I’ve recently started kegging my beer (1 so far), but have a query regarding the pressure. Say I carbonate my beer to 2.5vols of CO2 at 14psi (6c temp), should I be maintaining this pressure for serving?
Yes, as much as possible.
Yes. FYI, your draft lines should be long enough to create sufficient enough pressure drop so that your beer pours properly.
Thanks - the line that came with the keg is 6ft of 3/8" so is woefully inadequate for balancing 14psi at present. I’ll get some 3/16" and some adaptors when I get the kegerator built.
As long as you get the pour you want at your carb pressure using the 6 feet, all good. But if not, a good strategy is to buy several feet of beer line (I buy 10 ft) and cut it down in increments until you get the pour you’re after.
I’m also going to get a flow control tap which should give me a bit of leeway with the line length.
Quick followup question - when measuring height to the tap for beer line balancing, do you measure from the top of the keg, or halfway up the keg (to act as an average as the beer goes down)?
The head pressure differential is about 0.4 psi/ft. So, unless you’re going from a keg in the basement to a tap in the house, the tap height above beer is inconsequential.
Cheers, the tap is likely to be about a foot above the top of the keg.