Help - Pours are all foam

[cincybrewer]

Looking for suggestions on what could be causing my keg pours to be nothing but foam. I've kegged around 20 beers without any issues until this one. My line is close to 10 ft, PSI is 12, temp around 42 degrees. It's a normal brown ale. Force carbed, no added sugar. Cannot figure out what is causing this. Unless my co2 guage is broke. I can't think of anything else. Any ideas?

 

[WNCBrewman]

Was your fg?

 

[LLBeanJ]

9 times out of 10 (okay, I just made that up, but most of the time, anyway) a foamy pour is due to overcarbonation. Decarb it and see if it improves. If it doesn't, then you may have a bad liquid dip tube O-ring. My money is on overcarbed.

 

[Rockn_M]

Maybe something is stuck in the dip tube , poppet or ball lock that is causing the beer and co2 to get stirred up? Do you have another keg that is filled and ready to go to test. This will help narrow down if it's s keg issue or not.

 

[JuanMoore]

What type of force carbonation? If you used the set and forget method, then it's unlikely overcarbonation. If you used high pressure and or shaking the keg, then you could have easily overcarbed it.

Is the pour any faster than usual? If so you might have a regulator issue. Is the pour slower than usual? This can often point to a clog somewhere causing foam, like hop debris in the poppet, or a diptube that's smushed too close to the bottom of the keg, or a kink in the beer line.

Are there bubbles in the line right out of the keg, or is the line full of clear beer until it hits the faucet? If there are bubbles or pockets of gas in the beer line, then it's likely either overcarbonation or a bad liquid diptube o-ring.

 

[cincybrewer]

Sorry guys, I've made two posts now and neither came through.

FG = 1.007

I've decarbed and recarbed and same issue existed.

I have a beer that will be ready in one week so i'll connect that and see if it's an issue with my beer or key.

if I have something lodged in my dip tube, can I just connect the co2 to the out post and blow it out? It will unsettle everything but after a few days it should settle back down.

Thanks for the ideas.

 

[cincybrewer]

@juanmoore - just checked and there are air pockets throughout the line. The beer definitely doesn't seem over carbed though, so I'll take it out and replace the o-ring on the dip tube. Thanks! Though I think by the time I figure this out I will have kicked the keg.

 

[JuanMoore]

@juanmoore - just checked and there are air pockets throughout the line. The beer definitely doesn't seem over carbed though, so I'll take it out and replace the o-ring on the dip tube. Thanks! Though I think by the time I figure this out I will have kicked the keg.

Not saying it is overcarbed, but how can you tell if it's pouring all foam? Foam is the result of the carbonation leaving the beer prematurely, so even severely overcarbed beer will taste flat by the time you drink it if the pour is foamy. Hopefully it's just a simple o-ring fix, but I wouldn't rule out overcarbonation either.

 

[cincybrewer]

I guess it could be I just figured since it tasted completely normal that it wasn't. If it's overcarbed then it has to be an issue with my regulator which I really hope isn't the case.

 

[cincybrewer]

Got around to taking a look at the o-ring on my dip tube and not only did I notice that the poppet wasn't seated correctly, but I didn't even have an o-ring on it in the first place. Somehow I forgot to put one on. So hopefully that explains the excessive foaming. We'll see in a few days.

 

[LLBeanJ]

That would definitely do it.