Cooling draft tower

[thisisbeer]

Of the first pint of anything off my keeper is foamy. I have a 3 tap draft tower. I have heard plenty of people not having any issues with excessive foaming. Especially when the keeper is indoors. I believe I'm right in assuming it has to be the temp difference. I can't think of anything else it could be. Is there any simple way to cool the tower down? Aside from using computer fans and other gadgets. If not which way is the easiest?

Thanks!

 

[ekjohns]

easiest way is to use 1/2 copper pipe that runs the whole length of the tower then does a 90 degree turn in the fridge to add more thermal mass. You can run the lines through the pipe. No additional wiring or running electronics.

 

[Bensiff]

The foam can come from more than just temp issues. Anything that causes turbulance in the flow will rip CO2 out of solution causing excessive foaming, so clean serving lines is important. I think it is also important to maintain as short of lines as possible, I used to have longer lines and higher serving pressure and then I played around with the calculations and temp and shortened up my serving lines and dropped my pressure around 4 psi. I also built a contraption (search around HBT and you will find a build thread on it) that consists of pvc tubing, spray foam, and copper pipe. Simply take a piece of pvc, spray it full of spray foam, and then run the copper pipe through. Put that in your tower and run the lines through the copper. Let a few inches of copper extend into the the kegerator so it can transfer the cold up the pipe and keep the lines cool. This seems to work pretty good. I get a little foaming on the first few ounces of a pour of the evening which is no big deal to me, I dump that down the sink and everything is perfect after that for the remainder of the evening. Who wants to drink beer that has been sitting in the line for a few days anyway right?

 

[matc]

For what's it's worth, i live in canada so it's pretty cool all year round and i used to have the same problem with the foam. Like many people, i've tried the copper thing two times, the last time i used A LOT of copper inside the fridge, insulated my tower etc and it was a pure waste of time.

So i removed all the copper, enlarged the hole on top of the fridge and rigged a 1.5" flexible hose to a small turbine fan that's sitting right next to the cooling lines. The hose goes all the way up to the tower and the beer line passes through that hose. Problem solved, my faucet is always cold even when it's been a couple of days between pours.

If i were you, i would skip the copper right away and use a good fan with a large hose

 

[bondra76]

I have the same issue and have been studying this as well.

I'm going the 1/2" copper tubing route that everyone's described along with a foam insulation product from home depot.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-1-2-in-inside-Dia-x-3-ft-Pipe-Insulation-4-Pack-P10X/100090475

 

[thisisbeer]

I already have a computer fan lying around. What kind of flexible hose did you use, bensiff?

 

[squash1978]

I use a 1" copper pipe inside my tower. Seems to work well form me, no foaming so far.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[bigken462]

I used copper tubing up to the bottom of the shank and while I was building it, plumbed in some corrugated tubing for a fan should I need it later.

So far it's worked ok without the fan. I have a fan built using a project box to pop in later this summer when the temps get hotter if mine starts to foam up.

I just used one fan, but left room for two if one was not enough. The corrugated tubing is used on ventilators at hospitals. Should still be able to find it just about anywhere though.