Flow Control: Which Faucets Do You Like?

[AlexKay]

I took my jockey box out for its maiden voyage last weekend. There was foam. I was able to fiddle with the gas pressure a limited amount and at best got things so 1/3 of each pour was liquid. I'm not going to mess with the coils themselves, but I suppose I could run longer liquid lines from the kegs to the box.

Currently I'm using generic rear-sealing faucets. I don't think a forward seal is needed for cleanliness, since a jockey box gets cleaned thoroughly after every use. But how do higher-end forward-sealing faucets compare to generic rear-sealing ones as far as foam production goes? Would switching in regular old Nukataps be enough of a fix? A forum search -- I did search! -- has some people talking about Nukataps in hushed, reverent tones.

But this seems like the sort of situation that flow-control faucets are well suited for. The forum search dug up mixed opinions about both the Perlick 650SS and the Nukatap FC; Intertap FC doesn't even seem to be available anymore. I'm hoping someone will say "Buy XXX product, which is perfectly matched to your situation, and will solve all of your problems." Any feedback at all would be helpful, though.

 

[passedpawn]

I've got 3 650SS. I have about 1 foot of feed line from them to the kegs. Literally. Flow is nice, no problems with foam at all. I keep the gas at 12psi.

I do have a glycol-chilled tap tower, so that helps a lot.

 

[pvpeacock]

I have two Intertap Flow Control faucets on my 4 tap keezer and have not found them to be very good at reducing foam even with long beer lines. I thought about putting one on my jockeybox when I first built it, but opted for a regular Intertap faucet instead so that I could put a spring in it to automatically close it. I can't tell you how many times people left the tap open/pouring at parties. I would suggest a longer beer line or even a flow control corny keg disconnect before I recommended the Interrap FC faucet.

 

[TkmLinus]

FWIW I have a Nukatap flow control faucet and have had no issues with foam from it(I also have the spring installed). Granted, I have only run 3 kegs worth of beer through it so take my experience with a grain of salt. I am fighting foam issues with my intertap flow control.

 

[Bobby_M]

I took my jockey box out for its maiden voyage last weekend. There was foam. I was able to fiddle with the gas pressure a limited amount and at best got things so 1/3 of each pour was liquid. I'm not going to mess with the coils themselves, but I suppose I could run longer liquid lines from the kegs to the box.

Currently I'm using generic rear-sealing faucets. I don't think a forward seal is needed for cleanliness, since a jockey box gets cleaned thoroughly after every use. But how do higher-end forward-sealing faucets compare to generic rear-sealing ones as far as foam production goes? Would switching in regular old Nukataps be enough of a fix? A forum search -- I did search! -- has some people talking about Nukataps in hushed, reverent tones.

But this seems like the sort of situation that flow-control faucets are well suited for. The forum search dug up mixed opinions about both the Perlick 650SS and the Nukatap FC; Intertap FC doesn't even seem to be available anymore. I'm hoping someone will say "Buy XXX product, which is perfectly matched to your situation, and will solve all of your problems." Any feedback at all would be helpful, though.

Jockey boxes are pretty much a nightmare. How cold are the kegs being kept? How long and what is the ID of the cooling coils?

 

[AlexKay]

50-foot coils, 5/16” OD stainless. The kegs were at around 50 F, and I’m being told elsewhere that this was likely the problem. I went with coils instead of a cold plate because I didn’t want to worry so much about keg temperature, but apparently I’m not off the hook…

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I took my jockey box out for its maiden voyage last weekend. There was foam. I was able to fiddle with the gas pressure a limited amount and at best got things so 1/3 of each pour was liquid. I'm not going to mess with the coils themselves, but I suppose I could run longer liquid lines from the kegs to the box.

What pressure did you have the CO2 at? I have read that with a Jockey Box you have to keep the pressure quite high otherwise you get CO2 coming out of the beer in the long lines which leads to foaming. I don't have much experience with this myself.

 

[pvpeacock]

You need to try and keep the kegs as cold as possible with a jockey box. In addition, with coils (as opposed to a cold plate) you want to fill the cooler with ice and water, not just ice. As for CO2 PSI, I start low (12 PSI) and slowly raise the PSI until the beer is flowing smoothly. Not too fast or too slow.

A few weeks ago, I used my jockey box (70' coil) at an event and it took me about 5 minutes tinkering with the PSI's to get it dialed in. After that, all 5 gallons poured perfectly. The keg was sitting in a party tub full of ice water as well.

 

[Ale-bee]

Perlick 650SS is what I recommend. It always gives me good pours, even when other taps give nothing but foam.

 

[AlexKay]

I ran a test where I had cold kegs, ~8 psi of backing pressure (making this higher did not do good things), and was careful to have ice/water covering the coils. I also substituted a standard (not flow-control) Nukatap for the test.

I got ok but not great pours: an inch of foam, which is about 50% the height of the little tasting glass I was using. No difference between the Nukatap and the generic faucets (though the self-closing spring is a fantastic thing, especially on a jockey box.)

 

[AlexKay]

I contacted the company that sold me the jockey box, and they re-emphasized that even if it seemed excessive, a backing pressure of 25-30 psi was necessary. I also got a great deal on Perlick 650s. Between those two things, the pours are perfect. I am very happy.

 

[bluelaker]

Perlick 650SS

 

[odie]

do they make flow control faucets that incorporate a self closing spring? I have not seen one yet.

 

[doogster]

Another option could a ball lock flow control. I can't speak from experience as I havent' tried either, but I've thinking about it rather than swapping out my (non-flow control) Perlick SS faucets.

https://www.morebeer.com/ct/?idx=54...l-lock-quick-disconnect-qd-beverage-8-mm.html
https://www.morebeer.com/ct/?idx=54...trol-ball-lock-disconnect-beverage-flare.html

 

[pvpeacock]

I just replaced my two Intertap flow control faucets with Nukataps (w/springs) and Duotight flow control ball lock disconnects. The beer pours much better. I never felt like the flow control faucets did much to reduce foam.

I also bought Duotight flow control ball lock disconnects for my two jockey boxes which I expect will reduce the time it takes to dial in a good pour once they are set up.

 

[KurtB]

do they make flow control faucets that incorporate a self closing spring? I have not seen one yet.

You can install closing springs along with the flow control Nuka taps. I run them on my kegerator currently, and swap them over to my jockey box if needed.