Newbie here to this forum and brewing. Gathering equipment and have a couple corny kegs with the straws just off the bottom. I plan to gravity transfer my extract brewed beer from my fermenter after cold crashing but just thinking their will still be sediment (for lack of proper verbage, please correct if I am wrong) and the straw should be off the bottom by “x” so as not to draw the sediment up the tube when serving and worse case clog the straw. Thoughts?
Ideally, you want to get as little of that sediment (trub) in your keg as possible. That can be done by cold crashing or even by simply letting your fermenter sit for a few days before kegging. Some people cut the diptube (what you call a straw) but I prefer not to, so I get all the bout. You’ll get sediment for the first glass or 2, but after that you’ll be fine.
I’ve cut mine about 1/2" so as to reduce yeast pickup but not leave much beer in the keg at the end. If your keg has a round bottom with a small indent in the center, I would definitely shorten the dip tube if it goes all the way to the bottom. Otherwise, I am ambivalent whether I would I do it again.
If you get hop sludge into the keg, it can clog the poppet valve even if the diptube is elevated off the bottom. Otherwise it doesn’t matter since yeast will settle on the bottom and form a cake. The first pour of two will be cloudy but then it will clear.
Most corny kegs have a small depression bottom center. The dip tube is normally at the top of it or extends slightly into it. Some people cut of the end, but it’s not necessary. As others have said, once it settles out, the first pint or 2 will be cloudy.
Consider a floating diptube as a replacement, if you want to get the clearest beer off the top at the earliest point in time. I don’t use them in kegs (only in the primary fermenter to transfer clearer beer to the keg.)