Draft Beer 101: Beer and Air Lines

By Kegworks | 23 June, 2021

When you think about the parts of a draft beer dispensing system or kegerator, you probably get certain images in your head. You might picture the tower, the faucet, or the tap handle. Or maybe you’re a real pro and your mind’s eye goes inside the cabinet, envisioning the regulator, the CO2 tank, the coupler, or the keg itself.

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Obviously, these are all mandatory pieces of equipment that must work together to help you pour perfectly every time. But wait one second...isn’t there something missing from this list? Some integral part of any draft beer dispensing system that often gets overlooked? You’re darn right there is: beer and air lines!

Over the years that KegWorks has been helping people set up systems designed to help them enjoy fresh draft beer in their homes and commercial establishments, we’ve come to discover that beer and air lines are the most overlooked part of any draft beer dispensing system.

We know what you’re thinking: “Oh those plastic tubes? Who cares about them?” Well, even though they might seem unexciting, taking proper care of your beer and air lines is an absolutely essential part of successful dispensing. To help make that easier than ever, we figured it might be time to shine a spotlight on the most taken-for-granted part of your kegerator.

The Basics of Beer & Air Lines

Draft Beer Line

Draft beer line is the essential part that carries your kegerator or draft system’s precious cargo (beer!) from the keg coupler to the draft faucet. Flexible, clear vinyl hose can be used as beer line for kegerators and direct draw draft systems. Clear tubing is used to help identify any issues with your draft system, including the buildup of sediment, beer stone or mold.

At KegWorks, all of our beer line is made from food-grade, PVC vinyl that’s approved by the FDA, USDA, USP Class VI, NSF, and UL. It’s specially engineered to prevent rotting, cracking, drying out, or swelling, so even with regular use, you can rest assured that it will continue to get the job done.

To match the exact needs of your draft dispensing system, we offer beer line in both ⅜” and 3/16” inside diameters. For most home dispensing setups, 3/16” is a fine choice, but in a commercial setup with a long draw, ⅜” helps provide a quicker, more efficient flow rate with less required pressure. Home users can purchase what is known as a jumper line to run beer from their keg coupler to their draft faucet. A draft beer jumper line is a pre-cut, 5’ piece of beer line that has connectors on either end to easily attach to your draft system, and is perfect for anyone that is setting up a kegerator.

Long draw commercial draft systems should use barrier tubing that resists staining, prevents flavor contamination and helps prevent the growth of beer stone and bacteria. Barrier tubing is also essential for anyone wanting to serve wine and kombucha on tap to protect your lines from staining.

Air Line

Air lines for draft beer systems connect the draft regulator to the keg coupler, and are made from the same material as vinyl beer lines.

Air line is only available in 5/16” inside diameter because that size is designed to provide a proper amount of gas pressure to help power dispensing from virtually any draft beer system. We offer air line in both clear and red vinyl. Many people opt for the red vinyl to help easily distinguish between the air and beer lines, but others prefer to utilize clear tubing for both beer and air in order to better identify and troubleshoot any potential blockages or other issues. You can purchase air line by the foot, in a 100-foot coil (both clear and red), and in pre-assembled jumpers.

Quick Disconnects

If you are regularly changing the beer you have on tap, it’s a wise move to attach quick disconnects to your beer and air line. These special attachments make it easy to switch out the coupler or air tank for hassle-free management of your keg and its frosty contents.

Troubleshooting & Cleaning Beer Line

Both your beer and air lines are very durable pieces of draft beer dispensing equipment. The PVC vinyl is specially designed to withstand just about everything you throw at it, but there are a couple of things you’ll want to pay attention to.

First off, both your beer and air line need to remain unkinked. If there are unnatural bends or creases in the line, it will drastically impact the system’s ability to pour correctly.

When it comes to troubleshooting issues with your draft beer system, we recommend cleaning your lines and other draft components before taking any additional steps or replacing equipment. For both reliable dispensing and to ensure the freshest beer possible, you should clean your beer lines between every keg or at least once every few weeks. Cleaning your beer lines will remove and help prevent the formation of bacteria, mold, yeast and sediment (beer stone). These contaminants can create foaming and taint the taste and aroma of your beer.

Methods For Cleaning Draft Beer Lines

There are a few different pieces of equipment you can use to clean your draft lines. They make it easier to push water and cleaning solution through the lines in order to thoroughly flush your system.

Hand Pump

The most basic setup uses a simple hand pump and a cleaning bottle to push the beer line cleaning solution from your coupler to your draft faucet. This is a great option if you are starting out with a kegerator. The hand pump is available as part of our Beer Line Cleaning Kit.

Cleaning Keg

For those that don’t want to pump cleaning solution by hand, there are pressurized cleaning kegs that use the CO2 from your draft system to push the cleaning solution. You just attach your keg coupler to the top of the cleaning keg, like it was a keg of beer, to operate it.

Electric Recirculating Pump

Commercial establishments with several or more draft lines will find it more efficient to use an electric pump to circulate a cleaning solution. You connect multiple beer lines together to create a loop that quickly cleans and flushes your system.

For a breakdown of how to clean your beer lines just check out our guide on The Basics of Beer Line Cleaning.

That’s it! Now you know everything you could ever want to know about our beer and air lines. Of course, if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment, and we’ll make sure you get the info you need.

Kegworks

Kegworks has been transforming hospitality spaces since 1998 with expertly crafted architectural metalwork and professional draft beer equipment, helping designers, architects, and bar professionals bring their visions to life.

Comments

Robbie
April 1, 2016, 4:45 am

Can beer & air lines be ran over top of a suspended ceiling from an outside cooler instead of running them underground & if so, how far of a distance??

Caitlin Hartney
April 1, 2016, 12:38 pm

Hi, Robbie. That would require a chiller and pump system. If this is for a commercial draft beer system and you need additional information, I suggest speaking with one of our draft beer specialists at 1.888.415.2803.

Robert Wohl
January 24, 2019, 1:36 am

Hello! I have opportnunity to by a 40 tap direct draft system which includes a 24'x8' walk in cooler; 40 taps mounted on outside of one of the long sides; 8 gas distributors(one for each set of 5 taps; all fittings couplings etc; 10' of drain pans w 2 rinsers below the taps. No secondary regulators just the distributors. Everything I have read says length should be no more than 5' from keg to shank. This is fine for the 20 kegs along tap wall side of cooler. Kegs on opposite side would need lines 15' to 20' to go up and over the ceiling and down to taps. Questions:1. Can I just increase line i.d. to 5/16? 2. With 8 gas distributors I assume I can have 8 co2 tanks with individual primary regulators. Would having "custom" pressure for each set of 5 taps help? 3. Should I give up on having lengths longer than 5' and double up the kegs with seperate shelf or purchase the device that lets you put one keg on top of another and still tap it. Then all kegs would be near taps. Interestingly, advice for one member who ran a 5' pvc pipe with blower from his fridge to his bar recommended using 12' of hose , not anything less, and curling up the excess. All help is appreciated. I am excited about the opportunity to add this to my existing cafe but want to avoid big mistakes. Thanks

Chris
February 1, 2019, 6:22 pm

Hi Robert,

It sounds like you're building an awesome draft system for your cafe! One thought I do have is that your system would likely be best for use with glycol cooling. For the majority of long draw or commercial draft beer systems, especially those running 6 or more beer lines or draft systems running over 15 feet, a glycol chiller system is recommended.

The rest of these questions would be best to discuss with our draft beer experts at Customer Care. They can be reached at 877.636.3673, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm EST. You can also reach out here. They will be able to discuss specifics about your system and answer all your questions. Cheers!

Howard
February 12, 2019, 2:28 pm

Can you use the standard beer lines for nitrogen, or does the additional pressure require a different diameter or type of line?

Chris
February 12, 2019, 3:16 pm

Hi Howard,

The short answer is that standard vinyl lines are used whether you're using CO2 or Nitrogen. The one caveat to that is that wine or kombucha on tap would require barrier lines. A different diameter for the lines may be used depending on the length, resistance, and gravity affecting your system. Check out our blog on determining pressure for your system for more info on that.

Gary Amado
March 26, 2019, 2:42 am

Why no info. at all about the importance of balancing the length of the beer line for one's kegerator. Are you not an advocate of balancing the line resistance to reduce foaming?

Chris
March 26, 2019, 1:18 pm

Hi Gary,

No worries, we're line balancing advocates! A formula for determining the appropriate PSI for your system based on length of beer line, line resistance, and gravity is discussed in this blog piece, "Determining the Right Pressure for Your Draft Beer System". Cheers!

Paul
July 16, 2019, 10:44 am

I am building a beer wall for a upcoming wedding reception and I am planning on having a 4 line setup from my CO2 cartridge. Now I might have an extra keg to hook up. How do I do that simply?

Katie Johnson
July 22, 2019, 5:53 pm

Paul, you have 2 options;

1- CO2 manifold, this is basically just a splitter, serving pressure on all 4 lines will be the same. https://www.kegworks.com/2-to-9-way-aluminum-co2-distribution-manifolds-for-draft-beer-systems

2- secondary regulator will give the option to adjust each kegs pressure individually. https://www.kegworks.com/4-way-secondary-air-regulator-polycarbonate-bonnet

steven phillips
November 5, 2019, 1:55 pm

Greetings! I have a customer that has a bulk C02 tank outside set up for COKE C02 coming into the building. The hard line coming into the building is 1/4 inch. can I tee off that to go into 5/16 ID gas line, or would that restrict the gas flow? Thank you so much!!

Dave Buchanan
November 6, 2019, 3:09 pm

Hi Steven, that would be fine, restriction will not be an issue with your CO2 system. Cheers!

Robert Reyes
November 23, 2019, 6:23 pm

I have a Beverage-air bm23 it has a single tap with a 5 beer supply line.
I want to convert it to 4 tap corny keg set up.
I have read a lot of different things about the beer supply line length.
My understanding is the longer you go the better pour you will get.
What do you recommend for the length ?

Dave Buchanan
December 3, 2019, 9:14 pm

Hi Robert, 5' of 3/16" choker line is recommended for a normal direct draw kegerator setup. There should be no need to extend the length of the lines. Cheers!

Jerry
May 15, 2020, 5:38 pm

are there conntors that are 3/16 one end and 3/8 the other.

wes womble
July 25, 2021, 5:43 am

I have a beer keg, and would like to make a water fire extinguisher out of it. I would need someway to refill with water. Add air pressure to it and have some sort of valve to turn on and off the flow of water. I do tractor mowing in California, and need this for fire suppression. Any help would be apricated. Thanks in advance.

Garrett Wallach
August 22, 2021, 10:27 pm

Hi, I have a kegarator under the bar I built-and the kegarator came with 5 feet of beer hose. Everywhere I read they say it should be at least 8 to 10 feet of hose. From the center of the keg to the tap I have 3 feet. What length of hose do you recommend ?
Thanks Garrett

David Buchanan
August 25, 2021, 3:58 pm

Hi, Garrett. Have you tried pouring beer with the original hose? Try that to start, and if you have issues with foaming, then try a longer hose. Cheers!

Eve Mitchell
September 21, 2021, 7:25 pm

My brother and his wife are big beer fans. They loved your tip about cleaning your draft beer line. We are hoping to get them a dispenser for their anniversary.

Racinante
May 10, 2024, 11:48 am

Another option to using the CO2 supply to push cleaning solution, is to buy an aquarium pump to just use air. It might be slow, but you can walk away b/c these are meant to run all the time. I bought a higher end one (~$50) with some reasonable head pressure. Transferring 19L seems to take about 5 mins with it.

Draft Beer 101: Beer and Air Lines