My turn at foaming questions!

I balanced my lines in my old kegerator, and had great results. When that kegerator died, I simply bought a new fridge and carried on. Since then, I have some foaming issues. I think I've pinpointed the problem- in order to keep the tap handles below the freezer door, I have them lower than the top of the kegs. As a result, I get more foaming than I liked. Using the formula to balance doesn't work for me, since I have a -1 inch drop instead of a positive rise in height.

I've tried turning down the temp, etc, but I like the carb level right where I have it at 11 psi. I have 10 foot lines already. Would even longer lines help? Or, in this case, because of the drop and the beer in the lines, would shorter lines be better?

Changing from carbing temps to serving temps isn't an option for me. I want to keep a steady 11 psi (unless I'm quick force carbing, but that's only one regulator that would be different).

I think I'm overthinking this- but I'm still not smart enough to figure it out!

Yeah, the height of the taps causes additional pressure drop from keg to tap. Are these 3/16" lines? IIRC, 3/16" drops 2 pounds per foot. 1/4" is a little big unless you have a super long run, say from the basement. Shorter is not going to be better.

10' lines is usually enough for most cases, but most are serving from above the keg.

When I added length, I bought some SS splicers so I didn't have to pull the shanks out of my tower and because I couldn't justify buying the correct length lines and pulling my shorter ones out to sit on a shelf until I needed them for something else.

I bought these:
Union or splicer

This guy has stuff really cheap, so I stock up on what I need when I order from him. Limited catalog, but cheap and dependable.

Henry Hill said:

Yeah, the height of the taps causes additional pressure drop from keg to tap. Are these 3/16" lines? IIRC, 3/16" drops 2 pounds per foot. 1/4" is a little big unless you have a super long run, say from the basement. Shorter is not going to be better.

10' lines is usually enough for most cases, but most are serving from above the keg.

When I added length, I bought some SS splicers so I didn't have to pull the shanks out of my tower and because I couldn't justify buying the correct length lines and pulling my shorter ones out to sit on a shelf until I needed them for something else.

I bought these:
Union or splicer

This guy has stuff really cheap, so I stock up on what I need when I order from him. Limited catalog, but cheap and dependable.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it's 3/16 line. So, even more length because of the drop? That was my first thought, but I wasn't sure. It seems crazy to have longer lines but I definitely do have some foaming issues now that I need to fix. I like the idea of SS splicers! I was hesitating because I had to just have four rolls of 8-10 foot line laying around to use with picnic taps. Thanks for the link!

Like Henry Hill says above, you will need longer lines because of the drop. If you're using a formula for line length, 0" would probably be close enough to 1".

Personally, I recommend using epoxy mixers and then shortening lines to taste. My lines are now about 4'.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/cure-your-short-hose-troubles-100151/

I have extended a beer line with a nylon splicer like the one linked and it worked fine.
If you lower the fridge temp, you can use a lower serving pressure and maintain the same co2 volume. If you lower the temp and leave the same pressure, you are creating more co2 volume which could lead to more foam. Post a pic of your setup (inside and out) and we can look for any other potential issues.

bdavanza said:

I have extended a beer line with a nylon splicer like the one linked and it worked fine.
If you lower the fridge temp, you can use a lower serving pressure and maintain the same co2 volume. If you lower the temp and leave the same pressure, you are creating more co2 volume which could lead to more foam. Post a pic of your setup (inside and out) and we can look for any other potential issues.

Click to expand...

I did try turning down the temperature (and the psi, too) and it worked. Well, except that now my beer is too cold!

I think I'm going to make some other changes, too. I have two tanks, one 5# and one 10#.

I keep the 5# at my cottage in the summer, for my dorm fridge and 3 gallon kegs. But I now have it at home, since I just had it filled and haven't hauled it out there yet.

So, I have four kegs in my fridge and three taps. If I put both co2 tanks in the fridge, I can have all four on co2. The 10# tank has a double regulator, for two tanks. The 5# tank has one regulator with a WYE, so I can have two tanks on the gas there also. That takes up a lot of room! What I need to do is get a manifold and "clean up" that mess a bit. I could easily fit 5 kegs in the fridge if I didn't have two tanks in there!

I'll try to get a picture later- thanks for all the help!