Fridge converted to kegerator foam

[C4valent]

I recently upgraded from tower kegerator to fridge converted kegerator. First two kegs fine. Two taps. 3rd keg I just tapped has foam first glass, perfect second pour second glass. Lines are 10 ft, inside fridge so they shouldn't be getting warm. 10 psi, 40 degrees. Why first glass foam? Makes no sense to me

 

[day_trippr]

Could be a moderately over-carbed batch that's testing the bounds of your dispensing system.
A warmish shank and faucet may cause CO2 breakout, while the second pour has the advantage of cooler hardware...

Cheers!

 

[C4valent]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have two kegs on tap, one homebrew and one commercial. The commercial is the one that is producing first pour foam, not my homebrew. Makes no sense to me whatsoever. Pours perfectly after first half glass foam beer. If I pour another beer after perfect pour a half hour later I get foam again. I don't get it. Homebrew faucet is perfect first pour

 

[C4valent]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1446777650.685395.jpg

 

[day_trippr]

So, delete the "over" part from my previous response, and read the rest.
Depending on the style it's not unusual for commercial beers to be higher carbed than homebrewed ales and it wouldn't take but a couple of tenths higher volumes of CO2 to bring out boundary behavior like you're seeing...

Cheers!

 

[C4valent]

Awesome. Why is second pour fine though? Anything I can do to fix? The style is simply a solid American ipa. I had another commercial ipa before it on tap and no problem

 

[day_trippr]

Awesome. Why is second pour fine though? Anything I can do to fix? The style is simply a solid American ipa. I had another commercial ipa before it on tap and no problem

As you said...you pour half a glass and it's foamy, then you pour a full glass with a respectable head. Then a half hour later you're back to the foam.

The half-pour is cooling down the hardware (and perhaps, flushing out slightly warmed beer from the line - which at 10' and 3/16" ID holds ~1.8 ounces of beer) which benefits the next pour - if it's done soon enough. But wait long enough and you're back to the foamy first pour.

The odds are the combination of your dispensing temperature and pressure are not adequate to maintain the original carbonation level of your bought beer, and it's so close to CO2 breakout that even a modest warming causes havoc. Check the beer line after a half-hour or more and see if there's an accumulation of gas pockets. That'd be a solid clue.

On the up side, as you empty the bought keg, even if you do nothing else the carbonation level will equalize with your home brew and life will be good...

Cheers!

 

[zachattack]

I agree the commercial keg is probably just carbonated a little higher. Either bump of your CO2 pressure a bit or deal with the foamy first pours for a while. The carb level in the Sanke will eventually drop.

 

[C4valent]

Great, thanks for the answers. There are worse problems to have!