siwelwerd wrote: I read one guy somewhere claiming a longer shank will keep the faucet colder and minimize foaming--is that accurate?
Sort of makes sense. The longer shank has more area in contact with cold air than a short one and thus less "thermal impedance" between the cold air inside and faucet/air on the outside. This would not be a factor (or as much of one) in a throught-the-wall installation in a walk-in cooler, for example, because the tail-piece end of the shank is in thermal contact with the sheet metal of the cooler wall. In an installation through insulating wood, however it might make an appreciable difference. Of course in the walk-in setup the faucet side of the shank is in thermal contact with a big piece of sheet metal at room temperature so a longer shanl might get you a cooler faucet there too. In any case after an oz or 2 of beer has gone through the faucet the faucet is as cold as the beer. Many people find that the first pint after not drawing from a particular faucet for a few days is overly foamy but that succesive pints are fine. Something is out of equilibrium and I suppose it could be temperature but I tend to doubt it.
The downside to better coupling (longer shanks, colder faucets) is, of course, that the refrigeration gear has to work harder or, more to the point, that it has to work longer thus raising your electric bill.
