If you decide to go with a through the wall type style for serving beer, we need to look at the shank for the job. Get the longest you can afford. Not only does the shank hold the faucet to the outside of the kegerator or jockey box, it also helps Keep the faucet head cold!

I seem to remember hearing its best to have four inches on the inside of the chamber to help conduct the cold to the faucet, or technically, pull the heat out of the faucet. I never did well in physics, so I’ll stop there.

But why? Who cares?

One of the reasons the first pint poured comes out foamy is because the faucet is warm. If the kegerator is otherwise in balance, a warm faucet will give you a foamy first cup. Is that temperature variable on the whole balance issue. Warm beer can hold less gas than cold beer. Warm facet makes instant warm beer= can’t hold all that CO2, poof, foam.

That has been one of the drawbacks of the tower I have now, I can’t work up the gumption to design a fan to blow cold air up the tower to help keep the faucet cold, so I get a first cup of foam.

When I used shanks through a collar and through a fridge side, I had no problem with that. I’m not complaining though. The first cup of foam sits under the faucet while I pour the second, then come back to drink the first. I’m not picky.

But, if you are going to do it, try and do it right!

Cheers!