Keg is dispensing foamy beer

I'm new to kegging and have just kegged my first batch (IPA). I force carbonated at 30 psi for two days and have now purged the co2 and repressurized at 6 psi to dispense. The beer is at 55 degree F because it's in my basement. Any ideas why its pouring such a foam? I also don't understand how to get my beer to 2.0 volumes of co2. This carbonation calculator tells me that if my beer is at 55 degrees, to pressurize to 13.5 psi. http://tinyurl.com/yeswj4n Is that to dispense it or to set as a pressure for several days. I'm very confused, please help.

Cheers!

How long of a dispensing line do you have? The longer the better. I use 10-ft lines and sometimes have the same problem. Maybe you are a little overcarbed. I just bleed the pressure before the pour and it works for me.

How long of a dispensing line do you have? The longer the better. I use 10-ft lines and sometimes have the same problem. Maybe you are a little overcarbed. I just bleed the pressure before the pour and it works for me.

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Yea my line is 10-ft. The beer tastes like it could be carbonated more to make it more crisp. But I'm getting 1 inch of beer and the rest foam on every pour. It goes away, but it takes several minutes. My lines are clean to so that doesn't have anything to do with it. Should I force carbonate at say 30 psi for another day, purge, and then try pouring? Would that make the beer taste more carbonated and reduce my foaming issues?

If you are pouring mostly foam with 10-ft lines you are most likely overcarbed. After the foam goes away the beer your drinking is nearly flat. Don't force carb anymore. Let it sit overnight at a few pounds (4-5) this may equalize things. If I get an overcarbed keg, I just bleed all the pressure off before the pour and it works great! This even works if you are overcarbed.

pgenius said:

I'm new to kegging and have just kegged my first batch (IPA). I force carbonated at 30 psi for two days and have now purged the co2 and repressurized at 6 psi to dispense. The beer is at 55 degree F because it's in my basement. Any ideas why its pouring such a foam? I also don't understand how to get my beer to 2.0 volumes of co2. This carbonation calculator tells me that if my beer is at 55 degrees, to pressurize to 13.5 psi. http://tinyurl.com/yeswj4n Is that to dispense it or to set as a pressure for several days. I'm very confused, please help.

Cheers!

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So the table you're using says to carb your beer at 13.5 psi. This is not the dispensing pressure. This is the pressure that it takes to introduce 2.0 volumes of CO2 into your beer. Once you reach the proper volume of CO2, a few days at 55 degrees, then the beer is dispensed at a lower temperature. Using 3/16 ID beer line will reduce the pressure by 2 psi per foot of line. So I dispense my beer at 12 psi using 5 feet of 3/16 ID beer line. This gives me enough pressure left over to push the beer out and create a decent head when poured.

Hope this helps.

It's hard to say. It might be overcarbed. It's really hard to carb to a correct volume when you start at 30 psi and work downward! I do that sometimes, because I'm impatient but I've discovered that it seems to work best just to set the pressure and keep it the same for carbing and dispensing.

My kegs are at 39 degrees, and at 11 psi. It's perfect. It would be a pain to set it at one pressure, then reduce the pressure to serve, and then have to turn it back up to keep the carb level. My advice is to pick the pressure you need for the temperature of the kegs and the correct volume (a basic 2.2-2.4 works best for me) and keep it the same. If it's overcarbed, or foamy, just pull the pressure relief valve to release the excess. It'll eventually equalize.

Two days cold at 30psi is probably too much, especially if you agitated the keg at all. Warm it up again and pull the vent once an hour for like 3 hours. Cool it down and set to 12psi or so.

Your problem is the 55 degrees. You don't have that in a fridge? I force carb my IPA at 30 psi for 36 hours, then reduce to 10psi for a few days and leave it there to dispense. I get a perfect head, every time and have never had a foaming issue. I also refrigerate my tower.

I would bet anything you overcarbed. I had this happen at first especially if you were shaking the keg at all during this time.

Are your beer lines 3/16" ID or 1/4" ID? 1/4" will not work for a short run, it will make foam.

I'm having the same problem here. I have 5' 3/16 lines and my fridge is at a constant 39 degrees. I have it set at 11 psi and I did the set it and forget it method. The keg has been hooked up to the gas for 2 weeks now. It's pushing out a lot of foam and not a lot of beer. Should I lengthen my lines? If so, how do I do that?

basisforaday said:

I'm having the same problem here. I have 5' 3/16 lines and my fridge is at a constant 39 degrees. I have it set at 11 psi and I did the set it and forget it method. The keg has been hooked up to the gas for 2 weeks now. It's pushing out a lot of foam and not a lot of beer. Should I lengthen my lines? If so, how do I do that?

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Buy 10' or 12' lines. That should fix the problem. I did see a thread on "the cure for your short hose troubles" if getting new beerline isn't feasible.

Is there a coupler or something that I can buy at my LBHS to join 2 lines?

basisforaday said:

Is there a coupler or something that I can buy at my LBHS to join 2 lines?

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Yes, though a coupler + 2 hose clamps + 5ft of line is about the same price as 10ft of line. And you get two more spots to leak test!

I have to agree with Yoop. I had terrible problems until I set it and left it at one pressure. 8 psi works great for my cider and 10 psi for my beer. I also went from a 6 ft line to an 11 foot line. Everything works great now.

I'd say your dispensing temp is your biggest problem. Next would be the diameter of the hose.

Also, make sure you open the tap all the way when serving. If you only partially open it, it creates turbulence in the flow of beer past the valve and hence creates foam.

If you have a tower, try cooling it with a small computer fan and some sort of a duct. If the tower is not kept cool, then the beer in the line there will warm up and foam during pouring. After you get past the warm beer it should settle, but according to your description that does not seem to be the case here.

Hope this helps.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I'll put your advice to practice..

Cheers!