foamy beer on every first pour?

i have noticed that i get a very foamy pour on the very first pour (ie if it has sat more then 45mins or longer)

i have noticed that beer in the line from the keg --> tap seams to be leaking back into the keg.
im not sure what the exact size of the beer hose is, but it is the standard size bought from my LHBS.
keg is a sunshine wheat clone, serving at ~2 psi through a perlick faucet

any suggestions?

thanks in advance.

Pour off the first couple ounces or so, until it starts to run clear. This works for me.

Kelly. said:

i have noticed that i get a very foamy pour on the very first pour (ie if it has sat more then 45mins or longer)

i have noticed that beer in the line from the keg --> tap seams to be leaking back into the keg.
im not sure what the exact size of the beer hose is, but it is the standard size bought from my LHBS.
keg is a sunshine wheat clone, serving at ~2 psi through a perlick faucet

any suggestions?

thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

2 psi? leak back into the keg never seen or heard of that before I would think that would be impossible as the dip tube is at the bottom and the pressurized head space would be pushing down on the beer .

I had the problem with foam first pour also with the 5 foot lines that came with the tower at 12 psi I changed them out to 10 foot and no more foam.

Before you pull your tap release all the pressure from the keg then add the 2 psi for dispersing.

Usually the first 2 seconds are foam then the beer runs.

I am having this problem as well; From what I read, the first step (as suggested above) is longer lines. Second, is cooling. Most towers (like mine) are poorly insulated with a sheet of foam. It keeps the lines up there pretty cool, but adding a blower or fan to help circulate cool air into the tower should greatly reduce the foam.

There are post how to do this, if you search (I am being lazy). Most people will get a fan from Radioshack or scrounge computer parts, put it in a box and use miscellaneous ducting materials to route the air intaked at the bottom of the fridge straight into the bottom of the tower. Power is drawn from light in fridge, or running to the outside of the fridge via drain hole.

springer said:

2 psi? leak back into the keg never seen or heard of that before I would think that would be impossible as the dip tube is at the bottom and the pressurized head space would be pushing down on the beer .

Click to expand...

i can literally see the beer falling back into the keg after a pour,
is there a way to check to make sure my system isnt leaking pressure somewhere?

homebrewer_99 said:

Before you pull your tap release all the pressure from the keg then add the 2 psi for dispersing.

Usually the first 2 seconds are foam then the beer runs.

Click to expand...

i have tried this,

can you explain more on why i should do this?
(<-- noob)

Putting your keg under pressure for a couple days (or weeks) allows the beer to carbonate. When you first hook up your CO2 line your keg still retains that pressure. Forcing beer through the lines under that much pressure only gives you foam.

You need to release all that excess pressure before serving.

A friend of mine releases all the pressure in the keg with the tank set on 0 (zero). Then he'll place a glass under the tap then open it (pull forward). He slowly turns the screw until the beer starts flowing then leaves it there.

I've tried it. This method works without worrying about the length of the line.

Kelly. said:

i can literally see the beer falling back into the keg after a pour,
is there a way to check to make sure my system isnt leaking pressure somewhere?

Click to expand...

Check the system with a spray bottle with some dish soap and water the leak if there is one will form bubbles. For the draining back I would look at the dip tube if there is a pin hole near the top that would let the beer drain and CO2 enter. and are you really pouring at 2 psi? What pressure do you leave the keg ? because at 2 psi I would think the beer would go flat after a while , mine is set at 12-14 psi all the time

homebrewer_99 said:

A friend of mine releases all the pressure in the keg with the tank set on 0 (zero). Then he'll place a glass under the tap then open it (pull forward). He slowly turns the screw until the beer starts flowing then leaves it there.

I've tried it. This method works without worrying about the length of the line.

Click to expand...

This would work well, but (correct me if 'm wrong gurus) this is not a balanced system, and over time you beer would lose pressure and not be consistently carbed (or gain pressure and be over carbed I guess if serving pressure ends up being higher than required for desired carb level). This is theory and i don't know how long it would actually take to flatten the beer back out. It depends on how many units CO2 you want and what the serving pressure ends up being for his pour. This is where the proper diameter and length hose comes into play.

IrregularPulse said:

This would work well, but (correct me if 'm wrong gurus) this is not a balanced system, and over time you beer would lose pressure and not be consistently carbed (or gain pressure and be over carbed I guess if serving pressure ends up being higher than required for desired carb level). This is theory and i don't know how long it would actually take to flatten the beer back out. It depends on how many units CO2 you want and what the serving pressure ends up being for his pour. This is where the proper diameter and length hose comes into play.

Click to expand...

This is correct. You ideally want to serve at your ideal carbonation pressure, and adjust the pressure at the faucet with resistance via height change/line length/line diameter.

OP - I have heard of people having foaming problems due to the arrangement of their lines... if your lines are above your faucets at any point, this allows entrapped CO2 coming out of solution to rise within the tubing and collect at the high point within the tubing. This CO2 pocket can produce a surprising amount of foam when released. I do not have experience with this problem but have read about it. It seems the solution was to make sure your faucets were the highest part of your system.

Good luck.

I'm having the same issue. It s*cks having to waste the first little bit to foam, if I just keep pouring instead of pouring out the foam i end up with a whole pint of flat beer. Did you solve your problem?

I run my beer through a flash chiller at a constant 10PSI. The first pint always has a large head on it but it pours perfectly after that for 30 minutes or so. The reason that the first pint is always too 'foamy' is that the CO2 in the beer creates airlocks in the line, both prior to and after the flash chiller. The CO2 comes out of solution in the line and my beer tap 'splutters' and creates much foam.

I'll look into a solution to this but ultimately pour more, drink faster.

"OP - I have heard of people having foaming problems due to the arrangement of their lines... if your lines are above your faucets at any point, this allows entrapped CO2 coming out of solution to rise within the tubing and collect at the high point within the tubing. This CO2 pocket can produce a surprising amount of foam when released. I do not have experience with this problem but have read about it. It seems the solution was to make sure your faucets were the highest part of your system" quote

thanks for this info boerderij - i have a 4 tap keggerator and 3 taps pour fine but the 4th is all foam - i will check the layout of the lines as the 4th is the last one i hooked up and its lines are jammed on top of the others

The lines are at the top of your cooling chamber where it is noticeably warmer than the beer. CO2 comes out of solution in the lines and pushes the beer back down into the keg. A circulating fan should help but putting 10' of 3/16" ID lines really is the secret to manageable pours.

I might have missed something but what temp is your beer at?