Beer gun foam hell

[telebrewer]

WTH? Chilled bottles. Super foamy fills. Maybe an air leak?

Does it mean the stuff in the bottles will be flat?

Thanks for any info....

 

[Transamguy77]

Do you have the pressure turned down when filling and they might be flat if all the co2 is coming out of the beer while filling.

 

[oldstyle69]

more info is needed.

 

[telebrewer]

Turned down to about 4-5 psi.

It's bottled up now. Have to wait and see if it's carbed.

 

[Morrey]

Turned down to about 4-5 psi.

It's bottled up now. Have to wait and see if it's carbed.

Took me a bit to get the hang of my Blichmann beer gun. Low psi plus I had to learn to get on the trigger really fast and get off it equally as fast. If I drug out my finger on the trigger....foam city.

 

[telebrewer]

I'm thinking of pouring it back in the keg and force carbing it. Then use a piece of hose off the tap to the bottom of the bottles. I've done that before and had less foam.

I was quick on and off the trigger on the beer gun. This has never happened in the past. Foam just pouring out the top before I could get a full bottle.

 

[wapitiscat]

Could the keg be overcarbed? How does it pour from the tap?

 

[chudsonvt]

Is your beer out post on the keg clean? I have had foam issues when filling from hop sediment that got sucked up and partially clogged the post. The added turbulence can cause the CO2 to want to come out. If this is the case, you should be able to see lots of bubbles in the line to the beer gun, as you dispense.

 

[jmcquesten]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=7624900

 

[telebrewer]

Is your beer out post on the keg clean? I have had foam issues when filling from hop sediment that got sucked up and partially clogged the post. The added turbulence can cause the CO2 to want to come out. If this is the case, you should be able to see lots of bubbles in the line to the beer gun, as you dispense.

That just might be whats going on. Thanks

 

[thedon986]

I had a lot of foam with the Beer Gun bottling from my kegerator when I first got it and it was driving me crazy. I lengthened the liquid line to 20ft and keep the PSI same pressure as serving pressure (12-14) to keep the CO2 from coming out of solution. I get extremely minimal foaming when bottling a full keg (about 6oz waste). I chill my bottles as well. Also, with pressure low, the liquid line was filling up with CO2 bubbles, with the pressure high, very minimal bubbles. High pressure works, trust me, just keep it below 15.

Since getting it I have bottled nearly 500 beers for an event and without a doubt it has performed best with longer liquid line and not touching the CO2 PSI. I have tried all combos out there; low pressure, medium pressure you name it.

 

[mxstar21]

My beer gun always works great other than the rubber tip falling off. I need to order the new molded one. As long as the keg is properly carbonated, pressure in keg is bleeded off to between 2-6 psi and at least 10 feet of tubing for beer; I never have problems. I don't chill the bottles either.

I also have the Last Straw bottle filler. I used it once and had horrible results, but Northern Brewer sent me a replacement. Unfortunately, I haven't used it yet. The Last Straw seems to be a lot better from the reviews, I just need to try the new one out.

 

[telebrewer]

I had a lot of foam with the Beer Gun bottling from my kegerator when I first got it and it was driving me crazy. I lengthened the liquid line to 20ft and keep the PSI same pressure as serving pressure (12-14) to keep the CO2 from coming out of solution. I get extremely minimal foaming when bottling a full keg (about 6oz waste). I chill my bottles as well. Also, with pressure low, the liquid line was filling up with CO2 bubbles, with the pressure high, very minimal bubbles. High pressure works, trust me, just keep it below 15.

Since getting it I have bottled nearly 500 beers for an event and without a doubt it has performed best with longer liquid line and not touching the CO2 PSI. I have tried all combos out there; low pressure, medium pressure you name it.

Thanks for that. I'm using the liquid line that came with the kit, about 3 ft. long. All my stuff is bottled and the keg is empty. For a homebrew contest. So I might have flat beer. I'm going to pop one and find out. I had about two pints of flow over, had to drink it up. If it's that bad, I might just re-keg it and force carb and re-bottle with 20 ft. of line....

 

[telebrewer]

Turned out flat. Re-kegged and forced carbing. Will try the 25ft. hose beer gun.

Thanks.

 

[jmcquesten]

Turned out flat. Re-kegged and forced carbing. Will try the 25ft. hose beer gun.

Thanks.

When you fill bottles, don't purge the keg (like everyone says to do). Also, don't turn the pressure down low (also like everyone says to do). The long line prevents you from having to do all those little work-arounds. The long line will really slow down the flow, causing a longer fill time, but trust it. If you can fill a pint glass from the beergun and get the same results as you do from your taps (about an inch of foam), you're doing it right.

If you are not running long beer lines to your taps, this might seem ridiculous to you, but it works. My beer lines are all about 16-18 ft long, and I serve my beers between 12 to 18 psi. I get great carbonation and a nice pour with about an inch of foam. My beer gun line is 20 ft and I get great results with it (Best of Show win).

Don't pay much attention to those running 5 ft lines, they are most likely settling for under carbonated beer, unless they have flow control faucets.

You will still get a little foam but it's ok. Fill the bottle until the foam is gone and clear beer is overflowing, then slowly remove beergun and give a little shot of co2. Cap each bottle immediately after filling, before too much foam starts coming up.

 

[ihavenonickname]

I'm in foam town...... its so frustrating.

I have the new v2 beer gun. I've tried pressure at 3-4 and pressure at 12. Purged keg or pressurized. Quick on the trigger... The beer line given with the kit is about 10 feet, about the same are my keggerator lines that pour just fine. It looks like the foam is happening in the beer line between the gun and the keg... its all foam in there as I pour, so its all foam in the bottle too. If I wait a minute that beer line looks half empty because its so dang full of gas. I'm ready to give up on bottling from the keg.

Pics of my set up... I think everything is kosher just a town of foam in the line.

 

[jmcquesten]

I'm in foam town...... its so frustrating.

I have the new v2 beer gun. I've tried pressure at 3-4 and pressure at 12. Purged keg or pressurized. Quick on the trigger... The beer line given with the kit is about 10 feet, about the same are my keggerator lines that pour just fine. It looks like the foam is happening in the beer line between the gun and the keg... its all foam in there as I pour, so its all foam in the bottle too. If I wait a minute that beer line looks half empty because its so dang full of gas. I'm ready to give up on bottling from the keg.

Pics of my set up... I think everything is kosher just a town of foam in the line.View attachment 598952View attachment 598953

Longer line (10 ft isn't enough). Also, try a hose clamp where the line attaches to the beergun.

 

[cabron99]

A little off topic. Apologies for that.
I have a 15 tap kegerator with foam problems. Not terrible, but irritating. My lines are approximately 6-8 feet long. I'm considering extending them to about 15 or so feet. It's really a pain in the a$$ to work inside the serving head so if I connect the extra line with a union, do you think that will work, or will the union cause foaming 6-8 feet from the tap??

 

[cabron99]

Didn't mean to kill this thread.

pao

 

[Unicorn_Platypus]

I run ice cold star san from another keg through the tubing and the gun prior to filling (literally add a bag of ice to starsan in a second keg). I also soak the beer gun in the icey starsan.

turn the pressure down to 5-6 PSI. Discard (or drink) the fist half bottle you fill, then keep the flow going. If you wait too long between fills the lines can get warm and CO2 will come out of solution a bit.

bottles are kept in the freezer prior to filling.

I also carb the beer about 2 PSI more than I would vs. normal serving from the keg to account for carb loss from filling. So if you are planning to bottle a beer that you typically serve at 10 psi, bump it up to 12 PSI a week before you plan to bottle.

 

[sensei247]

When you fill bottles, don't purge the keg (like everyone says to do). Also, don't turn the pressure down low (also like everyone says to do). The long line prevents you from having to do all those little work-arounds. The long line will really slow down the flow, causing a longer fill time, but trust it. If you can fill a pint glass from the beergun and get the same results as you do from your taps (about an inch of foam), you're doing it right.

If you are not running long beer lines to your taps, this might seem ridiculous to you, but it works. My beer lines are all about 16-18 ft long, and I serve my beers between 12 to 18 psi. I get great carbonation and a nice pour with about an inch of foam. My beer gun line is 20 ft and I get great results with it (Best of Show win).

Don't pay much attention to those running 5 ft lines, they are most likely settling for under carbonated beer, unless they have flow control faucets.

You will still get a little foam but it's ok. Fill the bottle until the foam is gone and clear beer is overflowing, then slowly remove beergun and give a little shot of co2. Cap each bottle immediately after filling, before too much foam starts coming up.

What ID beer lines are you running for 16-18ft? I spent about 30 minutes running the gravity, pressure, and length calculations and my final calculations were 5ft at 3/16" ID with a tap ~2' above keg (using a kegerator).

 

[sensei247]

I run ice cold star san from another keg through the tubing and the gun prior to filling (literally add a bag of ice to starsan in a second keg). I also soak the beer gun in the icey starsan.

turn the pressure down to 5-6 PSI. Discard (or drink) the fist half bottle you fill, then keep the flow going. If you wait too long between fills the lines can get warm and CO2 will come out of solution a bit.

bottles are kept in the freezer prior to filling.

I also carb the beer about 2 PSI more than I would vs. normal serving from the keg to account for carb loss from filling. So if you are planning to bottle a beer that you typically serve at 10 psi, bump it up to 12 PSI a week before you plan to bottle.

Could you also run a quick carb prior to filling adding +2 PSI to serving carbonation level? This seems like it could do the trick but worried about potential carb bite.