Homemade Kegerator and foam

So I bought a Frigidaire mini fridge that was already converted. I added a corny keg, 5lb co2 tank, and dual regulator. I started with a picnic tap.

My first batch in the keg was a honey porter. I set the pressure at 30psi for 24 hours and then purged it, then set at serving...10psi. Nothing but foam. So I gradually brought it down to about 4psi and wad able to get tons of pours with only half foam or less. I can live with that but obviously hope to improve.

My major issue came up when I installed a draft tower. I installed it but didn't put anymore foam or insulation inside. Im planning to add some copper to insulate the beer line and possibly a fan.
I started with 5ft of line and my local growler store owner suggested bringing it up to 10ft. I installed it this past weekend and I cant get anything but pure foam. Ive purged co2 and tried different serving psi with no luck.
I know the non insulated tower could be a problem but I consistently get all foam pours. Any suggestions?

Is the 10ft of line, 3/16"ID beer line or is it just some 1/4"ID vinyl from the local hardware store?

raouliii said:

Is the 10ft of line, 3/16"ID beer line or is it just some 1/4"ID vinyl from the local hardware store?

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I made this same mistake last year. 10ft of 1/4" line actually has less resistance than 5ft of 3/16" line, so it was kind of a waste. Now I have two 10ft lengths of 1/4" line that I don't know what to do with.

Also, have you verified the temperature of the keg? Is the fridge getting as cold as you want it to?

Its 3/16. Yes its around 34. I froze the keg this weekend by accident

Good question raised above. ..what temprature is your kegerator maintaining. If it is too warm, excess foam can be produced. My kegs are in a garage fridge at 38F. I carb at about 2.5 volumes of CO2 and stay around 11-12 psi.

mpzinkann said:

[...]I froze the keg this weekend by accident

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Mmmm....Aside from whatever havoc freezing a keg wreaks, depending on what the gas pressure was set to when that happened, you may have added to what could simply have been an over-carbed keg of beer.

So...is there anything else we should know?

Cheers!

If you have 10ft of 3/16'' line, and your whole system including keg, lines, connectors and faucets is clean, the next thing I would consider is cooling the tower. Does the first pour have significantly more foam than the second followed immediately after? If so, tower cooling could with a fan could help you a lot.

You also may have an overcarbed keg. And you also could be having faucet issues - if there is any blockage or misalignment of the faucet you will get foam every time.

It is thawed now . it's currently sitting at 10PSI and 34 degrees.

I don't think it is the tower...the second and third pours are just as foamy. Also when i pour and look at the beer line there are large pockets of co2. I've tried purging the keg and putting psi low but then nothing comes out. I have less than a 1/4 keg left and i hate to waste the beer. i might just dump it and start with the cherry stout i have waiting in the secondary.

The o-ring between the diptube and the beer-side post on the keg could be leaking and allow CO2 from the headspace into the beer as it flows towards the tap.

i just replaced the o-ring on the liquid post and i'm getting the same thing. Maybe i'll disconnect the tower and go back to the picnic tap. If i get the same results then i'm dumping it and replacing the diptube orings. They shouldn't be bad because this is my first keg...who knows.

Even when i let most of the co2 out of the keg the tap just burps

Not post but ball lock

mpzinkann said:

It is thawed now . it's currently sitting at 10PSI and 34 degrees.

I don't think it is the tower...the second and third pours are just as foamy. Also when i pour and look at the beer line there are large pockets of co2. I've tried purging the keg and putting psi low but then nothing comes out. I have less than a 1/4 keg left and i hate to waste the beer. i might just dump it and start with the cherry stout i have waiting in the secondary.

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The bolded part is a dead give-away. The only two things that can cause this are the beer being overcarbed in relation to the serving pressure (your attempt to turn the pressure down would just make this worse), or gas leaking into the beer line (typically due to a bad dip-tube o-ring on the liquid side).

You might consider pulling the liquid QD and post off and double checking not just the o-ring, but also the surfaces that it mates against. Sometimes a burr or scratch on the top of the post or the underside of the diptube flange will prevent a good seal.

My bet is that it's overcarbed though (or you have the serving pressure set too low for the carb level).

Before i open the keg is there anything else i should try? Maybe purge the keg and let it sit for 24-48 hours, purging periodically? Will that help with the possible overcarb?

mpzinkann said:

Before i open the keg is there anything else i should try? Maybe purge the keg and let it sit for 24-48 hours, purging periodically? Will that help with the possible overcarb?

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That's one of the popular methods to deal with an overcarbed keg. I should have mentioned that it's also easy to tell which issue it is. If the bubbles/pockets in the line form almost immediately after you pour a couple beers, then you have a bad seal. If they form slowly over the course of an hour, then the beer is overcarbed.

i gave it 24 hours after purging it several times to where there was no carb. I get the same thing in the liquid lines when i set psi at 10. I'm going to check the diptube tomorrow.

Well....here is the culprit. Already sent these to Keg Connection