Pour is all foam

[rocketman768]

So, for my first kegged batch, I force carbed by setting to 30 PSI and shaking until no more CO2 flowed. After putting it in the fridge, the pressure was down to about 15 PSI in a couple of days at 40F. I drew off a couple of pints and got the pressure down to around 10 PSI, and have been maintaining that pressure for the last couple of weeks. However, my pour is still all foam. I have 5 feet of 3/16" beer line for dispensing (it's the midwest supplies keg kit), and from https://www.kegman.net/balance.html, it seems like 9-13 PSI should be the correct serving pressure for this setup.

What am I doing wrong? The beer doesn't seem overly carbonated, and in fact, seems a little undercarbonated.

 

[JonK331]

What temp was your beer when you force carbed? I usually shake for 3 minutes. Have never shaked until the CO2 doesn't flow. Can your poor into a pitcher? You may also have some contamination?

 

[kmack747]

Five feet of line may be a little in the short side. I have 10 feet on mine.

 

[rocketman768]

What temp was your beer when you force carbed? I usually shake for 3 minutes. Have never shaked until the CO2 doesn't flow. Can your poor into a pitcher? You may also have some contamination?

Don't know about the pitcher. There's no contamination though.

Five feet of line may be a little in the short side. I have 10 feet on mine.

What's your serving pressure with 10 feet of line?

 

[kmack747]

I have it set for 12 psi at 40°. I could take a foot off my lines because the pour is a little to slow.

How fast is yours poring. It should be a nice gentle flow.

 

[azscoob]

I serve my beers between 9 and 13psi depending on the style, I have short hoses(5') as well, some of my foaming issues were from the standard tap faucets, one just made foam constantly, after switching to perlicks the foam subsided, I also have two of the epoxy mixers in the dip tubes of all my kegs, this pretty much fixed my foaming problems, a warm tower also makes for foam on my first pour, this is being corrected soon once I get some air moving into that tower to keep it cool.

 

[rocketman768]

I have it set for 12 psi at 40°. I could take a foot off my lines because the pour is a little to slow.

How fast is yours poring. It should be a nice gentle flow.

It's quite fast. I can fill a glass in a 2 or 3 seconds, so this is probably the problem I suppose.

 

[Lunarpancake]

9-12 psi for serving? ....i have 5 feet of 3/16 and i serve at 5psi and still have too much foam...!

 

[azscoob]

the epoxy mixers slow the pour way down, before putting two in each dip tube I had a load of foam from my taps and had to serve at 7psi to manage the foam, but the beer slowly decarbed to that level if I forgot to put it back to 10-12psi to keep it properly carbed. Those epoxy things are amazing!

 

[boostsr20]

Link to "epoxy things" please.

 

[Bobby_M]

Guys, seriously, stop trying to "boost" carb your kegs. It's extremely unpredictable and there's no way to know what the carb level is now.

 

[hoppymonkey]

+1 on the link to " epoxy mixer" please.

 

[SOB_OCDAVE]

I used to have trouble with excess foam in my pour. I keep my kegerator at 38-40 deg and keep pressure at 15 psi. I recently changed the 5-6 foot line and attached 10-12 feet of 5/16" beverage line and that really helped. It keeps my ales at the right carbonation level all the time and gives me a smooth pour with just the right 1/2" head.

You shouldn't have to make adjustments to your pressure when you're ready to pour. And if you lower your psi to allow for a better pour the beer will lose its original carbonation level over time. Find the balance... 1ft. per psi. is a good rule of thumb.

 

[gxm]

Link to "epoxy things" please.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/cure-your-short-hose-troubles-100151/

I purchased enough of these to keep one in each keg. It makes a world of difference with 5' lines. I use two if I'm serving with a cobra tap at a party. Technically they aren't FDA approved, but I've not had any problems in 9 months of use.

 

[Pick]

Heck, just go to Lowe's or HD and get 10' of 3/16" line, problem solved. No fancy doo dads needed.

 

[rawlus]

item#74695A58 is what i have
http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/116/3400/=64m22x

bayonette mixer 5.3" (1.4" blunt tip)

 

[18DPA]

item#74695A58 is what i have
http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/116/3400/=64m22x

bayonette mixer 5.3" (1.4" blunt tip)

I hope these work. I got my kegerator up and running about a month ago. My first keg was a cider that worked perfectly. Put a pale ale on tap last week and it's straight foam. I force carb it but a week later I would think it would have pretty much leveled out. 5' lines, peerless taps and about 13psi.

Question: Can you have too long of lines?

 

[rawlus]

you can have too long or too short lines - it all comes down to resistance. the line resistance, the tap resistance, etc all have to be sized appropriate to your service pressure and beer. the epoxy mixers simply add resistance inside the dip tube instead of as more feet of line. they don't work any magic other than that. it's a good idea to buy your line 50' at a time and then try tapping with 10' and see how it works, cut another piece at 7' or 5' and so on and adjust the line length to get a good pour. the mixers can shorten the line length needed, but i don't know if anyone has come up with qualitative numbers on how many mixers at what length is equivalent to how much line length at a given service pressure... would be an interesting experiment though.

 

[rocketman768]

Heck, just go to Lowe's or HD and get 10' of 3/16" line, problem solved. No fancy doo dads needed.

They sell "beer line?"

 

[gxm]

Heck, just go to Lowe's or HD and get 10' of 3/16" line, problem solved. No fancy doo dads needed.

Personally, I refuse to put my beer in lines where I can smell the plastic.

 

[shortyjacobs]

One, you way overcarbed by shaking until no CO2 flowed. That means you were carbonated a lot closer to 30 PSI than 9-13. To "decarbonate", shut off gas, purge the keg, wait a few hours, do it again, and repeat until you have better carbonation. Your beer tastes undercarbed because the overcarbonation in the keg is causing a massive amount of foam as you dispense, knocking extra CO2 out of suspension and making your beer go flat!

Second, I agree with longer line. I use 10' of 3/16ths beverage line, (which has smoother walls than the crap at lowes, and also has thicker walls to give a smother pressure drop, (less flex)). I carbonate to, and dispense at, 10 PSI.

 

[rocketman768]

One, you way overcarbed by shaking until no CO2 flowed. That means you were carbonated a lot closer to 30 PSI than 9-13. To "decarbonate", shut off gas, purge the keg, wait a few hours, do it again, and repeat until you have better carbonation. Your beer tastes undercarbed because the overcarbonation in the keg is causing a massive amount of foam as you dispense, knocking extra CO2 out of suspension and making your beer go flat!

Thanks, but I shook at 30 PSI at room temp (about 65F), which according to this chart
http://www.ebrew.com/primarynews/ct_carbonation_chart.htm
means that I put something less than 3 volumes into the beer. This makes sense, because after letting it stay in the fridge for a couple of days at 40F (CO2 off), the regulator read 15 psi, which (again, according to the chart) shows about 2.75 volumes. There's nothing to purge since it's been pretty steady around 10-12 psi (CO2 disconnected) for a couple of weeks. The pressure doesn't climb back up when I purge or draw a pint, so I know it's in steady state equilibrium.

 

[shortyjacobs]

Thanks, but I shook at 30 PSI at room temp (about 65F), which according to this chart
http://www.ebrew.com/primarynews/ct_carbonation_chart.htm
means that I put something less than 3 volumes into the beer. This makes sense, because after letting it stay in the fridge for a couple of days at 40F (CO2 off), the regulator read 15 psi, which (again, according to the chart) shows about 2.75 volumes. There's nothing to purge since it's been pretty steady around 10-12 psi (CO2 disconnected) for a couple of weeks. The pressure doesn't climb back up when I purge or draw a pint, so I know it's in steady state equilibrium.

Ah, didn't realize this. In that case, longer lines, or that funky diptube epoxy stirrer trick, (which should work fine, but is a little too "fancy" for my tastes).

 

[airmek]

I would serve at a lower pressure and see how that works for you. I have mine set to about 6-8psi with 5ft hose.

As far as the plastic mixing pieces in the dip tube go, I would advise against it. I have stated my concerns about them in that other thread, but will say it here again. We use those to mix some pretty toxic chemicals in the aviation industry.
I dont know if this has ever been answered but I doubt that they are food safe. Considering their intended purpose, it is highly unlikely that they are. They may even be impregnanted with other chemicals to make them able to withstand the chemicals they are likely to encounter during their intended use.

I know that people have great success with them, but thats my 2 cents.

 

[Runyanka]

I have 5' of line on my taps as well. I did the set it and forget it method for two weeks at 12 psi, then bumped it down to 10 psi ever since. My beer comes out with anywhere between 1/2" to 1" of head on it, which is what is desired. I dont know if anyone has brought this up, but if you have a warm spot in your fridge where your lines are, the foaming could be comming from that.

 

[18DPA]

The little Epoxy mixer things are Money!!!

I ordered from Mcmaster Carr on monday 8 March and had them shipped UPS ground. Got here Wed 10 March so 3 days.

Took a little trial and error and no I haven't done any double blind studies and it will also take more trial and error to dial it all in.

I have 2 cornys running 5' of line at about 12 psi after 2 weeks at pressure. The cider was ok with about 2" of head and the ale was all foam.

I used a whole, 3", epoxy mixer on the cider.
I cut one in half and used 4.5" of epoxy mixer on the ale.

Both in the dip tubes

They both pour very slow now but have only about 1" of foam that dissipates quickly.

As testament to the success, my neighbor that stops by frequently and pours a glass, came in the kitchen last night with a full glass of the ale and said "you fixed your kegorator!!!"

I know they are probably loaded with BPA, Dioxins, and phthalates DEHP and DBP so use at own risk and real bits of panther.

As for me I figure the loads of **** I've inhaled and eaten during 4 trips to Iraq including a trip through a "smoking gun chemical Plant" between Al Sulymania and Halabja should cover me as far as cancer go.

 

[rocketman768]

Just wanted to say after I ordered 10 feet of line, the pour is 100% better.

 

[wired247]

I picked up a few of those mcmaster carr twister mixer beer slower thingies # 74695A58 and it has changed my life! I don't really want 15 foot of hose in my fridge for each draft faucet. Now I have 3 foot of 1/4" line and the pour is smooth and consistent with no foaming. I put one each in the tube and one in the shank of the tap where it goes through the wall of the fridge. Takes a few more seconds to pour but its night and day compared to what it used to be like.