Please help me with my new kegerator! :(

Setup:

-5lb CO2 canister
-pressure on keg: 10psi
-Quarter Keg of Bud Light (Got cheapest keg first to play with)
-5ft of 3/16 ID beer line tubing
-3in stainless shank
-Perlick Faucet
-Temp inside of kegerator reads 37 deg F

When I pull the handle, the beer flys out of the faucet. The glass will be about 75% foam and 25% flat beer. If the pressure is backed off at all, the beer comes out a good pour but very flat. I have an irish coffin style tower that is not cooled. I know foam will build up over time in the top of the line because it is not cooled, but it's not just the first beer. It will happen even when several beers have been attempted and the faucet is distributing fresh beer from the keg.

How do I raise the carbonation of the beer and reduce the amount of foam?

did you naturaly carb or are you trying to do it artificially?

seabeefrantz said:

did you naturaly carb or are you trying to do it artificially?

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I'm not sure? I bought the keg as a tester before i bought a nice beer. I'm assuming that it was naturally carbed then? is that right? now i have a ton of foam and flat beer so i'm not sure what i'm doing. do i need to let the pressure off the keg then add it back and try to recarb it (is that artificially?). do i need to have it at a different pressure when i'm serving as oppose to when i store the beer? please help! THANKS!

When did you tap the keg? It needs to settle at least over night. Don't expect good pours right away.

seabeefrantz said:

did you naturaly carb or are you trying to do it artificially?

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Dude it's bud light, it's carbed. Highly carbed.

wildwest450 said:

Dude it's bud light, it's carbed. Highly carbed.

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ya didnt see the bud crap, way carb. damn my drunken eyes

The keg sat for at least 24 hours in the kegerator before being tapped. this has been an ongoing problem for about a week.

Bring the pressure down to 5psi. That should help some and be plenty to push the beer out.

svudah said:

Bring the pressure down to 5psi. That should help some and be plenty to push the beer out.

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That is a band aid, and will have bad results. Bud is meant to be served at 38F at 12psi. Any less psi at that temp will result in co2 breakout, which will eventually result in flat beer. If you have a load of bubbles in your beer lines it's co2 breaking out.

You need to find out the EXACT temp of the second glass of beer poured. BMC doesn't like to be poured warm. even if your fridge says 37, I wouldn't trust it. Get a good digital liquid thermometer and check your second pour.

Also realize that any changes you make in temp or otherwise take time to show results. Foamy beer doesn't go away instantly. Also did you clean your line and tap evev though it was new? Are you tilting your glass at pour and snapping open the tap? Even though we've all seen 50,000 beers poured at a bar, it does take some practice to maximize good results.

Old thread but having the same exact issue with my 1/6 barrel of Budweiser. Have played with psi, purged lines, etc and still foam. I thought 7' of beer line would be plenty, but maybe I need more I guess. A little frustrating, but I guess it was our first time using so to be expected...

I would use at least 10ft of 3/16" line. Make sure the keg has been chilled at least 24 hours. Purge the co2 put of the keg using the pressure release on the coupler a few times. I would serve it at 34-36 degrees and at 10 psi.

I'm wondering if my issue isn't the beer temp. I have a JC temperature sensor set at 30 degrees (it must be off), the air temp has been around 36-38 degrees but just measured my beer and it was high 40s. So I've turned down the temp sensor even farther and we'll see if that helps. I guess I just figured the beer would've been colder.