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Suddenly Foamy Pours on 1 Tap

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TheMadKing

Western Yankee Southerner and Brew Science Nerd
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So I'm stumped and could use some ideas.

I have a coffin keezer with 4 taps and 1 of them had suddenly started pouring pints that are half foam.

I'm using 10' of 3/16" ID tubing on all 4 taps, the same faucets, the same QD's. 12 PSI @ 40F.

I have broken down the entire faucet, shank, tail piece and QD and didn't find any obstructions.

I've swapped kegs and it still pours foam so I'm fairly certain it's not the keg.

The only thing I haven't tried yet is replacing the tubing.

I would appreciate any bright ideas! This has been going on for the last 2 kegs I put through it so it's getting old.
 
Any possibility the affected line is getting warmer than the kegs? Has the line been repositioned? Do you have a fan in your keezer to prevent temp stratification?

Brew on :mug:
 
Is the line clean?



I think so, there's no visible gunk in it and I flush it with star san between kegs and oxyclean every few kegs.


Any possibility the affected line is getting warmer than the kegs? Has the line been repositioned? Do you have a fan in your keezer to prevent temp stratification?



Brew on :mug:


I have 2 PC fans circulating roughly 30CFM of air into the coffin and back down into the keezer body.

The shank temp shows within 1 degree between all 4 of them

The line has been moved during my troubleshooting and it's pouring foamy no matter where it is.

I haven't swapped the line onto a new tap though to see if it's the line/QD or the faucet so I can try that.
 
I'd do that swap to see if perhaps the QD is partially plugged.
Was there anything unusual about the beer you tapped that started all this?
Like, dry hopped and maybe not so carefully racked to the keg?

Cheers!
 
I'd do that swap to see if perhaps the QD is partially plugged.

Was there anything unusual about the beer you tapped that started all this?

Like, dry hopped and maybe not so carefully racked to the keg?



Cheers!



Nope, it was a pilsner when I noticed it. Now its a Festbier, and it pours foamy whether I hook it up to a DIPA or a Porter

Unless maybe its the gelatin somehow building up on the QD?

I've also taken apart the QD twice and rinsed and inspected it so I'm reasonably confident that there's nothing stuck in there.
 
This happened to me and I think it's the line out is not long enough and the wrong diameter, 3/8 instead of 5/16.

When I put that keg on another tap it worked fine,

Not sure if that was exact reason but with longer 5/16 line it worked out
 
Check for air leak where beer line meets the barbs on either end. A loose hose clamp allowed one of my hoses to deform and let air in at the the keg coupler several years ago.
 
If I followed this correctly the tap line foams no matter which keg it's plugged on to.
Unless there's something pathological going on with his Out dip tube O-rings I suspect it's not a keg problem per se...

Cheers!
 

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