Kegerator problems: foam

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Willsellout

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So I have a 3 tap setup from keg connection that has never worked right. I'm not sure if it's me or them. I have my temp set at 35 degrees with a swing of 2. I've had nothing but foam from 3 beers. This latest one is a really great IPA that I've been trying to dial in using the tips that they gave me.

Basically he said to make sure that the beer is below 38 degrees otherwise it would foam. He also said to make sure I go the right diameter hose, which it is. Then he made sure that I have my serving pressure right, which right now is at 8 PSI.

I force carbed this keg by cooling it and then rolling it on my legs for a few minutes until it had the carbonation I wanted. Right now it has the carbonation I want but I'm getting half foam and half beer.

I put a glass of water with a thermometer in it to double check the temp. The temp coming out of the keg appears to be right around 38, so I lowered the temp a bit to get it a little bit lower.

I guess I'll see tomorrow whether the temperature is the problem but I have a couple questions.

1. The lines are 5 feet. I've heard most people use more to limit foam. Might this be a problem?

2. Is the temperature thing for real? What do you keep your kegs at? Do you have to keep the temperature lower to compensate for the keg density? Like to get the keg to 34 degrees do you have to set it a couple degrees lower?


Thanks!

Dan
 
a few things are missing from your story. you said you rolled the keg around on your legs. for how long, and what psi? you should have cooled the keg to serving temp, then set your regulator to 20 psi, and shook the keg for 20 minutes. then you have to wait 24 hours for it to settle. once you tap it, purge the excess pressure first, then set your regulator to 6-8 psi. you should have your keg at 34-38 F. some guys go up to 46 depending on the brew, this is usually with english dark ales like stouts and porters. some people prefer serving other beers at that temp too. the colder it is, the less flavourful it might turn out to be. i personally have mine at 36 and pour into a frozen pilsner glass. my tap pressure is 6 psi, and i explained how i carbonate. now the line length ive heard about, i have 3-8 feet lines depending on where the keg is in my keezer. obviously this is for distance to the tap. i have no difference from one tap to the next. so i cant tell you whether that actually makes a difference or not. the taps are dirrectly bolted to the cold side of the keezer so i dont have a massive temperature difference and my pours are fabulous.
 
a few things are missing from your story. you said you rolled the keg around on your legs. for how long, and what psi? you should have cooled the keg to serving temp, then set your regulator to 20 psi, and shook the keg for 20 minutes. then you have to wait 24 hours for it to settle. once you tap it, purge the excess pressure first, then set your regulator to 6-8 psi. you should have your keg at 34-38 F. some guys go up to 46 depending on the brew, this is usually with english dark ales like stouts and porters. some people prefer serving other beers at that temp too. the colder it is, the less flavourful it might turn out to be. i personally have mine at 36 and pour into a frozen pilsner glass. my tap pressure is 6 psi, and i explained how i carbonate. now the line length ive heard about, i have 3-8 feet lines depending on where the keg is in my keezer. obviously this is for distance to the tap. i have no difference from one tap to the next. so i cant tell you whether that actually makes a difference or not. the taps are dirrectly bolted to the cold side of the keezer so i dont have a massive temperature difference and my pours are fabulous.

I rolled it on my legs for probably a good 20-30 minutes total. I'd do 5 minutes and then check for carbonation and so on. I had it at 30 PSI. Once I had a feel for the carbonation I let it sit over night and checked again this evening. I'll try and lower the serving pressure a bit and see if that makes a difference.

Do you have bubbles in your line? It always seems like it starts pouring fine and then there is a spurt of air and the rest is foam.


Dan
 
Longer line might help. Check the o-ring on your kegs pickup tubes.

I currently have 7 foot lines with a temp of around 5-6c (41-43F) and can run up to 20 PSI without foam. (Though the beer will over carb at that PSI).

I prefer a 10 foot line for high carbed beer.
 
I'm willing to bet you overcarbed your beer. Seems like everyone that does force carbing has this issue. I would let it sit for a couple days, and bleed off the pressure a few times per day.

If that doesn't work, you know it's your line length, assuming your temperature remains constant in the 30's.

Work on 1 issue at a time, and you'll figure it out more quickly.
 
I'm willing to bet you overcarbed your beer. Seems like everyone that does force carbing has this issue. I would let it sit for a couple days, and bleed off the pressure a few times per day.

If that doesn't work, you know it's your line length, assuming your temperature remains constant in the 30's.

Work on 1 issue at a time, and you'll figure it out more quickly.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Over carbed beer is a pain. Easie to just let it warm up several degrees, shake a bit then vent co2. Then re chill at your proper co2 pressure (as per temp/pressure/vol of co2 you want).
 
I'm willing to bet you overcarbed your beer. Seems like everyone that does force carbing has this issue. I would let it sit for a couple days, and bleed off the pressure a few times per day.

If that doesn't work, you know it's your line length, assuming your temperature remains constant in the 30's.

Work on 1 issue at a time, and you'll figure it out more quickly.

Thanks, I might have overcarb'd, but I actually dig the carbonation. I'll take it off the gas and bleed it for a couple days and see how it works. Then I'll go from there. Thanks!
 
You never said what size line you had. That short of line you would need 3/16 and make sure it is beer line.
 
it sounds like overcarb. i think if you carb using the shake method, 20 mins at 20 psi.
thats it. youre going to have some bubbles in your lines, but thats normal. now to remove carbonation, i usually shake the crap out of the keg, let it settle 30 mins, then purge. try tapping and if its still doing it, repeat until proper carbonation is attained. this only works if you have ample head space in your keg, like a gallon low. if its full, expect a huge mess. the rest of what youre doing sounds great. 20 for 20 works for me.
 
As a fellow noob hear, I can tell you that I did the mollest the keg technique, and I had all kinds of foaming issues. YOu'll think that its not carbed and when it is carbed the bubbles will just seem a bit bigger in your mouth.

This is what works 12 psi for 1 week, it will be drinkable. 12psi for 3 weeks it will be oustanding.

If you must have something for say a party. 30 psi for 24 hours on a chilled keg. Then 12 psi for the remainder of its life. It should be drinkable in 3 days.

Oh... and 10 ft of 3/16" line. It cant hurt and it just allows you to up the pressure if you want to for say a wheat beer at a higher carb level.
 
As a fellow noob hear, I can tell you that I did the mollest the keg technique, and I had all kinds of foaming issues. YOu'll think that its not carbed and when it is carbed the bubbles will just seem a bit bigger in your mouth.

This is what works 12 psi for 1 week, it will be drinkable. 12psi for 3 weeks it will be oustanding.

If you must have something for say a party. 30 psi for 24 hours on a chilled keg. Then 12 psi for the remainder of its life. It should be drinkable in 3 days.

Oh... and 10 ft of 3/16" line. It cant hurt and it just allows you to up the pressure if you want to for say a wheat beer at a higher carb level.

When you say you leave it at 12 psi are you leaving the gas on? Or do you hit it with 12 psi, and turn the gas off...Is there even a difference? I'm a noob and trying to figure this out.
 
I leave all my kegs hooked up to gas. Just make sure you have no leaks and you're set to go. THere is sweet spot for everyone's setup. THere are too many variables, but most are line length and resistance (ID) , carb level, serving pressure, temp, and any differences in temp from keg to glass. Once you get a desirable pour, start playing with it by a few points in pressure. I noticed on mine, my pours are excellent at 11psi, they suffer on the first pour if I carb at 14 psi, but not much. And it takes a while to see the effects.

Some tips:
Cold glass (not frozen)
Pour out the first 2 oz of pour, then pour again (for first pour only)
Rinse the glass in cold water (lots of folks say it helps, me too)
Just set it and forget it.
Keep the faucets cold if possible.
Epoxy mixer tubes work, do a search for "Short hose troubles"
 
When I get home today I'll measure the lines diameter again and post. I can't for the life of me remember what they were. I took it off gas last night and purged. I can't really do the shake and purge method because I've got a full 5 gal in there and it shoots right out the purge valve:D
 
I leave all my kegs hooked up to gas. Just make sure you have no leaks and you're set to go. THere is sweet spot for everyone's setup. THere are too many variables, but most are line length and resistance (ID) , carb level, serving pressure, temp, and any differences in temp from keg to glass. Once you get a desirable pour, start playing with it by a few points in pressure. I noticed on mine, my pours are excellent at 11psi, they suffer on the first pour if I carb at 14 psi, but not much. And it takes a while to see the effects.

Some tips:
Cold glass (not frozen)
Pour out the first 2 oz of pour, then pour again (for first pour only)
Rinse the glass in cold water (lots of folks say it helps, me too)
Just set it and forget it.
Keep the faucets cold if possible.
Epoxy mixer tubes work, do a search for "Short hose troubles"


I saw the epoxy mixer tubes thread and if I can't figure this out I'm going to give it a try.
 
When I get home today I'll measure the lines diameter again and post. I can't for the life of me remember what they were. I took it off gas last night and purged. I can't really do the shake and purge method because I've got a full 5 gal in there and it shoots right out the purge valve:D

:Dyou dont shake and purge at the same time! If it's over carbed, you shake. Then stop shaking. Pull release valve. then repeat.
 
I saw the epoxy mixer tubes thread and if I can't figure this out I'm going to give it a try.

i have those tubes. they go right into the dip tubes on your keg. ive got a bunch if you want em, pm me, ill send em to you. im not using them. lemme know how many you need.
 
:Dyou dont shake and purge at the same time! If it's over carbed, you shake. Then stop shaking. Pull release valve. then repeat.

bad order of words there, sorry:D

That's what I did, but after about 5 seconds of purging foam started spraying out:D
 
WHile this is probably an overcarb, did you ever take off the outlet post and check the o-ring on the dip tube? If that doesn't seal, it will let co2 into the outlet.

NOTE: release pressure first! :D

When I cleaned it I took it completely apart and checked the dip tube o ring and it looked fine. I put some keglube on it after cleaning and put it back together. But what I don't understand is why there is so many bubbles in the line? I don't remember having bubbles before in my other beers. Maybe I will take it all apart again and just change out the O ring and see if that helps?
 
When I cleaned it I took it completely apart and checked the dip tube o ring and it looked fine. I put some keglube on it after cleaning and put it back together. But what I don't understand is why there is so many bubbles in the line? I don't remember having bubbles before in my other beers. Maybe I will take it all apart again and just change out the O ring and see if that helps?

Couldn't hurt, also I flatten the curve in the top of the dipstick. I take the o-ring off, then put the tube back in and whack it with rubber mallet, which flattens it, then out the o-ring back on.
 
Couldn't hurt, also I flatten the curve in the top of the dipstick. I take the o-ring off, then put the tube back in and whack it with rubber mallet, which flattens it, then out the o-ring back on.

thats a great tip, I'll do that when I get home. BTW I worked around the foam last night and the beer is delicious...all I need is to get this worked out and I will be a happy man.
 
OK so I can't get the tube off of the stupid hookup so I can't get the diameter of the hose. Anyone know what 1.75" circumference translates into inner diameter? I think its stupid that they don't have the size on the side of the tubing...

Anyway:

I took the dip tube out, flattened the lip on it, and replaced the grommet with a new one. Still foamy. I looked inside the keg and there was also a layer of foam on top of the beer and it appears that I lost about a gallon of beer so far to foam:mad:

The sad thing is that I like the carbonation in the beer, its pretty much perfect.
 
its overcarbed. you can attain a high level of carbonation by not carbing so quickly, but doing it at a slower rate and lower pressure. this will keep your foam down while keeping the most co2 diffused in solution. i think with the diffuser tubes, the right carbonation, the right temp, and the right tap pressure, youll be styling.
 
Thanks. I'm just going to chill out and purge the carb level and wait for your kind offering and then work it out from there.
 
Ok so I purged all the CO2 out and then recarbed. once again I get the carbonation I want but with tons of foam. I even put in those short hose trouble plastic things (2) and still foam.

I called Keg Connection and he was amazed that I was having problems. He sent me a hose extender which lengthened the line but actually made the foam worse. The beer is probably overcarbed but honestly I dig the carbonation. I'm going to just redo the lines on this thing because I've wasted the better part of three kegs trying to figure this damn thing out

What do I need, hose-wise, to not have to worry about carbonation levels? I really like most of my beers really carbonated. I'm guessing the same type of line only longer.


Dan
 
Yeah, I'd try using longer lines until you were happy. I'd start with maybe 12' lines on one keg and seeing how that worked out. You can always cut them, but can't make them longer!
 
Thanks, I'll start with 12' and see how that goes. Hopefully it works out, I'm really tired of wasting perfectly good beer. In the meantime I'll purge some C02 and get back down to a semi normal carb level. Oh well hopefully this will be settled by the time I get my next beer in the kegs.


Dan
 
I alway pour about 2 ounces out, then continue the pour in a clean cold water rinsed glass. I have everything from Kegconnection, and my keezer sits outside. I pour the first 2 ounces out cuz to cool the lines and tap. Do you suspect your lines are warmer than the beer? When you get a glass of foam, try pouring another right after. If it seems better, then its probably your lines being too warm. If not then either your beer is still overcarbed, or you serving pressure is still to high.
 
Check the tower temps too. I had to riug something to blow cold air into them or all i got was foam I use about 5 foot of line and 10-12 psi and little foam especially after the first poor
 
I alway pour about 2 ounces out, then continue the pour in a clean cold water rinsed glass. I have everything from Kegconnection, and my keezer sits outside. I pour the first 2 ounces out cuz to cool the lines and tap. Do you suspect your lines are warmer than the beer? When you get a glass of foam, try pouring another right after. If it seems better, then its probably your lines being too warm. If not then either your beer is still overcarbed, or you serving pressure is still to high.

Yeah I did try that. The problem is that each time I open the tap I get a burst of foam no matter what I do. I'm sure part of the problem is that my beer is highly carbonated. The problem with this keg setup not working with highly carbonated beers is that I like it that way:D


Check the tower temps too. I had to riug something to blow cold air into them or all i got was foam I use about 5 foot of line and 10-12 psi and little foam especially after the first poor

It's definitely a bit warmer in the tower but I've ran a pint through then tried to run another pint and get the same result as the first even though the beer is cold.


Dan
 
sorry, but it sounds it is still over carbed. You cant really say u dont like beer carbed at 12 psi , if you havnt done it yet. And I mean slowly carbed beer at 12psi. I think you need to de carb and wait. You say you like it this way, but how do you know. You are getting so much foam and co2 is coming out of solution that you might actually be tasting beer that has less carbonation than what is in the keg. So in theory once all the foam subsides it probably is at about 10-12psi.
 
sorry, but it sounds it is still over carbed. You cant really say u dont like beer carbed at 12 psi , if you havnt done it yet. And I mean slowly carbed beer at 12psi. I think you need to de carb and wait. You say you like it this way, but how do you know. You are getting so much foam and co2 is coming out of solution that you might actually be tasting beer that has less carbonation than what is in the keg. So in theory once all the foam subsides it probably is at about 10-12psi.

Could be. I'm purging as we speak.
 
I am astounded at 30 psi for 30 minutes. wowzers.
I have given up completely on the rolling method for carbing.
The set and forget method works perfectly.
 
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