I've just tapped my first keg a couple of days ago and have been unfortunately having foaming issues!
The background:
-being impatient, I carbonated in a hurry for this first batch with the 30psi+shake method, then reduced to 12psi for this red ale
-using a picnic tap with 3ft of proper clear 3/16ID beer line I had lots of foam
-tried 10ft of 3/16 braided beverage line, still just as foamy
The only way I could serve a foam-free glass was to pop off the gas, bleed almost all the pressure from the keg, then serve. I'm pretty sure having the proper 6+ feet of proper clear hose (rather than braided) would solve my problem but I'm having trouble finding some locally.
Just as an experiment, I've tried putting a C-clamp on the serving line to add resistance. It's a delicate balance, but if I set the pinch on the line just right I can pour a glass without foam, very slowly however. Too little pinch and it foams terribly.
I'm still trying to find some proper line, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried using a valve or somesuch (like my c-clamp) to provide a variable amount of line resistance for balancing? It might be an alternative to having all that extra hose in the kegerator or turning your CO2 pressure down for serving.
The background:
-being impatient, I carbonated in a hurry for this first batch with the 30psi+shake method, then reduced to 12psi for this red ale
-using a picnic tap with 3ft of proper clear 3/16ID beer line I had lots of foam
-tried 10ft of 3/16 braided beverage line, still just as foamy
The only way I could serve a foam-free glass was to pop off the gas, bleed almost all the pressure from the keg, then serve. I'm pretty sure having the proper 6+ feet of proper clear hose (rather than braided) would solve my problem but I'm having trouble finding some locally.
Just as an experiment, I've tried putting a C-clamp on the serving line to add resistance. It's a delicate balance, but if I set the pinch on the line just right I can pour a glass without foam, very slowly however. Too little pinch and it foams terribly.
I'm still trying to find some proper line, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried using a valve or somesuch (like my c-clamp) to provide a variable amount of line resistance for balancing? It might be an alternative to having all that extra hose in the kegerator or turning your CO2 pressure down for serving.