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I'm now the proud owner of a corny keg. I just have a couple of questions about carbonating the beer and then what to do during / after serving.

As far as I'm aware, to carbonate the beer I just need to stick the Keg + Co2 tank at 10/12 PSI in a fridge at around 7C / 45f for a week.

Then I can turn the gas off to minimize leaking.

My first question is, what PSI to serve at?

I purchased this dispenser + hose + tap solution which has me worried. The length of the tube is about 22cm or 8.66". The width of the tube seems to be 5/16" or 8mm. Material appears to be PVC braided vinyl. The height from the keg seems negligible given the length of the dispenser.

I have had a look at some of the calculations for dispensing the beer but I'm don't think I'm doing it right.

It seems that I would have to bleed the all the gas from the keg before serving and then set the pressure to about 1 PSI to get anything except foam out of it. Would I then have to set the pressure back to 10 PSI to ensure the beer stays carbonated?

I'm just wondering if I should bite the bullet and purchase something like this to avoid any headaches when pouring day comes around.

Any advice is appreciated!

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Yes, the 8" line length of the "Flexi-tap" kit is going to require a much lower serving pressure to pour without excessive foam. The ~5' line length of the "Beer line assembly" will let you keep the ~10psi head pressure to retain ~2.2 volumes CO₂, and serve at the same pressure.

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  • Do you think if I attach a length (~3ft) of clear PVC hose to the dispenser with a universal connector (this model ) it might work?
    – TomSelleck
    Jul 28, 2015 at 16:24
  • Yes, but might as well add 4'4" to get the full 5'. ;) Also, with the design of that universal connector, depending on the beer-line ID, that might have some serious gaps, and be a bit of a PITA to clean.
    – jsled
    Jul 28, 2015 at 18:01
  • Ach yeah seems like too much hassle, might try pick up 5ft of the same braided vinyl on the flexi-tap and just swap it for the current one. Thanks again for the info!
    – TomSelleck
    Jul 29, 2015 at 8:36
  • One last thing! The current short hose looks like 5/16", should I replace it with a smaller one or keep the same width for the 5ft?
    – TomSelleck
    Jul 29, 2015 at 8:39
  • Look at the draft quality guide to see what the difference in line resistance is for 3/16" vs. 5/16", use that to determine what ID and what length you want. Page 36 has the resistance of various line types/sizes, and page 41 has a good example computation which is relevant to most homebrewers. As I said in the other issue, 3/16" is a good ID for most home scenarios. 3/16" line has 3lb/ft resistence; so if you want a head pressure of, say, 12 psi, 3.5ft of 3/16" line will resist almost all of the pressure, leading to about 1.5 psi at the tap, which is a good amount to still pour quickly.
    – jsled
    Jul 29, 2015 at 15:08

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