Hello everyone, Im hoping someone can help. I recently built an outdoor bar/kitchen. I put my kegerator which is most likely meant for indoors in my outdoor bar. The kegerator is a single tap, not sure the brand. I have the kegerator built into the bar so the tap is mounted to the tile above it. There is about a 6 inch gap from the kegerator to the tap, I tries spraying foam around the hole in the kegerator since the tap doesn't sit on the kegerator like its meant to. I keep checking the temp and it ranges from 36 to 44 on any given day. ALso the coils have frost on them. Im not sure what to do how I can fix this issue to privet air from leaking out or into the kegerator. Also do I need a fan in my bar so it can breath better. PLease help!!!
Help! Cant keep my Keg cold enough
- Thread starter sullid
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
A pic is worth a thousand WTF???'s That being said, try to run some copper tubing/pipe with your beer line inside it from the cold "inside the keggerator" area all the way to the tap. The copper will help stabilize the temp of the beer in the lines. Also you want about 4' of line if you are serving at 15 psi. The rest of the issues are environmental and are beyond my advice...
40 is colder then my beer is normally served/stored
how cold do you think it should be?
http://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=479
It sounds like you've got a tower system. Given what you've told us so far, I'll bet your fridge is keeping the beer around 40 degrees, but the tap lines can probably reach 50-60 degrees easily. As a result, the beer that sits in those lines (and the pours that go through them) go through a warm line that causes the CO2 to break out of solution. You get a pour full of foam and a mostly-flat beer.
For a system like this, being outdoors, Zamial's suggestion of running your beer line through copper tubing is a possible step. I'd add to that that you should probably build a linkage between the top of the kegerator and the bar, and heavily insulate the tower, and create some way to push air from inside the kegerator up into the tower and back down.
Given your system, though, it might not be enough. Running glycol from inside the fridge through tubing all the way up to the top of the tower and back down might be your only option. That is one way you can probably guarantee that you'll keep those lines cool.
I think your issue will prove to be warm lines. That's an issue that going to longer lines won't help, and lowering your serving pressure won't help. The only solution is to find a way to keep the lines cool.
As for the temp in the kegerator, 36 to 44 degrees is normal if you're measuring air temp. Is it keeping your beer at the right temp? Is the compressor cycling like crazy? Those are the concerns you have for the kegerator. My guess is that none of that is a major issue, although keeping the kegerator outside might kill the compressor (because it will cycle more) earlier than if you kept it inside.
For a system like this, being outdoors, Zamial's suggestion of running your beer line through copper tubing is a possible step. I'd add to that that you should probably build a linkage between the top of the kegerator and the bar, and heavily insulate the tower, and create some way to push air from inside the kegerator up into the tower and back down.
Given your system, though, it might not be enough. Running glycol from inside the fridge through tubing all the way up to the top of the tower and back down might be your only option. That is one way you can probably guarantee that you'll keep those lines cool.
I think your issue will prove to be warm lines. That's an issue that going to longer lines won't help, and lowering your serving pressure won't help. The only solution is to find a way to keep the lines cool.
As for the temp in the kegerator, 36 to 44 degrees is normal if you're measuring air temp. Is it keeping your beer at the right temp? Is the compressor cycling like crazy? Those are the concerns you have for the kegerator. My guess is that none of that is a major issue, although keeping the kegerator outside might kill the compressor (because it will cycle more) earlier than if you kept it inside.
Per my previous reply, I completely disagree. In this specific scenario, I think it's beer line temp [inside the tower] that is the culprit (not kegerator internal temp).
malevolent
Well-Known Member
Get a fan inside of the keggerator to help move the air around. It sounds like your coils are getting ridiculously cold, and the cold air is primarily just sitting at the bottom?
Zamial said:
I'm sorry, but *4 feet* for 15psi, with anything like your average 3/16" beverage line is going to cause foaming all by itself.
I had 5ft in a kegerator and constant foaming issues. 12 feet at 12 psi fixed all my problems. Just coil the extra length inside the fridge.
Even with all that length, you still won't have more than a couple of ounces aging in the lines, and the slower draft speed is well worth it in getting a good pour
Xpertskir
Well-Known Member
Also, what kind of beer is this?
Thanks everyone for the reply. I agree this issue is in the tower, but I also worry my compressor will eventually blow out. I need to figure a way to circulate the air more efficiently. I'll take a look to see how long the hose is.
