finally tapped the keg and got all foam!

[danw06]

Ok I have been working on this keezer projector for about a week and got my keg 3 days ago and just got in my coupler last night. When I hooked the air line up, set the psi to about the 12psi range....then my beer line which is right about 5 feet of beer line with insulated pipe wrap around it. Everything seemed to be working smoothly and when I drew my first glass of beer it was pure foam and shot out at high pressure. The keg is coors light. What should I do to cut back on the foam? I have tinkered with the regulator, temperature (in the 34degree range), and anything else I could think of.

 

[jkreuze]

Need more information.

What is your keg pressure? Are the lines inside the keezer (I assume so, but you wrapped your gas line inside the keezer, which seems strange to me since it's presumably refrigerated along with the keg)? Was the keg shaken before this, or had it rested in the keezer (guessing it wasn't shaken, but have to ask)?

I run my homebrew at 8 PSI and don't have foam problems unless I force-carbed badly.

It also may be that your store-bought keg of coors light is a little high on gas from the store, but will level off after a few pours. I don't know what the standard commercial keg pressure runs, but I imagine it's higher than serving pressure, so things probably should settle out. You might just foam off into a pitcher and let it sit, then pour yourself a pint from the settled beer, until things have improved.

RDWHACL


Good luck

 

[buzzkill]

coors is a higher carb beer,so you may want to think about longer beer lines. they are cheap. 10 ft may be the sweet spot. what size beer line do you have? ( ID) ?

 

[shelly_belly]

Release all pressure from the keg. Lower the pressure from your tank to 7-10 lbs. Try again. May need to increase line length.

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

 

[danw06]

right now the gauge reads that the keg is at 10psi? I let some beer flow into a bucket I had, probably two good beer glasses worth and it seemed to be alright. Then I pulled some into a frosted glass to sample on and it had about 4 inches of foam in it. And yes the lines are inside of the keezer but I did not wrap the gas line. I just have the beer line insulated from the coupler to the tap...I really dont know why haha it just seemed like the thing to do. O and the keg was sitting for about 2 days untapped in 32-34degree temperature. thanks for the help guys!

 

[jkreuze]

I think you have keezer gremlins and when you close the lid they jump out from behind the CO2 tank and shake-shakey-shake your keg until it foams up like the slobber on a rabid Great Dane.

 

[danw06]

I lower the psi on the regulator...pulled the release tab on the keg to let out the excess air and the beer pull fine and there was only about 1" to 1/2" of foam which is fine with me but the beer just seems to taste a little off. Like maybe it is flat?

 

[lumpher]

yep, it is. but that's just nature of the yeast.. i mean the beast answer? draw it all off, refill it with homebrew, and drink beer instead of coors light

 

[HeyNoPie]

I did think Coors was rather highly carbonated to somewhere around 3 volumes (google around to confirm maybe). If you want your beer that cold, the chart states:

34*
14PSI
= 3 volumes

Your beer lines need to basically be able to dissipate 14 PSI. If using 3/16" hose:

14PSI/ (2.7PSI/FT) = a little over 5ft

It looks like you have it just about right but....
In my (and others) experience, you need to have a little more than the basic math dictates. Give 10' a try and see how it goes. There can be a great deal of difference in pressure drop provided by the hose from different manufacturers. If you want your beer any warmer (38* is popular), you definitely need more line. Give a longer line a try

 

[rmolledo]

the coors keg was probably already pressurized so by adding your co2 to force the beer out most likely doubled the psi. take shelly belly's advice and release the pressure in the keg and it should be fine.

 

[rick15857]

I just wanted to post a thank you for all the suggestions.
Bought a used kegerator from my brother and I always had foamy beer no matter what pressure I tried.
I finally bought a good pressure regulator and I changed my line size. The original factory unit line had a 5/16" ID beer line that was only about 4 feet long.
I stopped at the Tractor Supply yesterday and bought a 3/16" by 10' line and changed it over this morning.
8lbs. of pressure and the Coors Light is pouring great from the 1st glass out. I couldn't believe the difference.
Thanks Guys.

 

[westrujp]

edited by user

 

[brew2enjoy]

I just wanted to post a thank you for all the suggestions.
Bought a used kegerator from my brother and I always had foamy beer no matter what pressure I tried.
I finally bought a good pressure regulator and I changed my line size. The original factory unit line had a 5/16" ID beer line that was only about 4 feet long.
I stopped at the Tractor Supply yesterday and bought a 3/16" by 10' line and changed it over this morning.
8lbs. of pressure and the Coors Light is pouring great from the 1st glass out. I couldn't believe the difference.
Thanks Guys.

Glad to hear you found the problem. I just started kegging and also need to lengthen my lines for the same reason.

my only concern is that you are using hose that is not intended for beverage use. I honestly don't know if that matters or not. I actually thought about going to Lowes and doing the same thing.

 

[day_trippr]

Glad to hear you found the problem. I just started kegging and also need to lengthen my lines for the same reason.

my only concern is that you are using hose that is not intended for beverage use. I honestly don't know if that matters or not. I actually thought about going to Lowes and doing the same thing.

fwiw, Tractor Supply sells vinyl tubing including 3/16" ID that are approved for potable water...

Cheers!

 

[natefrog255]

Bought a 1/4 keg of Spotted Cow and have issues with the brew spitting out through the little holes in the faucet adapter when I go to pull lever down on sanky. I've never had this issue at all. Any ideas why it would be doing this?

CO2 is not on. Handle is off.

 

[natefrog255]

Loosened shank nut inside (I really tightened a few weeks ago and thinking O ring got flattened) and used that faucet wrench to slightly tighten the faucet --- seemed to have worked... We'll see.