Foamy Pour in Hi-Carb Beer

[NickL]

I am having trouble kegging a Berliner Weisse at 3.5 volumes. (I know that's on the high end) I keep getting the classic glass of foam and then flat beer when it settles down.

I already increased the line length to a whopping 13 feet of 3/16 ID. I can get a good pour if I turn the pressure down to 15 psi when serving but I don't want to keep messing with it every time I want to pour.

Any ideas?

 

[LarMoeCur]

Calculator says you need 21.6 ft of line if your running it at 25 psi with a 1.5 foot rise. I don't think there's anyway around the physics. The way I see it you got three choices.

1. Do what you're doing and turn the pressure down when serving.
2. Put in a 22 ft line.
3. Break out the bottling equipment and bottle it up.

 

[NickL]

Which calculator are you using?

I Used the following:
L = (P -(H x .5) – 1 ) / R

Where:
L = length of beer line in feet
P = pressure set of regulator
H = total height from center of keg to faucet in feet
R = resistance of the line from the following table
1 = residual pressure remaining at faucet (this can be increased to 2 if you need to increase pressure to increase dispense rate)

L = (29 -(1.5 x .5) – 1 ) / 2.2= 13.3'

 

[day_trippr]

2.2 is way off...

 

[NickL]

2.2 is way off...

I have only seen 2.2 and 2.7 for 3/16 ID hoses. I chose the smaller of the available references to err on the side of caution. All of the 3/16 ID tubes on morebeer say 2.2 lbs/ft.

Do you have a different reference?

 

[day_trippr]

Just the only beer line length calculator worth using...

http://www.mikesoltys.com/2012/09/17/determining-proper-hose-length-for-your-kegerator/

Comes complete with education

Cheers!

 

[LarMoeCur]

Same one I used.

 

[TheHopfather]

^ +1 for that calculator.

Also why create a topic about foamy pours and then argue when it is pointed out to you that your line length math is wrong? You're getting foamy pours, your lines are too short. That's the answer, why argue that?

 

[NickL]

^ +1 for that calculator.

Also why create a topic about foamy pours and then argue when it is pointed out to you that your line length math is wrong? You're getting foamy pours, your lines are too short. That's the answer, why argue that?

Lets all just chill out a little bit.

I wasn't arguing my math was correct. I was asking for a reference so I could fix it.

Multiple reputable references use the apparently faulty equation:

http://beersmith.com/blog/2011/07/14/keg-line-length-balancing-the-science-of-draft-beer/
https://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/...our-kegged-beer-co2-line-length-and-pressure/

Showing my work was not and argument for it's validity. It was an invitation to help me find the error.


For the record I would encourage everyone to be aware of their tone. It doesn't help our hobby to berate people asking for help. This seems to be happening more and more often these days.


If anyone is interested, here is the answer I was looking for. The equation on the calculator posted by day_trippr (thanks for the reference) takes into account the kinetic energy of the fluid. The equation I used is a simplified version and does not take into account the flow rate. It makes sense that at higher energies (pressure) the v^2 term becomes more of a factor when compared to the other linear terms. This is why the simplified version works at normal pressures and not at higher ones.


Thank you all for the assistance. I'll get a longer tube.