Inline flow control

[Fizzycist]

I'm trying to dispense some soda, and getting nothing but trouble. I'm new to kegging entirely, and I seem to have it worked out for my beer, but the soda is killing me.

I've got a keg of grape soda carbed up, on the order of 4 volumes of CO2, trying to serve from a party tap and of course it was shooting all over the place. I didn't relish the thought of 30 foot lines, since the beer even sitting in my short lines seems flat, so i order the inline flow control device they have on keg connection. So I've got it installed, and I can indeed get the velocity down so it's not jetting out of the cup, but it's coming out pure foam.

I've got the flow controller pretty close to the tap, should I try putting it on the keg end? Any other suggestions?

 

[mredge73]

Use flow control and keep the entire line cold including the party tap. Bars that don't have a working glycol system to keep their facets cold always pour foam for this reason.
After you cool the faucet down (usually by pouring a bunch of foam) you should get liquid.


FYI
Long ass lines are used to reduce the flow; this does not make it go flat.

 

[Fizzycist]

Ok, I'll try it again with a cold line. What I meant about the lines was that when my beer has sat in the line for a couple days, the first bit I dispense is flat, it seems until I get to the fresh stuff out of the keg. But that doesn't make sense, since the stuff in the line should still be under pressure.

 

[Drynk]

I can't understand why but i've noticed the same thing about the beer/wine/soda that have sit in the line for a few days, it's flat, and with 30 foot of tubing, it means a pretty big glass of stuff to drink or waste before getting to the good stuff. I could'nt really find any good way around that. I avoid to use too much line, i carbonate less except plain water wich do not foam. Once i get an appropriate carbonation level i also shut off the co2 and i only open it back up for a few days when i sense that the level drops or it begin to pour too slowly.

 

[jimmer]

Warm water doesn't hold CO2, it has to be cold or under pressure (Carbonation charts show you the trade-off between the two). The goal is to have the CO2 dissolved in the water, and as it warms & the pressure is released, it comes out of solution to form bubbles. We call those bubbles carbonation, but really the whole thing is. If your mouth was cold and pressurized, you wouldn't feel the bubbles and what would be the point?

BTW, 4 volumes is a lot. Do you need it because you use a lot of sugar? If you cut the sugar, I'm guessing you'd save on CO2 and dentist bills as well, but each to his own.

 

[Jwin]

I would put the flow control much closer to the keg.
Also, make sure you are fully depressing the picnic tap, as not doing so will result in foam.