Excessive foaming

Just got a quick question that I sure is something I'm doing wrong. My first brew was a strawberry cream ale that was great. The only issue I has was with the delivery of the beer. When I would pour a cup, usually the first pint was half foam. All other pours would be perfectly fine. Was the beer in general over carbonated or was it something the in keg system? Could it be that the foam I was getting was just because the beer had been sitting in the lines for a while? Thanks.

Could it be that the foam I was getting was just because the beer had been sitting in the lines for a while?

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Most likely, since the next pour is ok. Take a look at the line while making that first pour. Does it look like the line was empty or full of foam?

I will check, currently there is nothing on tap (sad face!) so I have to wait till I have a new beer ready to go. What could the issues be if this is the case? Toward the end of the keg, when I realized what was happening I would just pour a little bit of beer and throw all the foam out. I don't think the line is getting warmer than the keg so I'm kind of at a loss.

How long and what diameter is your hose?

No, not _that_ hose... your beverage line hose. I have about 8' of 3/16", and I do get a little more foaming with the first pull, but it's not excessive. Also, are you using beverage line, or just plain vinyl tubing?

I've got a length of 5' from keg to shank, the ID of the hose is 3/16" and the hose is perlock beverage line. What does that tell you?

Most people say to go with 10' and that should help

Trubadour said:

Most people say to go with 10' and that should help

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+1, most kits you buy come with 5', but that is generally not enough 10' is a good safe length.

Wow, really? That seems like A LOT of hose just coiled up laying at the bottom of my keggerator. Well, if thats what will do it then I try that out.

I am new to kegging, but the same thing has happened to me. It may be that your beverage lines at the top of your kegerator are warmer than the beer inside the keg. This causes more CO2 to come out of solution within your lines. Some people use fans inside their kegerators to keep the temperature even throughout. Also, you may want to consider turning your PSI down just a hair (0.5 - 1 PSI).

I coil them up on top of each of the respective keg, instead of at the bottom of the keezer / kegerator

Go to the foaming issues thread. The epoxy nozzles really do work. I love it. Keep all of my kegs at carbonating pressures and no foam at all.

Well, I actually bought several of the epoxy nozzles already. Hopefully this will clear up the problem!