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  • Good first pour bad second pour

    Hi all,
    I'm at 6000 feet and I have a Kegerator running at 34 degrees with 15 feet of 3/16 line at 16 PSI with a keg of Pilsner. My first pour is great. Barely any foam. My second pour, however, is not. I can see the beer coming out of the faucet on the second pour is not as clear as it is on the first pour and it makes a crackling sound as it's coming out of the faucet. Any idea what could be causing that? Thanks in advance for your help.

  • #2
    What is 34, the air or the beer? What is the v/v of the beer? Assuming a v/v of 2.5, and beer at 34 the pressure should be around 10 without adjusting for elevation. Your beer line is also too long, you probably want to be around 8, 10 at most. I assume you lengthened it to slow the flow you were getting at 16 psi? What does the third pour look and sound like?
    What I have: Haier two tap, 525 faucets, tower cooler, 10' lines

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    • #3
      The beer is 34 degrees. For a pilsner I'm shooting for a v/v more like 2.7. I should probably knock the pressure down a pound or two but with my altitude I wouldn't want to go below about 14. I had a 10 foot line on it but it was pouring a touch fast and I have a Perlick flow control faucet which I used to slow it down a bit. It was pouring ok with that setup but I figured I would fine tune it a bit and add line so I wouldn't have to restrict the flow with the faucet. There's another post on here from a guy who lives near me and he said he's dialed in at 16psi, 34 degrees with 13 ft. of 3/16. I figured I would start at 15 feet and cut it back as needed. But what's the negative of having a line that's "too long"? Everything I've read says that a long beer line will slow the flow but doesn't have any adverse affects other than that. Where it's at now, the first pour last night was quite good. I immediately poured a second which was quite foamy. Then after a while I poured a third and it poured great for the first 6-8 ounces but then the beer turned cloudy coming out of the faucet along with the sound. A while later the same thing happened. I can always go back to the 10 foot line and live with it that way but I'm really curious what would be causing this issue. Maybe I need to start cutting the line down and see if that has any effect.

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      • #4
        If you watch your regulator as you pour, does the gauge pressure drop significantly during your first pour and take a while to recover? If your regulator isn't able to keep up with flow demand you can get what you're experiencing. It sounds like you've got full back pressure on your first pour, but then you lose pressure and subsequent pours are foamy until you wait long enough to get full back pressure again. I've seen this happen before with Kegco regulators specifically.

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        • #5
          Just poured a beer while watching the regulator and the needle didn't appear to move at all.

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          • #6
            Also I trimmed a couple feet of line but getting the same result.

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            • #7
              Immediately after you pour, what is going on in the beer line? Check right at the coupler and the high points in the line.
              What I have: Haier two tap, 525 faucets, tower cooler, 10' lines

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              • #8
                I've been paying attention to that. After I pour there's nothing going on in the line. No bubbles or anything that I can see. Then before I pour another beer I always check the line but I see no bubbles or gaps in the line.

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                • #9
                  So while the second beer is flowing the line is still packed with beer?
                  What I have: Haier two tap, 525 faucets, tower cooler, 10' lines

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                  • #10
                    It appears to be but I finally gave up on it and put the 10 ft line back in and restricted the flow a bit with the faucet. The keg is almost gone so I think I'll start the next one at 14 psi and just leave it at that. Thanks for your help.

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                    • #11
                      For anyone who is interested, at 6000 ft elevation I am perfectly dialed in with a keg of Trumer Pils at 34 degrees, 10 ft of 3/16 line and 15 psi. I get very little foam and actually have to drop the glass to create a little head. One of the things I've discovered is that you have to just set it and forget it. Making frequent changes seems to create problems.

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