Keg foam problems

[HH60gunner]

Ok,

So after searching I upgraded my lines to 5 feet as suggested but I am still seeing foaming problems. More so on the first pour, but still real foamy on the following pours as well. I am running perlick taps, 5 feet of 3/16 line. I've tried 9, 10 and 11 PSI at 40. I've dropped the psi back down to 10 and changed my temp to about 38 and it seems to have helped a little bit, but not much. Any suggestions?

 

[Yooper]

Ok,

So after searching I upgraded my lines to 5 feet as suggested but I am still seeing foaming problems. More so on the first pour, but still real foamy on the following pours as well. I am running perlick taps, 5 feet of 3/16 line. I've tried 9, 10 and 11 PSI at 40. I've dropped the psi back down to 10 and changed my temp to about 38 and it seems to have helped a little bit, but not much. Any suggestions?

Hmm. I don't know who recommend 5' lines, but they are about 5' too short.

I foam with my perlicks if I have less than about 10' of line at 40 degrees.

 

[HH60gunner]

Hmm. I don't know who recommend 5' lines, but they are about 5' too short.

I foam with my perlicks if I have less than about 10' of line at 40 degrees.

Well damn the man..... I did a search on here and read a few topics that recommended 5'. Guess I'll be grabbing more line. It's a good thing I picked up 30' feet of line to use for my soda. I'll just cut that one for my beer for now, then grab more for the soda later since it's still carbing anyway. On a side topic is 30' for soda good enough? Also how long does it take to force carb soda at 30 PSI?

 

[BrotherGrim]

I just got my system on line and after reading piles of info, I went with 12 foot lines from keg to perlick, I have Yooper's Haus Ale (with a few tweaks) on tap at 11psi. Perfect pour every time. I end up with a lovely head of about 3/4 to 1 inch every time with a nicely bubbling beer as I drink it. It is not super fast filling the glass, but the end result is worth the slower pour time. I guess my opinion is that your beer lines are not long enough to let everything settle back down after going through the poppet valve.

 

[Yooper]

Well damn the man..... I did a search on here and read a few topics that recommended 5'. Guess I'll be grabbing more line. It's a good thing I picked up 30' feet of line to use for my soda. I'll just cut that one for my beer for now, then grab more for the soda later since it's still carbing anyway. On a side topic is 30' for soda good enough? Also how long does it take to force carb soda at 30 PSI?

Yes, 25-30' is good for soda, depending on the psi. I found that 25' at 30 psi was perfect for picnic taps at 40 psi at my house.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

My perlicks (which give A LOT of thermal transfer IMO) need a good 2 purges of an ounce each before i wait another 30 secs and fill my first pint of the day. I realize this may be a waste for some but i usually pour into festival sample glasses and taste as a "warmer" sample during the pint.

Point is i have 5' lines and have never had a problem with excessive foaming after "cooling" my faucets, this is a 4.8Cu fridge with 2 kegs and a tank, not much room for air and we do drink a good amount each day i should say.

Try Kicking a few ounces first while that new beer "cools" your faucet.


Hmm. very useless post now that i look back on it....

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

Yes, 25-30' is good for soda, depending on the psi. I found that 25' at 30 psi was perfect for picnic taps at 40 psi at my house.

yooper, next time im in lansing im gonna contemplate coming up there, for sure the coolest house on the block!!

 

[slawre5]

My lines are all about 5'. After carbonating, I bleed the excess pressure off my keg and I turn my regulator down to 3 psi and I get perfect pours. If the beer gets a little undercarbed over time just turn the regulator back up to 10 psi for a day. Problem solved without having 10 feet of beer line full of beer that you have to waste when switching kegs, carbonating new beers, etc. I only have 3 taps and this is what works for me. :rockin:

 

[naiek]

Try this:
Cure for short hose troubles

I have 5' lines and had a foaming problems but these fix it. Suppose I could have just bought 10' lines...

 

[kylevester]

I've got 5' lines with an ID of 3/16" and no problems up to 12 psi, or so. I leave mine at 8-10 psi after carbing at 30 psi at room temp and don't get any foaming issues.

My brother's LHBS doesn't sell 3/16" ID tubing and he's had lots of problems with the same KegConnection kit we got when he needed to replace hosing. So for him, 10' of 1/4" tubing works really well up to 12 psi.

It's all about pressure drop. Set your regulator too high for the ID and length and you'll end up with foamy beer. Over carb your beer and it'll take awhile to not be foamy too.

Good luck!

Who did you get your equipment from, btw?

EDIT: I see I didn't really offer anything useful with my post now. Sorry about that. You may be over carbing, so how do you force carb? Does the problem persist from start to finish on a keg?

 

[HH60gunner]

Well, upgrading to 12' lines seemed to have tamed my foamy woes. Thanks for the help guys. I love this site.