Problem dispensing - too much foam

[francoarg1]

Hello, this is my first post and sorry if this has been posted before but I couldn’t find a solution. I’m trying to dispense beer from a keg that is at about room temp (65F). I have use the formulas to calculate the line length and I have the correct length, about 60ft., that includes a coil submerged in ice and water. Despite lowering and increasing the pressure to the keg I cannot get it to pour correctly. If it is too high it’s pure foam, if it is too low it takes forever but it still foamy. I don’t think the problem is with the line length but with a “pocket” of air in the line. Does anyone know a solution to this?

 

[Vale71]

Pardon the question, but why do you want to drink beer that warm?
65°F is way too warm to even think of being able to serve it properly without tons of foam and the subsequent loss of carbonation.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

What PSI is the keg carbonated at?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Pardon the question, but why do you want to drink beer that warm?
65° is way too hih to even think of being able to serve it properly without tons of foam and the subsequent loss of carbonation.

It's going through a coil in iced water. It sounds like maybe a homemade jockey box?

 

[Vale71]

It sounds like a very ineffective attempt at best. With the ridiculous transfer coefficient of a plastic hose I'd be surprised if the beer dropped more than 1-2 degrees if at all.

 

[francoarg1]

It's going through a coil in iced water. It sounds like maybe a homemade jockey box?

Yes, it is a 55ft long stainless steel coil. I have the keg at that temperature when I serve an outdoors event. I store it at 34F, then take it to the event, the keg eventually warms up. The keg sits outside for the event, and i chill it with this diy chiller. Something like in this pic, not my actual set up, just an example:

 

[francoarg1]

What PSI is the keg carbonated at?

between 2,45 and 2,6 volumes CO2. Around 11 PSI at 38F. It depends on the style I serve.

 

[jmcquesten]

What size is the stainless tubing? Also, would it be possible to put the keg in a tub of ice?

Hello, this is my first post and sorry if this has been posted before but I couldn’t find a solution. I’m trying to dispense beer from a keg that is at about room temp (65F). I have use the formulas to calculate the line length and I have the correct length, about 60ft., that includes a coil submerged in ice and water. Despite lowering and increasing the pressure to the keg I cannot get it to pour correctly. If it is too high it’s pure foam, if it is too low it takes forever but it still foamy. I don’t think the problem is with the line length but with a “pocket” of air in the line. Does anyone know a solution to this?

 

[francoarg1]

What size is the stainless tubing? Also, would it be possible to put the keg in a tub of ice?

It has the same inside diameter as the vinyl tubing, 6.8mm or 0.223 inches.

 

[Vale71]

OK it wasn't clear from the original post that part of the tubing was stainless. Although it has the same diameter as the vinyl tubin the resistance of stainless will be lower so that your line length calculations will be somewhat off. I recommend measuring the exit temperature of the beer anyway to see if the cooling is really effective.

 

[francoarg1]

OK it wasn't clear from the original post that part of the tubing was stainless. Although it has the same diameter as the vinyl tubin the resistance of stainless will be lower so that your line length calculations will be somewhat off. I recommend measuring the exit temperature of the beer anyway to see if the cooling is really effective.

Yes, the calculations would be a bit off, but I don't know the exact roughness. I used the one for vinyl, e=0.000016 [ft]. The beer comes out at around 40F.

 

[Bobby_M]

You have to use the charts and chase the pressure up as the temp of the beer increases.

 

[Vale71]

Disregard.

 

[Jag75]

Someone on here built a portable kegerator out of 2 10 gallon coolers . Was genius . Keg was surrounded by ice . Had a tap on it and everything . I couldnt find the link but it's around here somewhere.