Screwing With Tubing For Foam Free Pours

Ok, my screen name ain't Screwy for nothing, let's just say over the past two weeks I've dedicated way too much time screwin' around with beer keg lines sizes, tubing lengths and trying my absolute best to get foam free pours. Hey, don't judge me.

Why bother you ask? Ok, well I bought some corny kegs and have found them to be real time savers on packaging day, but taking those kegs to a party requires a Co2 charge for dispensing the beer once you get there. Oh and I bought an insulated cooling jacket complete with freezer safe gel packs to keep the beer cold on the road, so I was invested pretty heavily into this whole idea already too.

Using a drinking water safe 5/16 inch inside diameter vinyl tubing between my Perl tap and the ball lock on the kegs I was getting the perfect pour every time at 7psi and loving it. But to my surprise getting the same quality pour from a portable picnic tap was proving to be a major PITA! So without further ado this is what I've learned after all this.

I eventually found out that using the same 5/16 inch inside diameter tubing, cut to 48 inches long, with the same 5-7psi serving pressure the pours were perfect every time. But surprisingly enough I also found out that when using a picnic tap on the road I really needed to use a tubing with a 1/4 inch inside diameter, cut to 12 inches long to get identical pours like the one at home!

The moral of the story is this, don't be afraid to experiment with any aspects of brewing, from hot side to packaging and all steps in between for homebrewer''s like us there's really only one way to find out what works best. Read what the 'pros' publish, use your head and try different things, lots of times that's the only sure way to find out what actually works best for you.