Warm taps foaming initially

[Barleycapable]

I built a keezer last year and it's been awesome, but I've had a persistent problem with foam during initial pours. I keep my keezer in the garage (no space for it inside and the wife wouldn't particularly care for it) and I live in Texas, so temps inside the garage regularly go into the 100s when the sun is out, meaning the taps get WARM.

Of course, when I pour off about 1/4 of a pint, the tap cools down and it pours perfectly. But by the time I come back for another pint, the tap warmed up again and I gotta pour off more foam. That adds up over time, and I'd rather be drinking that beer! (don't you dare suggest I just start guzzling foam)

I've tried all the usual stuff: balanced my lines, adjusted serving pressure, recirculated air inside the keezer with a fan, and it's all had zero impact on the initial foam. My question to other outdoor keezer owners in the southwest is: what do you do to manage initial foaming? I've heard extra-long shanks can help by providing more thermal mass, but I'm skeptical of that and don't want to spend that money on a bunch of new shanks if I'm not certain it will work.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Is moving the wife out to garage and the keezer inside an option?

If not, my first thought would be some sort of insulation for the faucets between pours and/or a fan in the keezer to circulate keezer air up to get the temps of the faucets lower.

 

[day_trippr]

It appears the OP already has a recirculating fan, and I don't know that there's any other easy or even cost effective solution to be found with hardware.

So, I would try the following technique: pour two ounces of "beer" - which will likely be mostly foam - and drink that, allowing the tap to cool for a handful of seconds. Then try pouring a full glass...

Cheers!

 

[wsmith1625]

You could switch to picnic taps until the weather cools down. Or maybe a foamboard cover to fit over your taps to keep them insulated.

 

[Barleycapable]

Is moving the wife out to garage and the keezer inside an option?

If not, my first thought would be some sort of insulation for the faucets between pours and/or a fan in the keezer to circulate keezer air up to get the temps of the faucets lower.

She really likes my beer and puts up with me using the kitchen for cleaning, so I'm afraid that's out of the question

It appears the OP already has a recirculating fan, and I don't know that there's any other easy or even cost effective solution to be found with hardware.

So, I would try the following technique: pour two ounces of "beer" - which will likely be mostly foam - and drink that, allowing the tap to cool for a handful of seconds. Then try pouring a full glass...

Cheers!

That's my current method. But dang, certain styles have some potent foam! Or I am just a wimp.

You could switch to picnic taps until the weather cools down. Or maybe a foamboard cover to fit over your taps to keep them insulated.

Interesting, I hadn't thought of that. I used picnic taps before I built my keezer collar. It's not glamorous, but neither is wasted beer. The foamboard is a great idea too, I'll see what that would take.

Thanks for the input, y'all!

 

[FloppyKnockers]

It appears the OP already has a recirculating fan...

Oops...He surely did. I've never been accused of amazing reading comprehension.

I really like the picnic tap idea.

 

[wsmith1625]

This might be a simple way to keep the box in place if you go that route.

https://www.amazon.com/Mounting-Fas...802178&sprefix=adhesive+magnet,aps,124&sr=8-3

 

[passedpawn]

A solution that works is to switch to a tower, instead of individual taps/shanks out the collar of your keezer. Then, chill the tower.

Two ways to chill a tower

• forced (fan) cold air up into the tower
• "flooded" tap tower, in which chilled liquid is continuously pumped to keep the entire tower cold. Either the reservoir is in your keezer, or it's something else external, like a glycol chiller.

Both of these are gonna result in added electricity and sweat constantly dripping from tower/taps. But it works. I have a flooded 3-tap cobrahead tap in my house, fed by a glycol chiller outside, for the purpose you described.

 

[day_trippr]

I do in fact run a 6 faucet insulated and air-cooled T-tower and even in the dog days of August do not suffer from unintended foamage.
But it's a whole different operational paradigm and a bit of an ask for those who went with collars and through-collar faucet mounts...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

My solution has always been to dispense 2oz and discard it. Wait 60 seconds and pour the full pint.

 

[AlexKay]

If you do decide to go picnic taps: Picnic Tap 2.1

 

[Sorcerers_Apprentice]

I have a heineken David unit which I've converted to a kegerator , with a twin tap assembly. There's two computer type fans built into the unit , one circulates the cold air around the kegs , and the other blows the cold air through plastic flexible conduit type piping. The plastic piping contains the beer lines , plus it also blows cold air up into the tap head . It gives nice condensation on the taps and I only get a small amount of foam on the first pull. I'm based in Málaga Spain, currently 40C so similar temperatures to a texas garage I reckon .

 

[oldben]

I don't think this is a fully fledged solution yet, but I had the thought of switching my line over to a keg of RO water (not overly carbonated, not adjusted for water content, just clean water) and running that through the line to cool the tap, then switching back to pour beer. You're simultaneously rinsing the glass and preparing your tap for a good pour. However it's a hassle, prone to minor messes when switching kegs, and you'll still waste beer during the transition between fluids. I don't think it's worth the beer lost due to foam.

I have nukataps which are designed to have lower thermal mass, so they warm up quickly. That seems to be the best compromise.

Or you could completely reimagine the keezer concept and install the taps inside. Perhaps there's a semi-partitioned area within the lid? You open the keezer lid, have access to taps with room to pour a glass, but the kegs are under a secondary lid to keep most of the cool contained? Get weird.

 

[rawlus]

When i ran a keezer i had extra long shanks through the collar and would see condensation on the perlick faucets in hot weather. it might be worth the experiment to switch out ONE of your shanks for an extra long one to compare the difference before going all in.

 

[odie]

just pour it and drink it. the foam will drop shortly in your glass anyway.

Or try flow restrictor QDs. I've swapped to those and slowing down the pour has helped a lot. I don't mind waiting a few extra seconds to fill my glass.