Anyone have any experience with these? My main concern is that they’ll pour foamy. I’m going to keep the kegs cold, carbonation level around 2.5, and serving pressure low. But I have no experience with these so I’m looking for opinions. Just need something for a party.
Those need to have the gas pressure turned down to reduce foam.
I have a similar setup but use a flow control faucet. It works great. No foam at 10-12 psi (I haven’t tried to find a maximum.)
To use a flow control faucet you need a special QD to faucet adapter that is bored out to leave room for the flow control mechanism to move freely.
Here is a thread where I discussed my setup.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=25689.0
- formerly alestateyall.
I also use the QD and Perlick flow control faucets at 12 psi. I enjoy the results and not having to clean lines.
^ Legit
I personally would probably not go that route. Sorry for not having experience with that exact product but you can buy a plastic beer faucet for $4 and add a foot of tubing (or more) to increase accessibility when pouring.
If this is a one time thing I would go the cheaper route.
I use one on a 2.5 gal torpedo keg with a 16 gram CO2 injector to provide the push needed to serve. I love it. If I’m serving a 5 gal I use my jockey box. But this simple system is great for a small impromtu gathering, the keg sits in a cooler with ice. When the pour begins to slow, give the co2 a squeeze.
I have one, I poured at a festival last weekend and had no problems.
Throw a cold keg in the ice mule with some ice and it’s get for a few hours. I kept the regulator super low and didn’t have any issues. Works a bit better with a 2.5 gallon keg, as you can cinch the top down a bit and snake a party tap out. Always fun to walk around pouring people drinks. Here’s the link for the coller pack, I believe they have a 33 liter option also.
https://www.rei.com/product/896375/icemule-pro-cooler-23-liters
That mules looks cool. A little pricey though.
I messed with these things a few years back. It is really hard to keep the foaming down because the system is not balanced between the tap and the keg. Yes, turning the serving pressure down will help but you still have beer carbonated at 2.5 volumes that you are trying to pour through a very short tap run and have CO2 coming out of solution to equalize the head pressure in the keg.
I agree that maybe a cobra picnic tap and a short piece of tubing is a better choice (use the smallest ID tubing you can get so that the pressure is more quickly reduced to 0 PSI at the cobra tap with the shortest amount of line). There is a lot of information out there about line diameter and length as it applies to balancing the system.
Sorry, it may mean some extra cleaning involved but it is probably more cost effective to go this route than the QD faucet assembly.
The opinions are my own here.
For me, having a balanced system is only necessary for my home kegerator where the keg is expected to last a few weeks, the carbonation is consistent, and there is no serving issues with foaming. I keep a few 2.5 gal kegs on hand for “off site” consumption, where the keg will be gone in a few hours and I don;t care if a little co2 comes out of suspension. So, for that short term use, that tap without beer line is perfect. But I agree, it’s not a perfect item for all situations.
REI members get 20% coupons a few times a year. Plus they’ve always been really good about standing behind what they sell.