Truth is, you really only need one serving pressure. 2, 3 or more serving pressures is nice but not absolutely required. Many many bars are serving all of their fancy beers at the same pressure you know. (Yeah, wrong carbonation but so be it). I'm not positive this answers your question. Ask further if you need any clarification. And get a good idea of your beer in glass temp. Cheers.
As mentioned, you really don't want to adjust pressure to reduce foam. Once you have determined carb level (your choice on homebrew) and temp (your choice again), the chart tells you what pressure to set. Once this has equalized (may take days) then adjust your line length for the perfect pour. There are line-length calculators but they tend to be clunky. There's nothing wrong with getting a line too long and gradually whacking a little off at a time. This all goes pretty quickly if you don't rush it. Regarding temps: expect any type controller/thermo to have some errors . . . something as simple as where you place the probe has a big effect. But do the pour test and measure with a decent homebrew thermometer, this is your real beer temp. My Ranco and Inkbird both have slight errors (opposite) that are easily adjusted . . . once you figure this out you never touch 'em again. Regarding line: many posters here buy their beer line like it's a one-shot deal. I suggest you get at least twice what you think you will need. Then balancing becomes less stressful and you'll have spare line as you need it (it's not expensive). Regarding pressures: once you have equalized your pressure you can expect everything from the top of the headspace in your CO2 tank, through the gas lines, in/out of your splitter-manifold, into the keg headspace, dissolved into the beer, up the diptube, through the beer lines, right up to the faucet shut-off valve to have the same pressure. Equilibrium . . . not just a good idea, it's the Law. My last suggestion is to have a Ceremonial Sacrifice of your picnic taps (a hatchet will do a nice job) . . . you're a Faucet Man now .
If possible and within budget, pick up the perlick flow control faucets and eliminate the line length issues... I use line lengths of less than 1ft for all my beers now with perfect pours at 42F keezer temp. Plus less beer sits in the line now which I like, even with the bev-seal tubing. My beers are typically around 2.8vol's, for reference.
I have a hard time believing you are pouring perfectly with 1 foot lines. At 42F. And 2.8 vols. You are at 17 psig for those vols. No way possible the flow control is taming 17 psi. Well, 15 psi with 1 foot lines. Wait, Bev Seal... so more like 16.8 psi. The Perlicks are good but not that good. Even the fancy Euro flow controls couldn't slow down that fire cannon. No way is your system dialed in the way described. Something's not right. Cheers.
@billandsuz Well I can tell you it works perfectly... And yes, I am at around 16-17psi. At first I had 6ft lines or so and changed one over to a short 10" line just to test. After a few days I switched them all over with no issue what-so-ever. I even have a 3vol Berliner that pours just fine. You can shut off the faucet with just the flow control adjustment, so you can easily close it enough to build up enough resistant to eliminate line issues. Here is a trio of my beers freshly poured into mini-taster glasses: And my pilsner poured yesterday... About a 10" line on this one, poured aggressively.
