Keg Foaming

[reuliss]

I recently kegged a new beer and carbed it up. I immediately noticed that the tap was pouring about 75% foam and I have no idea why. One potential clue: when I disconnect the ball lock on the liquid side, I see foam there, so it's clearly foaming before it gets to the line. It's also worth noting that I don't think it's my lines since I've had no problem before.

Any ideas?

 

[Rockn_M]

How did you carb your beer? PSI, Temperature, time? Also check to make sure that you have a good connection on the ball lock.

 

[reuliss]

How did you carb your beer? PSI, Temperature, time? Also check to make sure that you have a good connection on the ball lock.

The connection is sound. I force carb at 35 degrees at about 30 psi for a couple of days then bring it down to about 9psi.

 

[day_trippr]

Check the status of the O-ring that is under the Out dip tube flange. If it has been compromised it will allow CO2 under pressure in the keg head space to be injected straight into the beer flow at the Out post. But if it looks good, it may be a simple case of over-carbonation, in which case you'll need to burp the keg until it has been tamed...

Cheers!

 

[ngula]

I have a similar problem:

I currently have a heffeweissen at 20 PSI, using 10 foot beer line @ 36 degrees Fahrenheit. For the first week, the pour was great. Then it started to get foamy, and now it is just foam. I have tried reducing the pressure right down to 2 PSI, same result, and the little beer that is collected is flat.

I cleaned my system when I first connected the keg, but clean the tap every other day. I use a 3/16 ID line and a proper tap with a flow controller, and I am perplexed. The temp is electronically controlled, and the keggerator has only recently been opened to fiddle with the pressures to try fix the issue.

Anyone had this issue?

 

[DrunkleJon]

Force carbonation can very easily overcarbonate your beer. You really have to dial in your process to get it carbonated where you want it and balanced. This is one of the reasons why many of us will advise the set and forget method of around 10-12 psi and let it sit and not mess with the regulator at all. Having the serving pressure set lower than the pressure required to carbonate/maintain the desired volumes of carbonation (check a calculator as it depends on temperature as well as pressure) will cause CO2 to come out of solution in the lines which helps cause foamy pours. I have found the best cure aside from long lines to compensate for the pressure which will slow your pour down is to match the pressure so that you no longer see bubbles forming at the ends of the beer line.

If your keg is overcarbed. Remove it from pressure, vent the headspace often over the period of a day or so, then reconnect at serving pressure. If you are still overcarbed repeat. If you end up venting too much and are a little flat, let it sit on serving pressure and it will carb up on its own over the next day or two.

 

[BigFloyd]

Force carbonation can very easily overcarbonate your beer. You really have to dial in your process to get it carbonated where you want it and balanced. This is one of the reasons why many of us will advise the set and forget method of around 10-12 psi and let it sit and not mess with the regulator at all. Having the serving pressure set lower than the pressure required to carbonate/maintain the desired volumes of carbonation (check a calculator as it depends on temperature as well as pressure) will cause CO2 to come out of solution in the lines which helps cause foamy pours. I have found the best cure aside from long lines to compensate for the pressure which will slow your pour down is to match the pressure so that you no longer see bubbles forming at the ends of the beer line.

If your keg is overcarbed. Remove it from pressure, vent the headspace often over the period of a day or so, then reconnect at serving pressure. If you are still overcarbed repeat. If you end up venting too much and are a little flat, let it sit on serving pressure and it will carb up on its own over the next day or two.

+1.

The only significant problems I've encountered with carbonation/foaming is when I've tried to rush it. I'm quite happy with the two week, serving pressure, set/forget method and have become a fan of 10-12ft beer lines. After one attempt at the shaking thing and the resulting perpetually cloudy beer, I decided to never do that again.

For the OP, if it's not overcarbed, one possible cause for the foaming is that you have a little piece of something like a hop particle stuck in the poppet or tube.

 

[DrunkleJon]

+1.

The only significant problems I've encountered with carbonation/foaming is when I've tried to rush it. I'm quite happy with the two week, serving pressure, set/forget method and have become a fan of 10-12ft beer lines. After one attempt at the shaking thing and the resulting perpetually cloudy beer, I decided to never do that again.

For the OP, if it's not overcarbed, one possible cause for the foaming is that you have a little piece of something like a hop particle stuck in the poppet or tube.

Not to mention that if you are impatient it is usually at a decent carbonation level after the 1 week mark. It still benefits from the extra mellowing time though. Hence the reason that the last pint is usually the best one.