Foamy Kegerator Brew / Losing PSI

[eojnnamleppak]

I am on my second keg of homebrew since I got a kegerator in Dec. The first keg I had was good but after 4 days my CO2 had all leaked out (I don't think I tightened down the nut enough and it leaked out after a few days).

So my second keg is pretty foamy on each pour. I force carbed the keg on Sat at 30 PSI and then adjusted the PSI down to 10 to serving settings. I just checked the PSI (two days later) and it's down to under 5 PSI. Am I losing CO2 somewhere? If my PSI is so low, why is my beer a bit foamy?


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[prandlesc]

I hope that even if it's foamy, it still tastes great! First, finding a leak isn't too tough - I know because I had several during the set up and "break in" of my keezers. Get a spray bottle and put a couple of tablespoons of Dawn dish liquid in it (any liquid will work, but Dawn seems to work better), and fill with water. Spray all of your connections, starting at the CO2 tank and working toward the keg. Every place that there's a valve, connector, regulator, distribution bar, etc. should be checked. Spray a few squirts out of your spray bottle ensuring that you cover all the way around the connector. Then watch for bubbles. If you see any, you need to tighten the connection. I've found most of mine were where the tubing and barbed fitting come together. But I also found two defective distributor bars - one had a bad pressure relief valve, and one had a crack in a brass fitting. I switched from stainless hose clamps to Oetiker clamps and that seemed to solve my issues with the tubing/fitting joint. It's also key to be sure your tubing is the right size - just undersized compared to your fittings. If you use the same size tubing as fitting, you may not get as good of a seal. If you hold the end of the under-sized tubing in a container of near boiling water for a minute or so, you should be able to slide it over the fitting.

Next the foamy beer - my guess is that it's a little over carbonated because of the "hurry method" of force carbonation. When I force carb in a hurry - at 30 psi - it seems as though the pours for the first couple of days are foamy. Or it may be that the beer tubing in your kegerator is improperly sized - either too big in diameter or too short in length. There are several threads on tube sizing that will provide some good information on that topic if that's the problem.

Best of luck!