Help with Foam

[JrZyBud]

Okay so I've read through a whole bunch of posts on this forum about balancing your system, and it seems that would work if I actually had taps, but right now Im just using a 5' picnic faucet that came with my keg kit. Im sure I missed a thread that has the answer that I want, but oh well ...

Heres what I've done so far ... I set my freezer to 38 degrees and my regulator to 12psi and let it sit for a little over two weeks. I just went to tap the keg tonight and I'm getting nothing but foam. How do I make this work with a regular picnic tap? Right now the only thing I can think of is to disconnect the gas and purge every couple of hours to lower the carbonation level of my beer. I'm not sure why its overcarbed though, I followed the chart, so what gives?

 

[AKbrewer]

If you set it at 12psi for two weeks its not over carbed. You probably need to turn your pressure down to serve or get longer or smaller dia lines.

 

[JrZyBud]

At the moment longer or smaller diameter lines isn't really an option. I'm curious as to how to make this work with the 3/16 diameter 5' line that I have now. Any ideas?

 

[lumpher]

i use 3/16 7' lines, same temp, at 10.5 psi

 

[rcrabb22]

At the moment longer or smaller diameter lines isn't really an option. I'm curious as to how to make this work with the 3/16 diameter 5' line that I have now. Any ideas?

Try reading this info on draft line balancing. I think you ought to bleed the corny and set the pressure a bit lower and see what happens. Based on the chart on the website the beer is approaching 2.6 vol carbonation @ 12lbs CO2 at 38F.

It also has the formula to determine line length.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

[rawlus]

why is longer line not an option? it's like less than $5 for 10' of line or something.
if you've read all the posts, then you already know the answer to your questions - to control foaming you need more resistance in the lines from keg to cup - makes no diff if its perlicks or picnics. you could insert the mixer tubes into your 5' lines to add resistance, but by the time you buy those and do that, you could have just bought 10' lines.

 

[JrZyBud]

Well the idea was to be able to serve beer for Thanksgiving ... I ended up fiddling around with the system and getting it to work mostly. I will invest in longer lines and get my system balanced now that the holiday is over. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[DirtyPolock]

Take a look at this thread. There si an excel file that tells you how long your lines needs to be based on your temperature and pressure. I used it for my kegerator and my beer pours out great.

Beer Line Length and Pressure Calculator

 

[BenT1]

Are picnic taps more prone to foaming than real beer taps? I am having foam issues using 10' lines with the appropriate pressure and still getting foam all the time.

 

[wildwest450]

Are you guys "cracking" them open to pour? If you depress slowly, you'll get all foam. Never have any problems with picnic taps.

 

[JrZyBud]

Are you guys "cracking" them open to pour? If you depress slowly, you'll get all foam. Never have any problems with picnic taps.

No, not at all. Im beginning to think it might be a problem with the regulator. I have a dual body regulator with one end running to a three-way distributor and the other running to a keg. The keg that was not attached to the three-way carbed up nicely and pours very well. The other three all have excessive foam. The gauge thats hooked up to that part of the body looks like it might be damaged and giving me false readings, so maybe the beer is actually over carbed?