Spitting foamy keg

[MediaBrewer]

I know there are a lot of threads on kegs spitting foam, but I can't seem to find the answer I'm looking for. I kegged a maibock a couple weeks ago, tried the quick carb method of 30 psi fr 36 hours then dialing back to 12 psi for a day or so (which I had done twice with success since I started recently kegging). Immediately I got violent spitting of air and foam, and when the beer settled it was flat. At first I thought maybe my lines or the dip tube was clogged so I took apart the poppits, the dip tube, the beer line, the ball valve connections (beer and air) and the tap (thru-door Perlick on a homemade fridge kegerator) and cleaned it all. Reconnected everything, gave it some pressure (12 psi) and the same spitting foam. Maybe it was my 5' long 3/16" beer line being too short (even through it worked great for my two previous batches), so off to the LHBS to get a 12 foot section of 3/16" line. That did not fix it, only made it so the output was nearly all gas with barely a trickle of beer (not even enough to fill 1/4 of a glass), and increasing the pressure some did not help at all. I figured maybe I overcarbed somehow in my haste to quick carb and began releasing all the pressure over the course of a week or so in an attempt to start over. Once I thought it had settled I tried the slow and low method, 12 psi for a week. No change. Again, I thought maybe I had some sort of clog, so I disconnected everything and racked the beer out of the keg. The one encouragement was that while racking I of course poured a glass for a taste and got a beautiful head and clear sparkling carb bubbles! So now I know the co2 that's getting in is being absorbed. But, once more, after thoroughly cleaning everything and putting it all back together there is no change to the situation. I bled the o2 out and set the pressure at 12 psi, and there it sits. It's June and my delicious Cinco de Maibock is being held hostage by my haste, ignorance, lack of knowledge/experience, stupidity, whatever. Can someone help me set her free? Could the gaskets or o rings be playing a part here? Other than that I'm stumped! Thanks to this great community in advance!

 

[day_trippr]

I would replace the o-ring for the Out dip tube, and make sure the dip tube seats properly before installing the Out post. If that particular o-ring isn't perfect and the Out tube properly seated, CO2 from the head space will get into the beer stream and you'll get exactly the symptoms you're seeing...

Cheers!

 

[MediaBrewer]

Dip tube should be seated correctly, has a little notch at the top on the outside so it always maintains the right orientation, it won't seat all the way if not aligned (one of the things I checked). But I'll definitely replace the o ring. Thanks trip!

 

[SageRN]

Could it still be over carbonated?

 

[drew1d]

I usually have a problem with overcarbing "or all foam no fizz," when the keg isn't cold enough.

It seems the liquid absorbs the c02 a lot better when colder. Personally, I like 6lbs at 35F, but that can vary with the style of beer.

 

[MediaBrewer]

Yup, bad o ring on the dip dube! I replaced that plus the rings for gas in tube sand both posts. Still scratching my head as to why I hadnt thought of it before! Thanks y'all!

 

[user 4295]

I'm glad you found the problem. I'll just add that once I had a similar issue and my diptube o-ring was perfectly fine. The problem was that there was a hairline crack at the top of the diptube itself. Drove myself crazy with that one.

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

While it's all apart - check that it dispenses ok with water at 20 psi. Much less dramatic to find the issue that way.

Bob

 

[MediaBrewer]

Bob,
I ran sanitizing solution thru before filling the keg, i seem to remember it being fine. Oh well, it works now so i'll have to wait until it's empty to run anymore water thru it! I'll chalk it up to inexperience and learn from it!

Mike

 

[day_trippr]

Bob,
I ran sanitizing solution thru before filling the keg, i seem to remember it being fine. Oh well, it works now so i'll have to wait until it's empty to run anymore water thru it! I'll chalk it up to inexperience and learn from it!

Mike

You made it easy to diagnose by including "spitting" in your description. Foamy pours are one thing, but it takes a CO2 shunt to get that "spitting" symptom.

And if the new o-ring didn't fix it, the next suggestion would be to inspect the dip tube, just as johnsma22 related. Dip tube cracks and pin holes are rather rare faults, I've only read those noted in the forum a couple of times in the last couple of years, but it happens...

Cheers!

 

[kevbod]

Thank you for this thread! I had spitting keg syndrome and after reading day_tripper's advice, replaced my o-ring on the dip tube. Now it is pouring like a dream.

You saved me hours of profanity and frustration...probably saved my marriage too. You guys rock. Cheers back at ya.

 

[Hatter]

I had this issue also. When I was sanitizing my keg it was really foamy and spitting the star san and water out. I thought it was just two much star san in the keg. I thought that until I tried to pour my first beer and I got 6 inches of foam and 1 inch of beer. The draft line would not fill either as if it was filled with air and the beer was here and there. I replaced both o-rings and also went from a 5 foot tube to a 10 foot one. No more foam, lets hope ten feet is not too long. Will give my beer another 5 to 6 days and tap it again to see if I got good carbonation. Thanks for the advice.