New hose cause foam???

[Eisendrath]

Just plumbed up my new keezer.
9 foot of beer hose, 12 psi.
First pour on all 4 taps came out mostly foam.
Good thing I had a pitcher. Settled and tasted just fine.
Hoses were still filled with foam at end of pour.
1/2 hr later hoses are 1/2 air & 1/2 beer.
Didn't see this with first kegerator.





Anybody else ever see this?

 

[Runyanka]

I have never had my beer back up into the keg after pouring that much. Are you positive that all your connections are good, and no leaks anywhere? Next time you pour, purge your lines first, to get them filled with beer, then pour into your drinking glass/pitcher.

 

[Eisendrath]

Just dropped the pressure to 2 psi to see if I could slowly fill the lines with beer and "condition" them for not foaming. As I watched the beer come out of the keg into the clear line I could see that CO2 was coming out of the beer and part filling the lines. I can't say that it helped much........

Any ideas???

 

[funkswing]

What temp. is your keezer at? I assume the kegs are at the same temp?

What type of beer lines are you using? What ID?

Did you try pouring enough beer to prime the lines?

 

[Eisendrath]

temp= 42°F, keezer and kegs.
hoses= Clear from local homebrew store, maybe vinyl?????
hose size= 1/4" I.D. 9 foot long.
Not familiar with "prime" but
..two nights ago, Pushed a glass at 12 psi,
......got foam in glass, lines filled with foam.
......all four kegs, same story.
..last night, poured a glass at 2psi,
......got foam in glass, lines filled with foam.
..today, all day at 5psi
..tonight, pour at 8psi,
......glass full of foam.
......but! lines are now full of beer.
......looking forward to next pour!

The tough thing is I have to endure sampling all 4 kegs every night....
first night I dumped into a picture, let it settle and drank the blend, not bad!
second night I poured right into the picture, still pretty good.
tonight, I'm on my third 1/3 glass now, an oatmeal stout.
next 1/3 glass is a smoked porter.
life is tough!

any advice is welcome!


Eisendrath

 

[rawlus]

1/4 inch lines huh? any special reason you didnt use 3/16th? it will take alot more resistance to hold carb in 1/4 lines... that they are foaming right at the connection is mysterious... are you sure the connections are airtight?

you say the keezer is 42*, would you say the lines are as well? if they are 5* warmer that will exacerbate the 1/4 hose issue even more.

 

[Eisendrath]

Rawlus: "any special reason you didnt use 3/16th?"

..1/4" barbed fittings on everything.
..it's tough to push even the 1/4" hose onto the barbs.
..that's what I used on my first kegerator. No problems there.

keezer is set at 42° and holding there.
Thermocouple is taped to the side of one of the kegs.
I have not installed the circulating fan yet.
The lines may be warmer than the kegs....

Maybe I should put one of the epoxy mixers in each keg.
My old kegerator had 5 foot lines and one in each did wonders.

 

[samc]

9 feet of 3/16" hose would be golden for you. 9 feet of 1/4" hose is not going to work without the resistance provided by those mixers.

3/16" hose on 1/4" barbs is simple, just stick the hose ends into a cup of just boiled water for 20 seconds and then push the hose on.

 

[Eisendrath]

If 9 feet X 3/16ths is the consensus, I'll change them tomorrow.
(The mixers are great but in the way at cleaning time.)

The home brew store had only 1/4".
Off to Home Depot I go .
Vinyl ???

 

[Eisendrath]

hey, what is meant by "prime the lines"?
Is there some kind of special conditioning to do?

 

[funkswing]

Eisendrath - you are serving beer out of these lines, you won't be able to get the Bev. line at Lowes/HD. You should get something like Bevlex 200 3/16" ID bev. line. It has a super smooth inner wall that reduces foaming and is fairly impermeable to gas diffusion (o2 entering and/or co2 leaving the lines).

Search for the Bevlex 200 to see what I'm talking about. Basically, you will have to order it OR your LHBS will have it in stock. Its like ~$1/ft.

Someone else will chime in about McMasters (I think that's what its called) and some other types of Bev line to use.

Don't go cheap on the Bev line, as it is touching your beer in an intimate way (and ALL of your beer at that). It must be able to hold pressure, be fairly impermeable to gas exchange, flexible, and provide adequate resistance to prevent foaming.

 

[funkswing]

hey, what is meant by "prime the lines"?
Is there some kind of special conditioning to do?

You can ignore that, your problem is the too large of an ID tubing.

Priming basically means removing the air in the lines (or, inversely, filling the lines up with liquid).

 

[BigJerk]

I'm fixin to upgrade my beer lines, do these bevlex lines look clear, or are that different?

 

[Eisendrath]

This is a great place! Thanks guys!

I'm gonna install the swizzles because I have them and order up the smaller tube from http://midwestbev.com/200-0307.aspx (31¢/ft) unless someone knows of a better price somewhere. I'll change the hoses as each keg goes empty.