Bewpub serving tank to draft line ?

[BigWilley]

My Servering tanks are individually glycol cooled (no cold room) and set up so there is a T fitting coming of the end of the bottom pipe with 2 Butterfly valves, one for racking kegs and the other goes to a 1 1/2 U fitting which connects to the draft line directly. Since the T and U fittings are not insulated I am wondering if this creates a warm spot that would mess with dispense. I have a relatively long run of 100' or so and always seem to be fighting bursts of foam at the tap. Currently I am replacing all the pressure gauges and CO2 regs that are all pretty old and haggard. I am wondering if I should insulate the T and U fittings and leave the setup as is or just go directly from the server bottom tube to 1 butterfly for (isolation) and then directly to the draft line which would require disconecting the draft line for kegging which should not be too big deal. Just trying to eliminate all the possible draft dispense problems. I have seen it done both ways. Any advice?

[gabewilson50]

Are you saying that you have 100' of draft line run and you don't cool it with a glycol loop? If you're having dispensing problems I'm betting that it has more to do with that than the fact that you don't have a short segment insulated. I don't think that insulating that connection will help your issues significantly.

Cheers!

--Gabe

[BigWilley]

I should have stated that the trunk lines are glycol chilled as well. Glycol stays at 28-31F with a nice water cooled unit. So that is definately not the problem. The restriction seems to be right as well. Im pouring at around 120 oz's a minute or so. Between my old CO2 regulators which are drifting all over the place and the old pressure gauges that were not reading correctly Im hoping that was the problem. Gauges are all replaced but one and I have new taprite regs on order. Another issue I have considered is that I have 3 15 BBl servers and 2 30 BBl servers and each one only has one temp probe so its hard to say if there is some stratification going on especially in the 30 BBls. Im just trying to eliminate all the possible issues before I start considering replacing the trunk line which is only about 6 years old and good quality barrier tubing. In retrospect I think I would have done better with 5/16 trunk rather than the 3/8" the installer reccomended but we will see what happens once I get things dialed in on the pressure side.

[Sulfur]

foam

What is your line cooling setup? You may be getting foam shots due to beer warming in the transition area between line cooler and tap. Depends on your setup but if your cooling line doesn't go all the way to the tap, and the beer sits a while before the next pour, it may get warm there. Maybe after 6 years, some of your insulation has broken down. Do you just have one chiller at the beginning of your line, or do you have one near the tap as well? It may also depend on the rated output of the line chiller pump. It may only be rated to chill a short line i.e. not a 100' line. What is the velocity of your return line, is it just dribbling in, or streaming in? Is it warm or cold? What kind of a tap is it? Do you have in line pumps to help the beer on the way? Or is it a nitro/CO2 mix in your tank? These are just some brainstorming questions off the top of my head.

[BigWilley]

Trunk is cooled all the way to the bar including cooling blocks in the draft towers. Ventmatic faucets. The Line chiller was recently replaced and is overpowered if anything. Nice strong flow of glycol through the system. The servers have a 12 foot drop down to the bar. I have had to add restriction after the install. There is one point where the trunk makes a pretty good bend and may be kinking, but I have torn the insulation off that ara in the past and it seemed to be alright.