The dreaded too much head thread

Okay, well I set up my through the wall tap - and I love it. Just one problem I have a little too much head. I think I found out why, but I am not positive.

I have a bunch of extra tubing coiled up in the fridge. Total about 20 feet from keg to tap. I think I can cut like 8 - 10 feet off and have a ton less head on my beer, any thoughts? Cause once I cut it it is hard to put back together .

Could the extra line be the problem or is it something else??

I'm not sure but I thought more line = less head. I have 6 feet on each of my taps and its fine. whats your pressure set at?

andyb0527 said:

I'm not sure but I thought more line = less head. I have 6 feet on each of my taps and its fine. whats your pressure set at?

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I am at like 9 now. Tried 12, 10 and 8 and 9 seemed to give me the least amount of head...

What pressure are you dispensing at?

The ai in the line is not helping. I second the pressure question.

Is it one solid piece of tubing or is it multiple pieces held together with a barb.

Yes there was actually air in the line at one point too. Now it is more like air bubbles which I am sure is still bad. I am contributing that to changing the pressures and purging the c02 out of the keg with the beer line attached.

BuffaloSabresBrewer said:

Is it one solid piece of tubing or is it multiple pieces held together with a barb.

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One solid piece.

Purge the CO2 and turn down the PSI to around 5.

BuffaloSabresBrewer said:

Purge the CO2 and turn down the PSI to around 5.

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That low, wow. So I don't have to cut back on the amount of tubing, I thought for sure I had too long of a run and that is why I was foaming!

Nope bars have some crazy long lengths of tubing. If it barely dribbles out at 5 PSI because of all the tubing you can try turning up the PSI a little at a time.

BuffaloSabresBrewer said:

Nope bars have some crazy long lengths of tubing. If it barely dribbles out at 5 PSI because of all the tubing you can try turning up the PSI a little at a time.

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But don't they have smaller diameters they use?

Bars actually use larger diameter tubing for the long runs.

How often do you clean out your system? Is it possible you have some "gunk" buildup that may cause excess turbulence in your line, leading to more foam?

annasdadhockey said:

How often do you clean out your system? Is it possible you have some "gunk" buildup that may cause excess turbulence in your line, leading to more foam?

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Just installed it last week

underwaterdan said:

Just installed it last week

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Just installed the "through the wall" portion or the whole setup, tap and all?

annasdadhockey said:

Just installed the "through the wall" portion or the whole setup, tap and all?

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Yup (darn 10 chars)

underwaterdan said:

Yup (darn 10 chars)

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what size lines you running ? and they are real beer lines correct.

annasdadhockey said:

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Wont let you post without a minimum of 10 characters

3/16 inch beer line. that is why I thought my line was too long. It is all coiled in the fridge i can shorten it.

The two things I've found that usually cause foam are excess turbulence and rapid temperature change.

Turbulence could be cause by a number of things. Like others mentioned; excess fittings, gunk, etc. My first coupler I bought had a little plastic vortex device installed in it that made a lot of foam. When I took that out it got a lot better. The other issue I had was a bad gasket inside of my tap handle. That was causing a ton of foam for some reason too.

Any updates?

BuffaloSabresBrewer said:

Any updates?

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Now that you ask, yes. I turned down the pressure, but now my beer tastes off, flat maybe. I think I might try and shorten the line to about 10 feet and try to aim for about 10 psi for the pressure. Using all the charts it shows my pressure should be about 2psi, which is way off I am sure.

Is the length outside the fridge cooled in any way. If the beer warms up by the time it gets to the tap it might cause this.

It is cooled, I am now starting to wonder if the temp in the fridge is too cold - it is 35 in there - air temp not liquid