Mixed gas or CO2 and GO!

[rsizemore]

Hey all,
I am running 64 ft. from kegs on the floor of my walk-in to my taps. A straight run at tap height with one gentle turn at the bar. I'm planning 12 PSI in the kegs. I calculated resistance of 11.5 lb for the total run including chokers. At the end I was thinking to use flow control faucets for that last little bit of fine tuning.

Assuming my trunk line run do you think I really need to invest in a mixed gas system or beer pumps or can I get away with straight CO2?

As always, thanks in advance for the wealth of information.

[gitchegumee]

You're so very close at 11.5 psi that I think you'll be just fine. I've had great luck with being this close before. Good luck!

[einhorn]

I also think that you should try starting with CO2 - 12 psi shouldn't be a problem and you can always switch over to nitro-mix later. I would invest in FOBs, though.

[rsizemore]

FOB and chokers

I've been able to adjust the total drop to 11.5 lbs with the choker length. So I really thought it should work without any drama.

Einhorn,
I will absolutely utilize FOB's although I haven't decided over plastic vs. S.S. Likely stainless... Your thoughts?

I'm also thinking to install Pegas Novo Taps (for PET growler filling) AND the flow control faucets.

[einhorn]

As far as I know the flow control taps are quite expensive (correct me here). Why not start with normal taps and see how things go? I really can't imagine having any problems with 20 m of line, especially w/o having to overcome height changes.

SS vs. plastic - no idea. I assume that SS is more robust, but I have no experience with various FOB materials. I suppose it's a question of $$.

[BeersmithMT]

I too would try standard taps first, there's no reason to use the controlled restriction models until you're sure you need them.

There are several factors that you left out that I think you should consider before making all of your decisions here.

What is your beer/cold room temp?

Because if you are running 12PSI of 100% CO2 at 38F, the equilibrium CO2 level in your kegs is going to be 2.7 volumes: overcarbonated for most of my style preferences. Not sure what beer styles you are planning. It will take a few days to happen, but it definitely will. The overcarbonation potential will only get worse if your beer/cooler is less than 38F.

Does your gas balanced run of 64ft with 12 lbs restriction also deliver a flow volume that you need? I normally plan on 2 oz per second. From my own experiences, a 65 ft run seems like a pretty long run for 100% CO2, but the math should indicate. It just seems like to keep that low of restriction over 65 ft, you will be using bigger diameter tubing to minimize restriction (before the choker) and that you might end up delivering more beer per second than desired.

It's easy to add a gas blender after the fact if 100% CO2 doesn't work. In fact, the McDantim folks will quickly build you a blender at a specific mix. We tested our system with 100% CO2 first to make sure we had the right flow rate, and then had the blender tuned exactly to the level we needed: 92% CO2/8% N2.