Faucets are at EXACTLY the same height as the top of the cornies…
One thing I have been doing this morning to get the pressures right is to put a gauge on the cornies and see what was actually in there… Seems my regulator gauge may be reading a little low. I’ve been bleeding them down and re-reading.
I had to keep experimenting with my line length. For my system, 34ºF (I like my lagers cold) and 13-14psi, I finally ended up using 15 feet of 3/16 beverage line and I now have a nicely balanced system. I would start with a length that you think is too long, and if it is too long, trim it down. Kind of hard to go in the opposite direction.
I would also echo a previous poster’s comment of carbonating at your serving pressure. Of course it takes longer (1 week?) but things just seem to work better and balance easier. YMMV
One other thing, each beer is different. I have 4 beers on tap right now and all set at the same pressure since I only have one regulator. I have two ales that hardly have any head, a porter that has the prettiest head you could ask for, and a CAP which pours foamy for the first pour and a just a touch too much foam but acceptable for the subsequent pours. I guess my point is you may get it dialed in for one beer and then have a “problem” with the next beer.
That’s why I have a dual regulator.
As far as force carbonating… The process is changing. I got one of these:
Last keg I cooled, then force carbonated for 5 minutes, let sit for 15 and measured the pressure. Repeated until I got to service pressure, then plugged into the system without shocking it. Much better.
One mistake I made is that I took a keg to a party, and ran it with a little CO2 cartridge. When I cam home I just plugged it in, and apparently it was more carbonated than I thought. I should have measured, and vented as necessary to bring it to service pressure.
OK newsflash…
Put 12 foot lines on two of the taps today. It’s a whole new ball game. Have to work to get head now. Hold the glass low and let 'er splash. But, I have bracketed the envelope. May have to cut a foot off, although I am pretty happy for the moment.
I need a variable resistance tap…engineers…any ideas?
or a secondary regulator (like you need an excuse for that)…cut a foot (or 6 inches) at a time to get it perfect!
This looks waterproof:
Although I’m not sure how you’d hook it up to a draught system.
Guess that depends on how many Ohms your system is rated for
Now THAT would be an interesting thought experiment.
Did you make that pressure gauge or buy it? I found a page the Mike Dixon put together to make one here: http://hbd.org/carboy/kegpresstester.htm. Doesn’t sound difficult but I was wondering if somewhere was selling them already assembled.
Got them here:
Nice. Thanks. I’ll have to pick one of those up when they have them back in stock.