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.
