Randall build questions

[nyer]

I did a lot of searching and didn't find the answers I'm looking for.

I'm building a randall and wanted to know if the housing with the pressure relief button at the top is beneficial or not and if so why? I have two housings, 1 with it and 1 without it. The one without it is clear and I would prefer to use that one but will use the other if it helps.

I have read about foaming issues. Does the length of the "in" side hose make a difference and what about the "out" side hose length? I am keeping the randall inside my fridge with the kegs to keep it cold and I could make the "in" hose pretty short or very long if it helps.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

If you're keeping it cold, I don't see an issue with the "in" hose length. Of course, I've never used mine while it's in the fridge. Both of my "in" and "out" hoses are around 10' long. I know that seems like a lot, but the foam issue is a real problem, especially if you're using only hops in the randall.

As for your pressure relief...I would use one. In my opinion, it's just safer that way. You don't want to open your fridge and fine beer spraying everywhere if your randall happens to explode. Plus, I find that mine helps with flow problems. If my beer doesn't seem to be flowing fast enough, I push the button in and it starts up again.

 

[rvklein]

I did a lot of searching and didn't find the answers I'm looking for.

I'm building a randall and wanted to know if the housing with the pressure relief button at the top is beneficial or not and if so why? I have two housings, 1 with it and 1 without it. The one without it is clear and I would prefer to use that one but will use the other if it helps.

I have read about foaming issues. Does the length of the "in" side hose make a difference and what about the "out" side hose length? I am keeping the randall inside my fridge with the kegs to keep it cold and I could make the "in" hose pretty short or very long if it helps.

It is in my experience. Adjusting the valves assists in moving the beer from chamber to chamber.

 

[Shockerengr]

The problem with foam in a randall comes from the hops themselves. LOTS of nucleation points for the CO2 to come out on.

The best trick I learned with mine is to make sure I have a good seal at the top so gas sneak through to the outlet, it's kindof a pain to make a good seal, but it goes a long way.

With that, mine (which doesn't have the relief valve) would require 'burping' every now and them....i.e. turn upside down and blow the built up gas out.

I haven't notice a lot of impact with the in/out hoses....as long as you have enough total hose to slow the beer flow down, you should be ok.

At times, I've had good enough result to be able to bottle from the tap with through the randall.

But, sometimes, it just foams.