Problem pours, with a vid

[EKennett]

Hey all, I've been around here lurking for a bit. Finished my first chest freezer conversion a few months ago, here are some pics:








Anyway, I was working on a water cooling setup for the tower using a pond pump to pump water/glycol up through a copper loop and back into the bucket. I had made a makeshift trunk line, and it worked okay, but it wasn't as good as my blower setup so I went back to that. I've got my beer temperature dialed in at 37.5 degrees F (calibrated thermometer on the pour,chug,pour test). It's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and I'm setting the CO2 regulator at 12psi.

Since I've gone back to the blower tower cooler I can't get a good pour. I insulated the tower by putting a 2" PVC tube inside and then filling the void between the tower and PVC with spray foam insulation. The tower is cool to the touch and sweats on the top and near the faucets. Here is a vid of my pour:

YouTube - DSCN0161

It seems like I get beer/foam/beer/foam etc. It also seems like it pours quite fast despite using 8' of 3/16 Micromatic beer line. I noticed that in the "bend" just above the coupler air seems to separate from the beer when left for a day or 2 without pouring.

Please help me stop wasting beer!!!!

[pvs6]

Hello,
Great piece of work. I like the little tap handle too. If gass is forming in beer line that's got to be low psi pressure right. With my tower blower and an extra fan moving air inside the unit foam isn't an issuse for me. I still want to try the flashlight and bubble test that Scott detail on his Blog, to check if my reg. is really acurite, I think it reads alittle low. When the 2nd keg coming? You have alot of dead air space in there without it. Maybe just for an experiment with the one keg only put in a small fan in the chest to see if moving all that air in there makes a differents in pour. Or measure the top temp vs the bottom of units temp, if it's a big differance than can sometimes cause bad pours.

[Scott Zuhse]

Hey all, I've been around here lurking for a bit. Finished my first chest freezer conversion a few months ago, here are some pics:








Anyway, I was working on a water cooling setup for the tower using a pond pump to pump water/glycol up through a copper loop and back into the bucket. I had made a makeshift trunk line, and it worked okay, but it wasn't as good as my blower setup so I went back to that. I've got my beer temperature dialed in at 37.5 degrees F (calibrated thermometer on the pour,chug,pour test). It's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and I'm setting the CO2 regulator at 12psi.

Since I've gone back to the blower tower cooler I can't get a good pour. I insulated the tower by putting a 2" PVC tube inside and then filling the void between the tower and PVC with spray foam insulation. The tower is cool to the touch and sweats on the top and near the faucets. Here is a vid of my pour:

YouTube - DSCN0161

It seems like I get beer/foam/beer/foam etc. It also seems like it pours quite fast despite using 8' of 3/16 Micromatic beer line. I noticed that in the "bend" just above the coupler air seems to separate from the beer when left for a day or 2 without pouring.

Please help me stop wasting beer!!!!

Do you have return air coming back into the conversion freezer from the tower? If not, it is highly likely that you have minimum air movement. It is like attempting to blow into a straw with the end squeezed shut. Assure that you have return air and you should be much more successful in maintaining temperature all the way through to the faucet. 14 PSIG at 38F @ sea level may work a little better as well.

Nice set up!

[EKennett]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes, I do have return air into the freezer from the tower. I also have a second fan on the hump blowing air around inside the freezer. I think I'm going to build a mount for that fan so it blows air upward at a 45 degree angle and see if that helps keep better temp. at the top of the freezer. I will also give 14 psi a shot and see how it goes.

~Eric