Weird poor from kegerator

I really hope this hasn't been answered or asked before because I've searched everywhere.

I have a new haier kegerator and was having foam issues. So after reading a ton, I replaced my 5' of 5/16 beer line for 10' of 3/16 line, and built a nice fan tower cooler.

The weird thing is, now when I go to poor a beer (sculpin IPA) I'll get beer for about 2 seconds, then foam for a second, then beer again for the rest of the poor. The end result is 50/50 beer and foam with good carbonation...IMO

I'm wondering if its because of how the beer lines are routed out of the keg to the bottom and back up the tower?

Any ideas?

rostato said:

I'm wondering if its because of how the beer lines are routed out of the keg to the bottom and back up the tower?

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Are you saying that your beer lines are running from your keg, to the outside of your fridge, and then back in, up to your tower? If so, that could cause the problems you're speaking of, but I'm not sure that's what you're saying.

If your lines are contained entirely within the fridge, then

Try coiling the lines and using a quick tie or something to keep them looped. Set them on top of the keg. Letting the beer lines sag to the bottom of your fridge may be allowing some CO2 bubbles to congregate at the bottom of the loop. I remember reading that somewhere, so I've always done the coil thing with no issues. Worth a try....

Hammy71 said:

Try coiling the lines and using a quick tie or something to keep them looped. Set them on top of the keg. Letting the beer lines sag to the bottom of your fridge may be allowing some CO2 bubbles to congregate at the bottom of the loop. I remember reading that somewhere, so I've always done the coil thing with no issues. Worth a try....

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I'll give that w whirl.

You are just getting CO2 in your beer line probably due to pressue issues. This is issue it pretty normal though. I could be wrong but 10' of line sounds like it is way overkill though. I'd adjust the pressure after coiling the beer line and laying it flat either on top of the keg or somewhere above the keg.

Co2 is coming out of solution in the line. Ususally that means that either the keg is overcarbed or you are pouring with not enough pressure. What is the fridge temp and what is the regulator pressure set to?

PA49erFan21 said:

You are just getting CO2 in your beer line probably due to pressue issues. This is issue it pretty normal though. I could be wrong but 10' of line sounds like it is way overkill though. I'd adjust the pressure after coiling the beer line and laying it flat either on top of the keg or somewhere above the keg.

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I'm in the camp that 10' for your purposes is overkill, despite the myriad of folks who will adamantly disagree. I've had similar issues tht resolved after cutting 4' of tubing off. I'd stick with 5-6' of 3/16" line. I never over/under carb, over foam, or any other complaints.

Hmm. The temp changes from 38ish to 41ish ( crappy temp controller). Pressure is set to 10 psi.


I purposefully got 10' of beer line so I could cut off excess if need be.

Regardless, it's WAY better than the 5' of 5/16 that came with the kegorater.

I tried one of the calculators on here, and I have no clue what it's asking for or what it's suggesting. I must be retarded or something because it makes no sense to me.

I fixed the line on top of the keg this morning before work and will poor a beer shortly. I'll report back.

I do see a few bubbles in the beer line too, but no big pockets of co2

Since it's a commercial keg, I'm thinking it's just carbed at a higher volume than your 10 psi is set at. That means some of the co2 will come out of solution as it tries to equalize. If it's well carbonated, but the pour kind of sucks, I'd be inclined to see if I could live with it. If it's losing some carbonation, I'd turn it up to 12 psi (which is what my kegerator is set at) and see if that solves it.

Also, if you pour a second beer immediately after the first one, does that one have less foam? If so, it could be that your tower cooler does not cool quite enough and your first pour has some warmer beer from the lines.

jeffmeh said:

Also, if you pour a second beer immediately after the first one, does that one have less foam? If so, it could be that your tower cooler does not cool quite enough and your first pour has some warmer beer from the lines.

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It poors the same every time.

Yooper said:

Since it's a commercial keg, I'm thinking it's just carbed at a higher volume than your 10 psi is set at. That means some of the co2 will come out of solution as it tries to equalize. If it's well carbonated, but the pour kind of sucks, I'd be inclined to see if I could live with it. If it's losing some carbonation, I'd turn it up to 12 psi (which is what my kegerator is set at) and see if that solves it.

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Hmm. I'll try that for my next pour.

After upping to 12 psi and waiting an hour I get half beer half foam.


Are there supposed to be bubbles showing in the beer line?

rostato said:

After upping to 12 psi and waiting an hour I get half beer half foam.


Are there supposed to be bubbles showing in the beer line?

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Shouldn't be any bubble showing in your beer line. If it isn't a temperature issue, and isn't related to the length of your line, I agree that Yooper might be right. What style of beer are you dispensing? Trying to get an idea of what level it might be carbonated to based upon traditional carbonation levels of various styles.

MizooBrew said:

Shouldn't be any bubble showing in your beer line. If it isn't a temperature issue, and isn't related to the length of your line, I agree that Yooper might be right. What style of beer are you dispensing? Trying to get an idea of what level it might be carbonated to based upon traditional carbonation levels of various styles.

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Hmm. Well, I see bubbles forming in the beer line. Not sure why.

Te carbonation is perfect, it's just pouring terribly.

I'm dispensing a ballast point sculpin IPA...very tasty

rostato said:

Hmm. Well, I see bubbles forming in the beer line. Not sure why.

Te carbonation is perfect, it's just pouring terribly.

I'm dispensing a ballast point sculpin IPA...very tasty

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If you see bubbles forming in the beer line, it most likely means that the pressure you're applying is lower than the pressure that corresponds to the carbonation level. The gas is trying to escape the beer to reach equilibrium with the applied pressure. I don't know the exact level sculpin is carbed to (and google isn't giving me a quick answer either), but I drink enough of it to guess that it's higher than the ~2.5 vol your current pressure corresponds with. If I were you I'd e-mail or call ballast point and ask what the carb level for sculpin is. I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you. Using that info and a chart like this one, set the pressure so that it corresponds to the carb level.

Fair enough. I'll do some digging and see if I can find out. The beer store I got it from has some on tap as well, so ill stop in there and see what they are doing and make adjustments based on differences. If that doesn't help, I'll email ballast point

Ok so after letting it sit all night and all day I come home to this. It just seems like it shouldn't do that. Leak possibly? Or just not enough carbonation?

rostato said:

Ok so after letting it sit all night and all day I come home to this. It just seems like it shouldn't do that. Leak possibly? Or just not enough carbonation?

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Too much carbonation for your serving pressure, or not enough pressure for the carbonation, however you want to look at it.

The other possibility is severe temp stratification, but if you have a fan blowing air up into the tower, that's highly unlikely.

JuanMoore said:

Too much carbonation for your serving pressure, or not enough pressure for the carbonation, however you want to look at it.

The other possibility is severe temp stratification, but if you have a fan blowing air up into the tower, that's highly unlikely.

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Ok. I wasn't able to stop at the beer store today.

I upped the pressure to 14 psi, and have been letting it settle for a bit. I'll pour a beer in an hour or so and see what happens. If I have no luck, I'll call ballast point tomorrow.

14 psi and a perfect pour. We'll see if it continues!

Did you force carb your beer ?? Did that once and it was real ****... There was soo much pressure in my beer that even with the gas off and the vent burped on the keg 1 min after I coul pour myself a nice 50/50 glass of american brown foam...

jesseroberge said:

Did you force carb your beer ?? Did that once and it was real ****... There was soo much pressure in my beer that even with the gas off and the vent burped on the keg 1 min after I coul pour myself a nice 50/50 glass of american brown foam...

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No. It's a commercial keg