Direct mount ball lock tap

I have a variety of beers in ball lock kegs in my lagering chamber at any given time, so I am often sampling to see when they are ready to move to the kegerator. I use a picnic tap to dispense beer and usually get nothing but a cup of foam. Maybe it's my cheap picnic tap, but I cant get a clean pour off of it. If I only crack the valve, it seems worse than full throttle.

I use Perlick 650 flow controls on my indoor kegerators with great success. Is there a way to direct mount a 650 direct to the keg to give me some flow control for sampling? I don't want anything permanent since I am moving the tap around for sampling reasons only. Ideas?

I dunno how much better it would be with foam, you may just need a longer/smaller ID line
https://www.morebeer.com/products/qd-faucet-adapter.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwmf6-BRDi9fSN7Ijt1wUSJAASawcjUC5CZE_71cOML-mubltvccRP6RQYjitt8sf7S9GR_hoCjXHw_wcB

m00ps said:

I dunno how much better it would be with foam, you may just need a longer/smaller ID line
https://www.morebeer.com/products/qd-faucet-adapter.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwmf6-BRDi9fSN7Ijt1wUSJAASawcjUC5CZE_71cOML-mubltvccRP6RQYjitt8sf7S9GR_hoCjXHw_wcB

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I think we are on the same page. I reached out to Bobby M at BrewHardware to discuss this very Snap Tap set-up. Instead of this standard faucet that is sure to foam, I asked Bobby if he could make me one like with a Perlick 650 Flow Control. Hopefully I could sample at 12-15psi with the 650FC and not get a sample cup of foam.

I have noticed if my picnic tap is not cold then it will foam. once it is sitting in the fridge for a bit the foam isnt bad. just a thought.

Morrey said:

I think we are on the same page. I reached out to Bobby M at BrewHardware to discuss this very Snap Tap set-up. Instead of this standard faucet that is sure to foam, I asked Bobby if he could make me one like with a Perlick 650 Flow Control. Hopefully I could sample at 12-15psi with the 650FC and not get a sample cup of foam.

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He doesn't need to make anything. It's a standard adapter.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/faucetadapter.htm

Just buy that, whatever faucet you want and a MFL keg disconnect

TallDan said:

He doesn't need to make anything. It's a standard adapter.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/faucetadapter.htm

Just buy that, whatever faucet you want and a MFL keg disconnect

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TallDan, before I jump off on a $75 project that wont work well, in your opinion, will the direct tap with a Perlick 650FC keep the foam at bay? Since there are no beer lines and a keg at 12-15psi, am I looking for problems?

BTW...these snap taps are supposed to dispense at 3-5psi so I will be well over that at normal carbing pressures. Will the 650's flow control keep me safe?

signguy35 said:

I have noticed if my picnic tap is not cold then it will foam. once it is sitting in the fridge for a bit the foam isnt bad. just a thought.

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Thanks signguy35. I usually let the picnic tap just sit atop the keg at 32F...just not tapped on the ball lock. They say a picnic tap serves effectively at 5psi or less, and my typical keg volumes are 12-15.

Morrey said:

TallDan, before I jump off on a $75 project that wont work well, in your opinion, will the direct tap with a Perlick 650FC keep the foam at bay? Since there are no beer lines and a keg at 12-15psi, am I looking for problems?

BTW...these snap taps are supposed to dispense at 3-5psi so I will be well over that at normal carbing pressures. Will the 650's flow control keep me safe?

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Well, that I can't say. I haven't tried it myself. My only experience with the FC faucets is on our club jockey box, and based on my experience this weekend, I rather doubt that you could go with that high of pressure.

That said, the adapter part is only $6 and you said you already have some FC faucets, so it seems like you could try this out with much less than $75 spent.

Can you purge the keg and reset it temporarily to dispense at ~2psi when you sample? Or maybe just mostly purge it by slowly pulling the PRV so you dont have a large pressure buildup to force it out the faucet?

TallDan said:

Well, that I can't say. I haven't tried it myself. My only experience with the FC faucets is on our club jockey box, and based on my experience this weekend, I rather doubt that you could go with that high of pressure.

That said, the adapter part is only $6 and you said you already have some FC faucets, so it seems like you could try this out with much less than $75 spent.

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Yes, I use the FC faucets on my three tap tower, of course they are all dedicated to the taps they serve. I had always considered I need a spare faucet, so all would not be lost.

m00ps said:

Can you purge the keg and reset it temporarily to dispense at ~2psi when you sample? Or maybe just mostly purge it by slowly pulling the PRV so you dont have a large pressure buildup to force it out the faucet?

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I think that would work! I could disconnect the gas line, then bleed most of the gas off. Just enough pressure left in the keg to dispense a sample volume. Since these are full kegs being discussed, there won't be appreciable gas wasted.

i have a perlick 650ss mounted directly to the ke and it works great. would not use a std faucet, you need the flow control tap.

pretty sure you cant use the standard adapter on the flow controls either. not positive as I havent tried it. my research led me to these which i use and work well. well, i have version 1. http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3343

iijakii said:

i have a perlick 650ss mounted directly to the ke and it works great. would not use a std faucet, you need the flow control tap.

pretty sure you cant use the standard adapter on the flow controls either. not positive as I havent tried it. my research led me to these which i use and work well. well, i have version 1. http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3343

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Awesome! My gears are turning! This looks like an ideal set-up.

My main goal for the tap is to sample beers from kegs to test when they are ready...for example dry hopping in keg. ANOTHER big need is my son's wedding coming up and he wants two soda kegs of beer. I could use a picnic tap and turn the gas down to 5 psi, but the Perlick 650 FC would look so much nicer for his wedding. I even wanted to get a keg wrap made for his wedding day! Glad you showed me the link!

You can also add an inline flow control to your picnic tap.
http://www.kegconnection.com/inline-flow-control/

Morrey said:

Awesome! My gears are turning! This looks like an ideal set-up.

My main goal for the tap is to sample beers from kegs to test when they are ready...for example dry hopping in keg. ANOTHER big need is my son's wedding coming up and he wants two soda kegs of beer. I could use a picnic tap and turn the gas down to 5 psi, but the Perlick 650 FC would look so much nicer for his wedding. I even wanted to get a keg wrap made for his wedding day! Glad you showed me the link!

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I've got 10 650ss flow control faucets with the Chicocompany adapters and they work pretty well.

In addition to being able to pull samples of aging beers, I ferment in 10 gallon cornys and can pull hydrometer samples using the tap....and I've been known to drink a pint or four directly from the fermenter after cold crashing and before transferring to the serving keg.

My picnic sampling setup doesn't foam add long as the line is cold. I just store it with the lagering/conditioning kegs