Keg line length foamy delivery

Kegging
1

Hi,
I’m new to the forum. I created a keg system that has my keg fridge in the basement and my 2 tap beer tower in my kitchen. I created a trunk line that is approx 22 ft long and is cooled by a glycol reservoir pumped in a continuous loop from my freezer to the taps and back. The total rise is about 12 ft from basement to kitchen. I’m not sure what the cause is but the beer is excessively foamy out of the tap. I’ve tried several different CO2 pressures but it doesn’t seem to help. The beer delivery seems to cycle from good pour to foamy pour. The beer lines are 1/4 inch ID.

Is there anyone out there with knowledge or experience in this type of system and how to get a good pour with it?

Thanks.

2

Check out page 7 of this article. It may answer your question.

http://www.brewapp.com/documents/Zymurg ... egging.pdf
3

With out reading the article listed, I’m going to say that your beer is over carbonated. And, you need to use a a Nitrogen tank to dispense with.

Normally beer would be served around 40*, with a 5-6ft beverage line at 10-12psi. Which is in the 2.5 volumes range. This will fill a pint glass in ~10 seconds.

To get a 10 second pour with 22 ft of line, and 12ft of rise, your pressure would need to be greatly increased. Around 55psi. Being at 40* would put you in the 7+ volumes of CO2.

If you carbonate the beer to 2.5v, and then use straight Nitrogen or a 70/30 mix, you can have the regulator set to 55psi’s with out the beer taking on extra CO2.

Note: figures were done off the top of my head, and may be off a little.

4

I 100% agree with the nitro to dispense with that’s what the bars have set up I don’t know what PSI they use but I’ll ask today while I’m at the bar.

5

FWIW, I run 8’ lines at approx 9psi and I get a nice evenly carbonated pour at a nice speed. I guess everyones rig is different and needs to be dialed in accordingly.

6

They have a blender or mixer and push it with 60 psi.

7

Is this your input from the bar recon?

8

Joe, we need to know what temp the beer is at and what psi you are using to try and give a better answer.

9

Is this your input from the bar recon?[/quote]

Yes I was there yesterday and asked then they showed me.

10

I run 8 psi at 5’ of line from the regulator, no issues at all.

11

[quote=“joecam1967”]Hi,
I created a keg system that has my keg fridge in the basement; total rise is about 12 ft from basement to kitchen.
[/quote]
Agree with Nighthawk; moving beer 12 feet straight up takes a lot of pressure to overcome gravity, the CO2 pressure needed to dispense could be overcarbing your beer turning it to foam. Nitrogen dispensing or moving the kegs closer to the taps would help.

12

Thanks to all. I’ll look into nitrogen. The beer temp is 40 degrees and I’ve tried different psi from 12- 12 to 20-22…

13

Moving the fridge to directly under the tower would shorten the length of tube and rise to aprox 10 ft…

14

I think your problem is temp. I have the same basic setup with keg in the basement and tap on first floor, except I did it without glycol. Try dropping your temp down. I have a buddy that owns an irish pub with 50’+ lines, glycol and a nitro/co2 mix. He said every time he has a foam issue is due to temp. I keep my keg right at freezing and use warm glasses to even it out. My 2 cents…

15

cajonez, I think the temp would need to be increased. The colder the beer, the more CO2 will go into solution. Further over carbonating the beer. The warmer, the less CO2 in solution.

But you are talking about using a N/CO2 mix that the OP is not using.

It’s 6:45am, so I might be thinking this wrong.