Nothing but foam

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Chuckabrewski

Chuckabrewski

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So i tried to boost carb my first keg and now i get straight foam out of the tap.

I chilled the beer to 38 applied 30 psi and shook for 2 minutes. I then let it sit 12 hrs and purged most of the pressure. I purged more again a few hours later. I have since kept the beer on 10 psi still at 38-42 degrees for the next 24 hrs and still pull straight foam.

Whats the best thing to do to correct this? Let it sit at 10 psi for a few days and continue to check or purge completely let it sit a few days and start over again?

Or is there a better method?
 
Foam is due to three reasons. Tempurature, carbonation level or restriction. From what you have described your tempurature is good and shaking for two minutes would not overcarbonate at 30 PSI. Did you let it sit for 12 hours and leave the pressure delivering at 30PSI or did it sit with 30PSI on the keg, but the regulator no longer delivering the pressure? If you left it at 30PSI with the regulator on then it may have overcarbonated. What is the ID of your beer line and what is the lenth? It should be at least 5' long with 3/16 ID hose. If it is overcarbonated letting it sit with or without CO2 will not make a difference in a closed system. You need to turn the pressure down as low as you can and get some of the beer out. Basically, you will probably have to drink your way out of this. The other way would to leave your pressure relief valve open for awile and let some of the pressure escape. You should not have to worry about contamination because the escaping CO2 will not let stuff in. I hope that helps.
Todd
 
I would chill the keg first and then hit it with 30 psi for 24-36 hours, purge a bit and then set to serving pressure 10psi. Shaking is going to be hard to get right. I do not shake at all. 5 days total for perfect beer.
 
KegconnectionLLC said:
Foam is due to three reasons. Tempurature, carbonation level or restriction. From what you have described your tempurature is good and shaking for two minutes would not overcarbonate at 30 PSI. Did you let it sit for 12 hours and leave the pressure delivering at 30PSI or did it sit with 30PSI on the keg, but the regulator no longer delivering the pressure? If you left it at 30PSI with the regulator on then it may have overcarbonated. What is the ID of your beer line and what is the lenth? It should be at least 5' long with 3/16 ID hose. If it is overcarbonated letting it sit with or without CO2 will not make a difference in a closed system. You need to turn the pressure down as low as you can and get some of the beer out. Basically, you will probably have to drink your way out of this. The other way would to leave your pressure relief valve open for awile and let some of the pressure escape. You should not have to worry about contamination because the escaping CO2 will not let stuff in. I hope that helps.
Todd
Click to expand...

I hit it with 30 & disconnected it from the regulator.

My beer line is about 5' and it's 3/16.

Ill turn down the l pressure and drink away. Thanks for the tips.
 
Are you opening the tap fully in one motion? If you just crack it open you will get foam.

My keg fridge is in the garage where my faucets stay warmish. The first half pint does come out foamy, so I just grab another glass and pull a full pint. When the foam has settled, it is fine. It takes about an hour of tap inactivity to warm up again. That ain't happening too often.
 
I'd guess it's overcarbed. If so, disconnect the gas, and pull the pressure relief valve every time you think of it for a few days, and try again.

KegconnectionLLC said:
From what you have described your tempurature is good and shaking for two minutes would not overcarbonate at 30 PSI.
Todd
Click to expand...

Shaking a chilled keg for 2 min at 30 psi absolutely can overcarb the beer. It all depends on how vigorously it was shaken.
 
JuanMoore said:
I'd guess it's overcarbed. If so, disconnect the gas, and pull the pressure relief valve every time you think of it for a few days, and try again.



Shaking a chilled keg for 2 min at 30 psi absolutely can overcarb the beer. It all depends on how vigorously it was shaken.
Click to expand...


Vent off the excess gas, disconnect the gas line, and try to take a pull. Still foamy? If so, you probably overcarb'd.

With kegging, foam is dictated mainly by
1. Carbonation level of beer
2. Serving pressure (aka how hard it's pushing the beer out)
3. Line length (which ties into #2)
 
Are you sure the in and out lines are on correctly? Maybe you are pulling in head from the keg instead of beer from the bottom?
 
kooch said:
Are you sure the in and out lines are on correctly? Maybe you are pulling in head from the keg instead of beer from the bottom?
Click to expand...

In a closed system (ie. pressurized), there shouldn't be any foam. Foam shouldn't begin to really materalize til the beer line or after it leaves the tap. Assuming it wasn't just shaken, there should be zero head inside the keg.
 
dallasdb said:
I swapped my 5' lines for 10' and could serve at 20 psi without foaming.
Click to expand...

+1

Foam control can be easily achieved by lengthening your hoses. I had a similar foam issue, serving at cellar temp. I tripled my 3/16" brew lines to 15 feet, and the problem has completely gone away. I can also fill growlers now with minimal foam formation.

To get the 3/4 inch or so of head on a perfect pint, I just stop tipping the glass in the last 1/3 of the pour, works beautifully. Also, I serve at 11psi, and about 50degrees F
 
Jeez, you serve @ 60F? What kind of beers are you drinking? That's practically fermenting temperature, or a cask ale serving temp.
 
I serve mainly highly hoped IPAs and IIPAs, as well various other things, and they are nice on the warm side, also I messed up on the C to F conversion, I meant 50 degress F
 
So i disconnected the gas, relieved pressure, and reconnected at about 4 psi and got my first decent pour. The beer still isnt fully carbonated yet, should i leave the gas on at about 8 psi for a week and see what happens?
 
Chuckabrewski said:
So i disconnected the gas, relieved pressure, and reconnected at about 4 psi and got my first decent pour. The beer still isnt fully carbonated yet, should i leave the gas on at about 8 psi for a week and see what happens?
Click to expand...

You need to leave your gas on whatever pressure corresponds to your desired carbonation level at your serving temperature. Changing the serving pressure to fix a balancing issue is not the best idea. If you set it lower, every time you pour a pint the carb level will drop slightly until it reaches equilibrium with the lower pressure, resulting in undercarbed beer. If you set it higher, the beer will slowly reach equilibrium with that pressure, and get overcarbed. Since it's still undercarbed, and pouring foam at serving pressure, but not at a lower pressure, then you most likely have a line balancing issue. The quick and easy fix is to replace your beer line with a longer one. Try 10'-12' and see how that does.
 

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