foamy pours

[tgmartin000]

I've been doing some searches on the forum and can't find quite what I'm looking for.

My problem: the first 2/3rds of my kegs pour really foamy, like 3/4 of a glass of foam. The last third pours perfect.

My setup: 10-12' beer lines, I believe 3/16". My fridge is set at 40-41 degrees, pretty consistent temps from bottom to top. Regulators set to 12-14 psi, for about 2.5 to 2.6 volumes.

According to the calculators and charts, this should give me the right carbonation level. The beers don't seem overcarbed, but they pour super foamy.

I live in Denver, does altitude have an effect? Anyone have any ideas? It's really frustrating. ...

Any help us appreciated.

 

[The_Bishop]

How fast does it fill the pint glass?

 

[tgmartin000]

I'd say it takes about 6-8 seconds, probably. I should probably also mention that I have large bubbles in my liquid line to the tap. I'm assuming that's not helping.

 

[solbes]

Are you opening up your taps all the way while filling a glass? You can't have them half closed or it will cause foam.

The 10-12' of line seems right for 3/16 ID line. It would be horribly short though if you have 1/4" ID line. I'd double check that first. Also double check that you have no restrictions in your lines.

In the meantime I'd back off the carbonation for now. Try for 8 or 9 psi. Better to have beer that is slightly undercarbed but pours nice than to dispense foam IMO.

 

[tgmartin000]

Yep, taps open all the way. That's my plan for now - just back off on the pressure and see what happens. I'm also going to try replacing all my o-rings....I've been reading that CO2 can leak into the beer post and cause foaming.

 

[PapaO]

How did you carb your beer? This sounds like you’r over carbed. Gas is coming out of solution ( large bubbles in my liquid line ) until the last 2/3 of the keg when enough gas comes out of solution and equalizes to give you foam free pours.

 

[UpstateMike]

I didn't see it in your posts, but are your lines going through faucets in a tower? If so, the beer may be hitting warm lines in the tower / faucet, resulting in foam. And if that is the case, you should look into a tower cooling fan.

 

[solbes]

I didn't see it in your posts, but are your lines going through faucets in a tower? If so, the beer may be hitting warm lines in the tower / faucet, resulting in foam. And if that is the case, you should look into a tower cooling fan.

Or pour about 1/5 of a pint. And turn it off and let it sit for 10 seconds or so. The lines and faucet chill down during this time. And then complete the pour.

I have a piece of copper pipe that extends down into the fridge. The beer line is inside that pipe which extends almost all of the way to the shank. Poor mans tower chiller that doesn't require any power. Maybe 2/3 as effective as a fan.

 

[jrstaples1]

I second the copper pipe into the tower method. I put a T on mine to get more copper into the fridge and double wrapped the pipe with foam in the tower. I'm serving at 39 degrees and 10 PSI, with 5' of 3/16 liquid line.

View attachment 1423016556724.jpg

 

[UpstateMike]

I second the copper pipe into the tower method. I put a T on mine to get more copper into the fridge and double wrapped the pipe with foam in the tower. I'm serving at 39 degrees and 10 PSI, with 5' of 3/16 liquid line.

What is that, four 1 foot (approx) sections of copper pipe and two T fittings?

 

[jrstaples1]

I'm not sure the exact lengths, but four 1 ft sections is about right. I bought a tube cutter ($13) and length of 1/2" copper pipe from Lowes that was 4-5 ft long. Fits 3/16 line perfectly. You don't need to solder or anything, just fit them together and they stay. It keeps the tower nice and cold for less than $20

 

[UpstateMike]

I guess I am confused as to how you keep the pipes from dropping into the cooler.

 

[jrstaples1]

They fit pretty snugly. The 3/16 line slides into the copper pipe easy enough, but not too loose that it slides off. Plus I stuffed a good deal of foam (also at Lowes for about $2) into the tower. Same thing with the Ts. The whole thing disassembles easily but it's not fragile. I can swivel the cooper out of the way if necessary.

 

[norcalhomebrewer]

Add 1 psi per 2000 feet of elevation. Typically when your beer is foaming it means you need to increase the pressure. You have more restriction then some direct draw systems, try increasing your psi to dial in your system.

 

[tgmartin000]

I didn't see it in your posts, but are your lines going through faucets in a tower? If so, the beer may be hitting warm lines in the tower / faucet, resulting in foam. And if that is the case, you should look into a tower cooling fan.

I don't have a tower. Faucets through the fridge wall.

 

[tgmartin000]

How did you carb your beer? This sounds like you’r over carbed. Gas is coming out of solution ( large bubbles in my liquid line ) until the last 2/3 of the keg when enough gas comes out of solution and equalizes to give you foam free pours.

It's all force carbed per the kegging charts.

 

[tgmartin000]

Add 1 psi per 2000 feet of elevation. Typically when your beer is foaming it means you need to increase the pressure. You have more restriction then some direct draw systems, try increasing your psi to dial in your system.

Wait, what? You're saying at 12-14 psi, I need to increase pressure to cut the foam?

 

[Rdom]

tgmartin, it's possible your lines may still be too short, especially if they're 10' and you're pouring at 14psi. Have you looked at the Mike Soltys' "Determining proper hose length for your kegerator"?. Google it. Good info and it has a calculator so you can plug in your numbers. It helped me figure out my line length. Don't know what effect higher altitude would have though.

 

[PapaO]

Wait, what? You're saying at 12-14 psi, I need to increase pressure to cut the foam?
Basically if you like the temp at 40 to 41 you would increase the pressure to stop the co2 from coming out of suspension. There are a few things that cause co2 bubbles in the beer line.
1. A bad o ring on the liquid out letting co2 from the head space in to the line. You get good pours and the last 1/3 of the keg is good so I think you can rule that out.
2. Temp and pressure. If temp is to high and pressure is to low gas will come out of suspension and you get gas bubbles in the beer line. So when you say you get good pours the last 1/3 of the keg what you are doing is every time you pour a beer it lowers the pressure a little until your system is in balance with the last 1/3 of the keg. The way to fix this is to increase psi, lower the temp or lower co2 in the beer by purging the keg.
3. As far is altitude yes the general rule is 1 psi per 2000 feet. So if I bring a keg carbed at 13 psi at 41 degrees carbed to 2.5 volumes from Chicago to Denver I would have to increase 2 or 3 psi or lower temp to keep the co2 in suspension. If you want to carb to 2.5 volumes at 41 you would need 15 psi.
4. Last is the line length myth yes I said myth. If your system is not balanced it doesn’t matter if you have 5 feet or 50 feet of line co2 will come out of suspension. If adding more line then people with towers could just add more line. What they have to do is cool the beer in the tower to balance the temp and psi. Line length is used to control the pour. The difference is with short lines it’s like dumping beer down the center of a glass you get a lot of foam. With longer lines it slows the pour like tilting the glass and pouring down the side. Yes you will say I switched to 10 feet and don’t have foamy pours. With short lines you could of had bad poppet or dirty lines or dirty tap this could cause co2 to come out of suspension with longer lines it just slowed the pour and this is less of problem.

 

[tgmartin000]

Right on, thanks!