Kegging Foam

Hi all,

So I finished my kegerator build (see attached) a few days back and kegged a raspberry wheat and an ipa. I've been out of town for the past few days, and after my roommate got control of the kegerator's temperature (sitting at 36F right now), I tried to pour them both. What is strange is the differences in how the two beers pour. The raspberry wheat pours super slow but does not foam up too much. The ipa gushes out of the tap super fast and pours as straight foam. What could be the causes of such a problem? I have attached pictures of both beers poured, although I am about halfway through the raspberry wheat right now.

Both beers are at 36F and I am using 5 ft, 5/16 diameter beer lines. From keg top to the top of the tower, it is about a foot and a half. Both kegs are sitting at 13 PSI.

Thanks,

CHans

13psi is pretty high for 36F. Let some pressure off your kegs, drop your regulator down to 8 to 10 psi, and let your kegs fill up to that pressure. That should help a lot!

Is the hose you are using 5/16" o.d. or i.d.? You should be using 3/16" id to reduce the flow rate. 5 feet is the minimum length but i like to use 10 feet or more to reduce the flow.

Does each keg have its own regulator or is there one regulator feeding both kegs?

Thanks for the quick reply. I just dropped the pressure on the reg to 10 PSI, but it didn't help. The IPA flew out again as straight foam while the raspberry wheat dripped out of the faucet.

I think the beer lines are 5/16 inside diameter, but I could be mistaken. I am using the existing beer lines which came with my conversion kit.

One regulator is feeding both kegs.


CHans

I should have mentioned it will take a few days for the co2 in the beer to equalize to the 10psi. So give it a little time.

Do you have anything in your raspberry beer that could clog it? I've had even pieces of pellet hops clog the keg overtime. If not that are you sure the gas line to the keg isn't clogged somehow?

Double check you're using 3/16" lines. anything larger will result in the problems you are facing!

What happens when you swap the beer lines?

Cheers!

Looks like they are 3/16" after all. I bled the kegs, set the gas to 10PSI and I'll check them again in a few days.

There are a few chunks of fermented raspberries that made it into the keg. I'll check to see if anything is clogging that faucet. Hopefully, this is the problem and then maybe I will just need to buy some longer beer lines.

One more question. Should I always leave my gas on when attached to the kegs?

Thanks for the help ZenBrew!

+1 for swapping the beer lines.

If the raspberry beer is clogged i suspect the clog will be at the poppet valve. Little pieces of stuff sure like to collect on those springs and make it so the yummy goodness can't get out to your mug!

I like to leave the pressure on all of the time. I have wasted a few tanks of co2 because of leaks, but that doesn't happen any more. I like it always ready to pour. It seems like such a hassle to turn the pressure on and off every time you want some beer...

And your welcome! Kegs are a little tough at first, but i think they are totally the way to go.

So I just cleaned out the beer line on the raspberry wheat. Glad I purchased a pressurized cleaner with the conversion it kit. It certainly pours much faster now.

I figured a bunch of stuff could get clogged in the poppet, but I haven't removed it to take a look. Hopefully most of the chunks are out of the system by now. I think that I will just pick up some longer lines tomorrow and swap them out.

I can't wait for this system to be functional!

Glad to hear you got the initial clog! From my experience more may settle and you might get another clog. I have found putting stuff like that in a hop sock during fermentation prevents clogging my kegs.

I'd recommend waiting to buy the longer hose until you find out if the lower pressure helped or not. I always like to change one thing at a time so i know how much affect that change has. Plus, it might save you $$$

Also, i use the following chart to know what volumes of co2 (how much carbonation) Is in a beer. http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

You can see with your temp and pressure you were in the yellow zone. Slightly overcarbed!

Good luck! Let me know how it turns out!

I have found that with my single regulator with a 3 way split that the further kegs seem to pour a touch slower. I would swap the gas lines as mentioned above, but there is definitely the possibility that some fruit stuck in the diptube. Additionally depending on how you carbonated. From your question of leaving the gas on I am going to assume you naturally or force carbed which can cause foaming problems when overcarbed. It is easy to overcarb with force carbonation after all.

Leave the fruit beer on pressure as it is working fine, turn pressure off to ipa and bleed out the pressure daily.periodically for ~3 days. then put back on standard pressure and try again. It should balance out, may be a little flat at first but it will recarb slowly on its own.

If it does clog again you can do what I've done.

Let all the pressure out of the keg and then remove the poppet valve on the liquid side. hook it all back up and use as normal. I avoided serious clogs doing this.

Be sure to put the poppet valve in a safe place and write yourself a note to not disconnect the liquid side unless you take all the pressure off. Place the note on top of that keg. Otherwise you'll have a huge mess!

I plan on changing out the lines today and see if this helps. I dont think that force carbing the beer was responsible for the foaming because it comes out so fast and the beer was far too warm (did not realize it at the time) when I tried carbing it.

Taking out the poppet valve on the raspberry wheat is a good idea. Might try that if I continue to experience problems with clogs.

Thanks gain for the help guys. Ill post later today or sometime tomorrow with the results of changing my beer lines. I need to get this system set up before I keg a saison I brewed last month, which from the samples I've taken, might be the best beer I have ever brewed!

So I changed the lines out today for 10 ft lines at 3/16 in inner diameter. While the pour speed is now much better, the beer is still super foamy. Looking at the beer lines, CO2 is coming out of solution in the lines, creating bubbles. Beer is slightly below 40C and and being served at 10PSI.

If the beer is indeed over carbonated, which I suspect it is, I should turn off the CO2, bleed them dry every couple of hours for a few days and then set the serving pressure back to ~10 PSI?

Fixed. Followed advice on this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/overcarbed-keg-heres-instant-solution-127655/

So pleased. Thanks for help.

CHans3