Foam from commercial keg

[ddub]

I just finished my keezer and I'm having a party tomorrow to break it in. The only problem is that I got a sixtel of Victory Helios and I was getting nothing but foam when I poured it. I switched the beer line from a 6 foot line to a 10 foot line which helped a little but I'm still getting about 2/3 foam.

I think that the problem might be the high level of carbonation the Helios has? I contacted Victory and they say the beer is kegged at 2.75 volumes. I only have one regulator and I am serving the rest of my homebrew at around 12 psi and 38 F. Any suggestions on how to get less foam?

 

[Zen_Brew]

How long have you had the keg in the keezer? I would guess a 15 gl keg is going to take at least 24 hours if not longer to cool down. Try checking the temp of the beer that is coming out into the glass. If the beer is to warm the co2 is just going to come out of it as it taps and give you lots of foam.

Seems to me 10ft of line should be plenty to combat the foam if your temp is in order. I assume you are using 3/6" line, and that all the line is inside the keezer and chilled.

edit: Just saw it is a sixtel keg, not a 15 gallon. Even so check the beer temp out of the keg. 5 gallons still takes a bit of time to get down to temp.

 

[ddub]

The keg has been in the keezer at least a week. The beer is coming out at 43 degrees, is this too warm? Maybe I should lower the set point on the temp. controller. The temperature probe is located at the bottom of the keezer so I would imagine the top is a bit warmer especially with my 8" collar.

 

[Zen_Brew]

43 is not so warm as to be a major problem. I think my beer comes out at 40 or so and doesn't foam. You could kick the controller down a couple degrees if you are looking for colder beer. I like tapping at about 40, but it is personal preference.

How fast is the beer coming out of the tap? I have seen some articles in the beer industry suggest 1 gallon per minute tap flow rate, which equates to about 7.5 seconds to fill a pint glass. If your time to fill a pint glass is in this area you are likely OK with your beer line length. You still didn't mention what diameter beer line you are using. Different diameter lines have different restriction rates that change the length of line you need.

 

[ddub]

The beer line is 3/16". I just lowered the pressure on the regulator to about 8 psi and the beer seemed to pour fine just really really slow.

 

[Zen_Brew]

In a keezer I run my regulator at about 11-12psi with about 7 to 7.5 feet of 3/16 beer line, and a beer temp out of the tap of 39-40 degrees. I'm filling a pint glass in about 8 seconds without any excessive foaming. Based on the original volumes of co2 you stated 8psi will be a bit low. See if you can get the temp out of the tap down around 39-40 and sneak that regulator back up to around 10-12psi. With 10 feet of line that shouldn't be a problem.