Homemade Keezer Foaming

[Rob2010SS]

Trying to help a friend out. I do not have all of the necessary information, I don't think, but figured I'd start the convo while I wait for him to text me the answers to my questions.

A friend that I work with built a 2 tap keezer - standard small chest freezer with a collar. He's not kegging his own beer, he's getting commercial kegs from the liquor store. He's running into some serious foaming issues that he doesn't know how to solve.

Here's the information I know right now...
1. 3/16" ID beer line.
2. Beer line is 10ft long.
3. Standard $40 faucet from NB.
4. He's tried a range of temps inside the freezer

I thought at first it was his line length because he originally had it at 5ft. He changed to 10ft and said it actually made it worse.

What are some other things to look at that could be causing the foam issue?

Picture of said keezer...

 

[Spikybits]

you may be serving with too much gas. but i would start with a true calculator

https://www.kegerators.com/beer-line-calculator/

 

[Rob2010SS]

you may be serving with too much gas. but i would start with a true calculator

https://www.kegerators.com/beer-line-calculator/

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he used one like that. That's how he got his 10 ft number but I'll run through those numbers with him.

You bring up an interesting point... I didn't ask what pressure he was serving at. I'll get that info too.

Any other things in particular to look out for?

 

[day_trippr]

Yeah, there's a dearth of info to work with here. When you speak with your friend again, ask him/her if two glasses are poured back to back or very nearly so, is the quality of the second pour significantly better than the first? (ie: the "first pour syndrome").

As for beer line, it almost doesn't matter what style beer is being served, 5 feet of 3/16" ID beer line is simply asking for trouble. 10 feet is proper or very close, depending on the beer temperature and CO2 pressure used. Speaking of which, relate to your friend our favorite carbonation table, ask what temperature the keezer is set to, see what pressure should be used to hit, say, 2.5 volumes of CO2, and ask what pressure is actually being used.

That all said/next, if there is significant temperature stratification, doubling the beer line could aggravate CO2 breakout. So there's another thing to point out: add some kind of small fan running 24/7 to keep the air inside the keezer from stratifying.

And I hope kegerators.com paid Mike Soltys to use his calculator...

Cheers!

 

[Spikybits]

i use to have a lot of foam issues with my kegerator and only commercial beer. i use to have to serve with the gas really low. FWIW my kegerator came with garbage D couplers that were another issue in its own.... now with my own kegs, about 8-10 psi

 

[Rob2010SS]

So, wanted to follow up on this issue. I got some more information...

- Keezer is set to 36*F.
- He has never gotten any good pour and has tried glass after glass, so don't think it's the first pour syndrome. Told me today that he's pretty much poured almost 2 full kegs of foam.
- In regards to the carbonation chart that @day_trippr pointed out, at 36*F, PSI for 2.5 volumes is right around 10-11 and he's been at 12.

I have him trying to reduce the serving pressure down a bit drastically, to like 5 PSI, just to see if that even gets him a decent pour.

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, good info added.

Can you have your friend pour a beer, then immediately open the keezer and check the beer line to see if the foam goes all the way back to the keg? If that's the case, perhaps this is a crappy coupler similar to what @Spikybits experienced.

Also, would like to read that the person added a fan inside the keezer running 24/7...

Cheers!

 

[Rob2010SS]

Ok, good info added.

Can you have your friend pour a beer, then immediately open the keezer and check the beer line to see if the foam goes all the way back to the keg? If that's the case, perhaps this is a crappy coupler similar to what @Spikybits experienced.

Also, would like to read that the person added a fan inside the keezer running 24/7...

Cheers!

Lol nope no fan in there as of now.

I'll ask about the foam in the line and report back.