Foam - Need the Experts

Those little gaps in the line what is causing the foam. You are getting breakout that happens when the line sits for a little bit. With the longer lines you can bump the pressure without any down side. Personally I’d also move the line down to the bottom of the box, where it is coldest, without touching the cold plate. Also pouring beer on foam creates exponentially more foam. If this persists, use a foam glass - first few ounces in that glass, then fill the one you are drinking from.

 

Your thermo is okay. But there is still doubt on which type problem we're trying to troubleshoot. If first pour is only one with foam that's a tower cooling problem. If all pours are foamy that's a balance problem. Foam starting and stopping during a pour is not a thing . . . unless there is some type intermittent restriction, which I don't believe is a thing either.

Suggest you pour two consecutive beers . . . pour a normal beer, followed immediately with another pour and describe what's going on. FWIW, there's only 2.5 ounces of beer in 14' of line.

Not familiar with Proper Pour . . . there are some beer lines out there which are made for minimum resistance, that's what you want to avoid. A good brand is Bevlex 200 (3/16 x 7/16), probably some other good brands but that is a known good option carried by many outlets.

 

Proper Pour is the line that comes up on Amazon. I’ve had no issues with it. But maybe in 30 years, who knows what issues I will develop?
Where do you get Bevlex from? I’ve not been able to find it with a moderate effort of searching.

 

Bevlex is a brand made by Kuriyama. It is very common and many Homebrew suppliers have it by the foot. Avoid thin wall choker (the ID is standard, the OD varies).

Any name brand, NSF 51, PVC, 3/16" beverage line is appropriate. Not Barrier Tubing for this application.

US Plastic will sell you a thousand different types of tubing, though not necessarily Bev Lex. You can really geek out over there.

Cheers

 

If you're using the same beer line 30 years from now I don't want to be in the same room with you!

For the OP, the Bevlex is a good choice. Others may be good also (maybe even the same just rebranded) but this choice should eliminate any major bumps in the road:

Oh yeah, don't be stingy with it. I keep a good supply of this stuff and liberally change out my lines.

 

My thoughts are you have a cooling problem. Somewhere in the line/shank/faucet the beer is warmer than it needs to be. If your second pour has no foam that tells me your beer is balanced. Remember, after ~3 ounces you are drawing beer from the bottom of the keg.

I would test the system again with an ice pack on faucet/shank, see if that makes an improvement now that you increased line length.

In theory your high altitude requires a higher pressure. The difference (14.7 - 12.0) should be added to what us sea level dwellers use for the same volume of CO2 . . . this would put you ~14psi for the beer to be carbonated similarly. But I would do the ice pack test first before changing pressures.

 

Just to be sure: When pouring are you opening the faucet completely, i.e. let'er rip?

I don't see how a longer line will help. If the second beer is pouring normally a longer line isn't going to improve that, just will pour a little slower. If your setup was a commercial bar and you poured a beer every minute or so you would be balanced and everyone happy. But your foam problem occurs after a period of non-use which points to warming which causes the beer to off-gas too quickly. Your original setup (20' to stop the foam) isn't consistent with eliminating first pour foam. Your symptoms of sputtering foam on the first pour makes me think of an obstruction/restriction but that's not the case for the next pour. You have flow control faucets...suggest you dial this back to zero and see what happens.

As for the proper pressure, the Gas Laws say set 14psi. But I would try and get some feedback from your local bars and see what works for them. If you buy a beer and strike up a conversation with the bartender you can tell quickly if they know what's going on. Maybe quiz them on what pressure actually works. I've had several bars invite me into the back room to meander around amongst the kegs and regs. Caveat: this applies only if they are using a short draw system. Some bars have kegs in another room, which is a whole different balancing act.

 

From an innocent bystander and a more than casual observer, “temperature” seems to be the most frequently recurring theme. Could over-insulation of the tower be a contributor, unless it's already been addressed? (didn't see any follow up on that).

Just a thought.....If the tower is over-insulated and limiting air flow, the fan might be under enough stress to heat up and move warmer air to the tower with no exit. I don't know if those small fans can produce enough heat under stress to make a difference.
If it's way over-insulated, the cooling effect could next to nil and the air would just recirc to the cabinet, and possibly contribute to the previously mentioned 7-8F difference between top and bottom of the keg.

Whether it could warm the tower enough to cause foaming, or whether the temp difference could be overcome by an ice bag, I wouldn’t know.

 

The issue isn’t getting air into the tower, it’s getting the cold air back out so it can be replaced with more cold air. Popping the top off the tower doesn’t answer the question about air flow. If you aren’t getting the same volume of air out of the tower your cooler isn’t able to work as well as it should. You need to see what it feels like in the box where the tower is attached and compare that flow to the flow coming out the top when the cap is off. They should be equal.

 

Any updates?

 

Vacation?

Oh wait, you aren't in the beer business.

As you were...

 

What is a weekend? Is that different than a holiday? Or is that when everyone's system shuts down while they are trying to make a buck?
I get my days mixed up sometimes. Nights too.