[40percentrobot]

Ahoy!

Sorry for the cryptic post topic - trying to be succinct.

Anyway, I've had the Sanyo BC-"whatever" for about a month now; I'm on my second 1/2 barrel of Bud Light. The first one was cashed in about 2 weeks (I'm hoping that a good portion of the consumption was foam...either way, it's a hell of a lot more economical than cans or bottles.)

After lurking this board, I have certainly learned a lot about this endeavor we call beer-drinking.

I had a lot of problems with the first keg. Foam. Foam. Foam. Got to the point where I'd pour off several seconds worth of foam, then fill the glass - complete with foam. Had air in the beer line. Ran out of 5 lbs of CO2 in 3 days (turns out my regulator wasn't properly tightened to the bottle.)

Had 13 lbs pressure, according to the gauge. Kept the interior @ 38F. Pour temp was 38F (with calibrated analog thermometer.)

Thanks to this forum, I constructed a tower cooler - PC fan w/ copper heat sink shoved into a cardboard box wrapped in aluminum A/C duct tape into the blower. Tower is cool to the touch.

This new keg has been better - a bit less foam, but still wasteful.

My questions are as follows:

1 - I'm in Texas. The keg is kept in the house. The beer hose is whatever length came with the unit (haven't measured, sorry.) Is 13lbs suitable pressure?

2 - Is the stock ("Taprite") regulator accurate enough? I know this is a manufacturer-sponsored forum, and I plan on purchasing a Micromatic dual regulator, but I am still curious.

3 - The interior temp is 38, and now the pour temp is 36 or so. However, the foam that comes out into the glass is warm. What does this mean?

4 - Each pour (even in quick succession) starts with a short "blurt" of foam, then follows up with cold beer. I am tilting the glass, etc. but the foam grows. Am I pouring incorrectly? Is this indicative of an ineffective tower cooler?

5 - I opened the top of the tower to reveal where the beer line connects to the actual tap. I observed tiny bubbles migrating toward the tap end of the hose. Is this normal? After reading several posts, I am confused and worried - does this mean my beer is over- or under- carbonated?

6 - Finally, I have the CO2 bottle inside the cooler. Will this have an effect on the pressure reading?

Sorry for the long post - just wanted to be as specific as possible!

Thanks,

Chris