Nukatap Faucets

[TsunamiMike]

Depends how you have it setup, if your lines are inside your keezer and you open up the top to grab the picnic tap and pour and put them back then you wouldn't have foaming issues.

The issue with taps in general are the tap portion being at room ambient temperature, lets say 70 degrees in your room. When you go to pour from your tap, the Co2 is pushing 37-40 degree beer into a faucet that is at 70 degrees therefore creating foam. Now lets say you pour 1 pint that way, now your faucet is "cooled" down from the 70 degrees closer to the beers temp so if you pour another immediately or within 15 minutes life is good but remember that the faucet is going to start warming back up after every pour.

 

[Ragman]

Depends how you have it setup, if your lines are inside your keezer and you open up the top to grab the picnic tap and pour and put them back then you wouldn't have foaming issues.

The issue with taps in general are the tap portion being at room ambient temperature, lets say 70 degrees in your room. When you go to pour from your tap, the Co2 is pushing 37-40 degree beer into a faucet that is at 70 degrees therefore creating foam. Now lets say you pour 1 pint that way, now your faucet is "cooled" down from the 70 degrees closer to the beers temp so if you pour another immediately or within 15 minutes life is good but remember that the faucet is going to start warming back up after every pour.

ahhh. Good info. Thank you.

 

[Broothru]

I kinda have the same issue- I have two Intertap Flow control faucets and one CMB faucet running 4mm EVA.

My first pour using the Intertap faucets does produce some foam. What i have been doing is make a couple ounces to get the beer flowing, drink then pour my pint and that has reduced the amount of foam. I've tried adjusting the flow but it really doesnt help initially. The CMB pours way better, less foam.

I'm thinking about switching out the Intertaps for CMB or Nukatap.

I was once told by a bartender that the trick to getting a foam-free pour is to quickly open and shut a tap 3 or 4 times to purge any trapped CO2. It also dissipates any foam and stale beer from the line directly adjacent to the tap. It works pretty well, especially for a tap that hasn't been pulled recently (within the past hour or so). Give it a try.

Brooo Brother

 

[user 231379]

I replaced my two faucets with Nukataps and 5.5' of 4mm EVA tubing which was a standard length from MoreBeer.
Been using them for about 2 months and felt I had less foam than before but I thought it could be better. I put another 5.5' of 4mm EVA tubing in line and now could not be happier.

 

[brew703]

I was once told by a bartender that the trick to getting a foam-free pour is to quickly open and shut a tap 3 or 4 times to purge any trapped CO2. It also dissipates any foam and stale beer from the line directly adjacent to the tap. It works pretty well, especially for a tap that hasn't been pulled recently (within the past hour or so). Give it a try.

Brooo Brother

I tried this last night and it worked. Still should not have to do it that way if the lines were correctly balanced but it worked.

 

[brew703]

I replaced my two faucets with Nukataps and 5.5' of 4mm EVA tubing which was a standard length from MoreBeer.
Been using them for about 2 months and felt I had less foam than before but I thought it could be better. I put another 5.5' of 4mm EVA tubing in line and now could not be happier.

So you are using 11' per line? What did you use to connect the two lines?

 

[TsunamiMike]

I am curious @gohoos85 , so your liquid line is NOW 11'? See I was wondering about extending them. From the Komos kegerator they give you 5.5' standard for each tap, I assumed that was gospel with EVA Barrier so I have my Light Lager pouring at 12PSI.

SO if I am reading it correctly, you did not really see a difference moving to the Nukataps but saw a difference when doubling your line length? How much did you have to change your line from 5.5' to 11'?

 

[TenaCJed]

I initially had around 9' of eva tubing in my kegerator, I am probably closer to 4.5' or 5' now. Sure I did not pour too much foam with the longer line, but it also took way longer to pour a glass too! I am happy with the speed of the pour now, and the foam level is good once the tap is cooled down.

When I have not poured for a while, I will open and close quickly (1/2 a second to a second) and then wait about three or four seconds and do it again to get some cold beer in the tap to help cool the tap down. Drink the foamy amount in the glass after about 4 or 5 times of doing that and the rest pours pretty good for the first pour. It is all about getting the tap cooled down for the first one in a while.

 

[user 231379]

So you are using 11' per line? What did you use to connect the two lines?

I have 11' per line. I started using Duotight connectors and 4mm EVA tubing when I switched faucets. Duotight makes a connector to join tubing. I like the Duotight connectors because they work and have a good price point.

 

[user 231379]

I am curious @gohoos85 , so your liquid line is NOW 11'? See I was wondering about extending them. From the Komos kegerator they give you 5.5' standard for each tap, I assumed that was gospel with EVA Barrier so I have my Light Lager pouring at 12PSI.

SO if I am reading it correctly, you did not really see a difference moving to the Nukataps but saw a difference when doubling your line length? How much did you have to change your line from 5.5' to 11'?

I did see a difference with the Nukataps. Much better than my old generic faucets. Was listening to a Brulosophy podcast and one of the guys said he uses something like 14' of 4mm EVA tubing so I decided to double my length. He indicated that it takes a little more time to pour the beer. At 11' I found there is not much difference in pour lengths. I'd rather take a few more seconds and get less foam.

 

[odie]

My lines are all about 10' just because the EVA stuff comes in 39ft rolls so I just divided evenly between my taps. Getting decent pours and my serving PSIs are higher than "normal" I think. Maybe 9ish for ales, 12 for lagers, 15 for hefe... serving in the low 30's

perhaps I should consult the kegging charts some more...

but I think foaming is a mixture of many things...keg/serving PSI, speed of flow, temps, any transitions in the beer's travel, things that induce turbulence, points of restriction or openness which will raise or drop PSI at those points, temperature changes during beer travel, etc...

 

[TsunamiMike]

SO since my original post in december, I now have nukataps with all 3 taps eva barrier lines at 5.5'. Even without running the fan and sitting for 2 days I dont get much foam at all.

Im at 37 degrees, 5.5' lines, light lager pressure at 5psi and a strong ale at 9psi, life is good.

 

[Broothru]

Foamy pours are becoming the bane of my existence. Right now I've got a Kama Citra IPA that starts pouring smooth (first beer, after a day or so sitting idle), but after 1/4 pint it spits some foam, then clear. But the damage is already done. The final glass is half foam, half beer. Subsequent pours go better, but I still end up with 2+ inches of foamy head, half of which dissipates after a minute or two leaving a rockier head that persists and leaves an abundance of lace with notches till the end of the glass.

This is the second keg in a row that this has happened, so it's not a keg gasket issue. The tap (SS Perlick flow control) was recently rebuilt and the problem had mostly gone away but is now back with a vengeance. The beer lines on both taps were replaced about a year ago with barrier type ⅜" diameter, ~10' runs coiled on top of the kegs higher than the pick up line in the keg. The gas pressure is 11 psi calculated to be correct for the temperature and total "rise" from the keg mid-point to the height of the tap. I finally got my keg line cleaner back from my son, so that task is on today's list of things to accomplish, in case some beer stone is inducing turbulent flow. I'm also going to replace the black 'beer out' quick disconnect as well as the QD swivel nut in case that's the root of my problem. Wish me luck.

Since the pours start smooth, then get foamy before smoothing out again, I've got to believe that the problem isn't inside the keg but rather somewhere between the QD and the faucet shank, but this has really got me stumped. The tower is insulated with a cooling fan setup to keep it chilled, so that shouldn't be the cause. The other tap on the same tower (American lager, same gas line feed) works flawlessly with mostly identical plumbing, except the Perlick FC tap on that side was replaced with an Intertap Nukatap when I did my last cleaning and rebuild. I've used Perlick taps (forward sealing, mostly flow control) for at least ten years and have been extremely pleased until the last year or so. I've got five of 'em sitting in boxes after disassembly, deep cleaning and parts replacement six months ago. If today's maintenance doesn't correct the problem I'll replace the existing rebuilt Perlick FC with one of them. And if THAT doesn't fix things, there'll be a new Nukatap on order soon.

 

[Broothru]

SO since my original post in december, I now have nukataps with all 3 taps eva barrier lines at 5.5'. Even without running the fan and sitting for 2 days I dont get much foam at all.

Im at 37 degrees, 5.5' lines, light lager pressure at 5psi and a strong ale at 9psi, life is good.

I've had nothing but good luck with my Nukatap, but it's only been going for about 6 months. It was hooked up but went unused during Dry January. Nevertheless it poured perfectly on the first pull in February! Very impressed.

I thought about picking up a flow control version (they were supposed to be out last Fall) but haven't heard much about them lately, so I figured the supply lines got disrupted between Covid and the Suez Canal. Based on the performance I'm getting from the one I have installed, I don't think I need flow control, even though I usually have one lager and one IPA/Pale Ale on tap at the same time. Just out of curiosity, which Nukataps do you have?

 

[odie]

Foamy pours are becoming the bane of my existence.

The beer lines on both taps were replaced about a year ago with barrier type ⅜" diameter,

3/8 beer lines? that's 6/16 or 9.5mm....

are you sure that's right? standard I think is 1/4" and most of us I think are going to 4mm or 3/16 lines...

 

[Broothru]

3/8 beer lines? that's 6/16 or 9.5mm....

are you sure that's right? standard I think is 1/4" and most of us I think are going to 4mm or 3/16 lines...

Yeah, I meant 3/16"