# Keg King Style Balancing



## whatwhat (3/7/12)

Hi all i have been busy trying to balance my keg king kegerator and am seeming only to get super foamy beer out of it. I have used different lengths of 5mm beer line from 5m down to 2.5m and still am yet to find the sweet spot. The beer is not over carbonated as i have tested a sample from the keg and it is interesting to note that cider has no foaming issue and seems to pour fine. i have two taps and both behave in the same way and i am serving at 12psi.

I am beginning to think that maybe i should get some new taps with flow control, but thats probably a new battle. 

Any way what line and length have you had success with when balancing one of these systems. 

Cheers


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## fcmcg (3/7/12)

whatwhat said:


> Hi all i have been busy trying to balance my keg king kegerator and am seeming only to get super foamy beer out of it. I have used different lengths of 5mm beer line from 5m down to 2.5m and still am yet to find the sweet spot. The beer is not over carbonated as i have tested a sample from the keg and it is interesting to note that cider has no foaming issue and seems to pour fine. i have two taps and both behave in the same way and i am serving at 12psi.
> 
> I am beginning to think that maybe i should get some new taps with flow control, but thats probably a new battle.
> 
> ...


Here you go bloke...
Have a read of this...
Balancing a draught system
Amazine what the search function does !  
Ferg


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## cam89brewer (3/7/12)

It all depends on the temperature of the beer you are trying to dispense, the gravity of the beer and if your font on the kegerator isn't cold this could also be a problem.  So a few of those details if possible would help us solve the problem...


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## QldKev (3/7/12)

whatwhat said:


> Hi all i have been busy trying to balance my keg king kegerator and am seeming only to get super foamy beer out of it. I have used different lengths of 5mm beer line from 5m down to 2.5m and still am yet to find the sweet spot. The beer is not over carbonated as i have tested a sample from the keg and it is interesting to note that cider has no foaming issue and seems to pour fine. i have two taps and both behave in the same way and i am serving at 12psi.
> 
> I am beginning to think that maybe i should get some new taps with flow control, but thats probably a new battle.
> 
> ...




Sorry but,

shit font + shit taps = shit pour.

I would hit up where ever you purchased the system from, they should support it. 


QldKev


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## kiwisteveo (3/7/12)

brought my kegerator from craftbrewer no probs although the taps would stick a bit if i didn't pour for 1-2 days so brought some perlick 525ss taps no sticking issues ever but can pour a bit frothy now and then but i find if i change my glass from a pot or schooner/pilsner to a pint or a goblit shape i have no problem and the perlicks look hot and pour awsome


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## whatwhat (3/7/12)

cambrew said:


> It all depends on the temperature of the beer you are trying to dispense, the gravity of the beer and if your font on the kegerator isn't cold this could also be a problem. So a few of those details if possible would help us solve the problem...



I have the machine set to 4 and don't have a font fan. the gravity is finished up at 1006. thanks


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## whatwhat (3/7/12)

fergthebrewer said:


> Here you go bloke...
> Have a read of this...
> Balancing a draught system
> Amazine what the search function does !
> Ferg


Wow a search function thanks...


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## whatwhat (3/7/12)

QldKev said:


> Sorry but,
> 
> shit font + shit taps = shit pour.
> 
> ...




Good point i will give them a call tomorrow. Looks like new taps may be the go regardless, i have heard that the standard were not the best.


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## QldKev (3/7/12)

whatwhat said:


> Good point i will give them a call tomorrow. Looks like new taps may be the go regardless, i have heard that the standard were not the best.




It sounds like you have read / a good idea of balancing the system. If you have the standard font you may need to replace that too, but fingers crossed a set of decent taps may get you close. Personally if I ever build another system it will be a converted freezer. 

edit: also I should have asked earlier, what procedure did you follow to carb the beer


QldKev


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## gwb (3/7/12)

Hi Whatwhat, I have one of the KegKing jobs and found that "set to 4" doesn't actually mean the beer temp will be 4. I had to set mine at 0 and it still wasn't actually 4C when I did a check measure. I did the temp mod (resistor in parallel with sensor) to 'recalibrate' the sensor and put a small pc fan inside as well. It's ok now, except for the first pour which is always rubbish. Just my experience of course. Good luck


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## nathan_madness (3/7/12)

QldKev said:


> Sorry but,
> 
> shit font + shit taps = shit pour.
> 
> ...



Couldn't agree more. I just set up my keg fridge and I bought a font and taps of ebay. For about a week I could not pour a clear glass tried lengths of hose, temp, pressure etc. thought f this bought a Perlick tap and flow controller and booyah first pour perfection!


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## flano (6/7/12)

whatwhat said:


> Hi all i have been busy trying to balance my keg king kegerator and am seeming only to get super foamy beer out of it. I have used different lengths of 5mm beer line from 5m down to 2.5m and still am yet to find the sweet spot. The beer is not over carbonated as i have tested a sample from the keg and it is interesting to note that cider has no foaming issue and seems to pour fine. i have two taps and both behave in the same way and i am serving at 12psi.
> 
> I am beginning to think that maybe i should get some new taps with flow control, but thats probably a new battle.
> 
> ...







hi mate 

I have a keg king ebay special... I and was a bit all over the shop at first.

this is what I do.

First of all my regulator is the el cheapo made in china one with the horrible red adjustment dial...need a shifter to turn it.

I gas up for 24 hrs on just over 30 ( between 30 and 35

Then turn gas off for one hour

Turn dial all the back to nothing...let the gas out of keg ..you know pull the little ring thing a couple of times.

Then I slowly turn gas back up...I dont even get it to about 5 on the reg.

Try it then.

I have really short gas lines.....someone will tell me I am doing it wrong.

I tried all the different advice from this website and found this way works best for me from my keg king.


GOOD LUCK


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## angus_grant (6/7/12)

whatwhat said:


> I have the machine set to 4 and don't have a font fan. the gravity is finished up at 1006. thanks



Does every beer you pour have too much foam or just the first beer in a session?

If it is only the first beer, then the beer is warming up in the line in the tower. You need to purchase a font cooling kit, or build one!! I don't have mine turned on now it is winter, and have no foaming problems. It is about 12-15 degrees outside at night time when I normally pull my first beer. But in summer, the first beer was always fairly foamy. And this even happened when there was a fair time in between pouring beers in the same session.

If every beer is foamy then you have carbonation or balancing issues. Given that you can pour a decent beer straight off the keg, I would guess it is not carbonation. That is a maybe though... And you still need to get a stable known temperature so you can calculate your gas pressure to carbonate your beer correctly

For balancing your system: a short-cut to calculating beer line length to compensate for pressure in keg is get a flow control tap. I have about 50 cms of beer line (maybe less) in my kegerator and dial the flow control valve down a fair bit on the tap. Certainly beats having 3 metres of line inside an already cramped fridge.


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## HalfWit (25/1/15)

Just dragging up an old thread. I need some help working out my carb pressure. I want to carb a stout to 1.5 volumes and serve at 6C. I have 6 foot of 3/16 PVC beer line in a kegerator. Any help would be appreciated.


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