Foam, foam, foam - any ideas?

FlyGuy · 03-21-2007, 06:05 AM

I kegged up my first two cornies this weekend, force carbonated, and tonight I went to sample. Keg #1 was 5 gallons of an oatmeal stout (that tastes more like a porter, oh well) and it is carbonated perfectly. Keg #2 was an English bitter, but only 3 gallons. It is pouring nothing but foam and CO2 out of my picnic tap. It isn't frozen, and all the seals on the keg are new, and poppets seem fine. Any ideas?

Here is my system:
- plenty of CO2
- force carbed at about 25 psi @ 45F; agitated to mix for a few minutes, then disconnected gas
- repeated step above again after 8 hours
- dropped pressure in kegs to serving pressure (about 11 psi)
- let sit for 2 days
- pouring from a picnic tap on 4 feet of 3/16" hose (at keg height)

Note, I tried the same hose/picnic tap on both kegs, and keg #1 pours perfectly, but keg #2 is foam, foam, foam. $#@(*&$(&(#@!!!

EDIT: dropped the pressure to almost nothing, still all foam

I have looked through past threads, but couldn't find much to help. If anyone has any advice on things to try, I would sure appreciate it!

abracadabra · 03-21-2007, 11:40 AM

Drop the pressure some more on the foamy keg

FlyGuy · 03-21-2007, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abracadabra

Drop the pressure some more on the foamy keg

Yes, tried that right away. Makes no difference. Even at about 1 psi, I can't even pour/siphon without getting foam.

I even pulled out the dip tube to see if it was cracked or anythng, but it seemed fine. The seal seemed fine, too.

chillHayze · 03-21-2007, 01:09 PM

You have to drop the pressure and then let the keg sit at the lower pressure for a few days, releasing it occasionally. This lets the Co2 come out of the beer. Just takes a while. You could bleed the keg, shake it, bleed it, repeat a few times. It is hard to control the amount this way. In my short kegging carreer I've come to realize the longer way yields the best results.

FlyGuy · 03-21-2007, 01:16 PM

Thanks CH. So is it that I over-carbonated? If so, it must have had something to do with the fact that the keg was only half full. Now that I think about it, I guess all that headspace has a LOT of CO2 at 25 psi. Much more than my other keg that was full, anyways. Makes sense -- thanks.

**kornkob** · 03-21-2007, 01:27 PM

Rule of thumb #1: start LOW work HIGH. You can easily add pressure but once you are overcarbed it takes a long time to get things balanced out.

Cheesefood · 03-21-2007, 01:37 PM

This is the problem with rushing carbonation. 25 lbs is a LOT of CO2. I have mine set mine at 10-15 pounds and leave it there.

Flyin' Lion · 03-21-2007, 01:47 PM

I too only carb at 10-12 psi. I figure we have to wait during the entire beer making process anyway, so a little waiting for the beer to carb isn't hard.

My suspicion is that the half-full keg was overcarbed, but let us know if that was indeed the problem in case someone else runs into this.

brewman ! · 03-21-2007, 02:18 PM

I bet he has the inlet and outlet dip tubes switched and he is drawing foam off the top of the liquid in the keg.

Be very careful if you remove the studs to switch them. You have to pressure down first and then don't bump the beer ! I once had a beer fountain spray my basement ceiling full of beer !

**Bobby_M** · 03-21-2007, 02:46 PM

That sounds like a reasonable explaination. Remember, think of the top of the keg as a face and the posts are eyes. "Beer Goggles" or "BG" meaning the left one is beer and the right one is gas. I'll get it to stick, I'm tellin ya.