Foaming troubles with first batches

I have searched the forums and tried everything. Even brought over a guy who has been doing this a while and he couldn't figure it out.

Fridge sitting at 39 degrees. Set and forget method at 12 on the regulator. 12 foot 3/16ID tubing.

Usually about half the glass is foam. Doesn't taste/feel overcarbed.

As a ridiculous experiment, we put a 36 foot line on it and finally slowed to an acceptable pour with 36 feet and about 6 on the regulator. But obviously very slow.

So I left it alone off the gas for a week. Hooked up today back to a normal 12 foot hose, 39 degrees and started with the regulator around 2. Still foam. We'll see what happens as the night goes on.

Are you pushing the hose up into a tap tower? If so, the bit of line in it will be warmer than the rest, causing more CO2 to come out of solution. My first draw is usually half foam for that reason as well (too lazy to set up a circulation system so far).

Sounds like the beer at the tap is too warm. Try 2 or 3 consecutive pours to see if it goes away.

It's a fridge, so the lines are not going into a tower. The spigots are right into the door.

Testing future pours as we speak. 3 in and still foamy. Last weekend we ran lots of test scenarios trying to fix it. The next morning I was regretting the multiple testing.

Try removing the beer out tube and inspect for blockage.

Does this happen with any/all kegs? It sounds like there could be an obstruction in the dip tube or hole in the lines or dip tube itself.

I've also heard that something blocking up the end of the tube (such as a hop bag for keg hops, most commonly) can cause foaming as well, but I've never had it happen myself.

smagee said:

Does this happen with any/all kegs? It sounds like there could be an obstruction in the dip tube or hole in the lines or dip tube itself.

I've also heard that something blocking up the end of the tube (such as a hop bag for keg hops, most commonly) can cause foaming as well, but I've never had it happen myself.

Click to expand...

Happening with 2 out of 3. The 2 foaming went on the gas at the same time and are beer. The third went on the gas later and is a cider. Don't those carbonate a little differently on average?