Too much foam in my corny keg

[OSUBIGCUNN]

I am getting an excessive amount of foam. I am getting all foam when it comes out. The lines are full of golden IPA but when it comes out its all foam. This is my first kegging so I am new. I may have over carbonated it. However it tastes flat. I spoke to my local shop and he explained that it will taste different (less carbonated taste) but it tastes flat. Also I do not see any bubbles which I was told I would see. I went with 30 psi for more than four days which I understand was excessive but I go back to the tasting flat thing. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

You are most likely over carbed and foaming is probably a result of the serving lines not being sufficiently long enough to provide enough resistance to keep the co2 in solution. Usually if trying to force carb quickly you set it higher psi for 24 hours then reduce to serving pressure. I usually set and forget mine at 10-15PSI and run 10'lines at 38F.


Sent from somewhere to someone

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

There is a quick fix for overcarbed beer, but you need some experience with kegging.

Other than that, what you do is release pressure from the keg so that the excess CO2 can go out of the beer. Repeat this every few hours until beer comes out ok or undercarbed. Then, set to serving pressure (say 12 psi at 38F).

Also, longer beer lines makes for a better pour. I went with 15' from the start and never had pour problems. The pour might be a little slower, but at least you're getting tasty beer out of the tap, not 50/50 foam and beer.

 

[day_trippr]

It makes no sense to set a CO2 regulator above zero psi when trying to tame a wildly over carbed keg...

Cheers!

 

[LLBeanJ]

It makes no sense to set a CO2 regulator above zero psi when trying to tame a wildly over carbed keg...

Cheers!

This ^

Shut off the gas. Vent the headspace several times over the course of a day or three. Only when it the carb level is down to where it needs to be (or below) should you put it back on the gas.

 

[JuanMoore]

The reason it tastes flat is that most of the carbonation is being lost, in the form of foam. Once the foam settles from what came out as highly carbed beer, what you're left with is flat beer. It may sound counter intuitive, but foam and flat beer is the classic symptom of overcarbonation.

 

[ph0ngwh0ng]

It makes no sense to set a CO2 regulator above zero psi when trying to tame a wildly over carbed keg...

Cheers!

Yeah I know, I meant to edit that post but HBT seemed stuck in a while(1) loop. Indeed, shut the gas and vent (until carb level reached) and THEN set to serving pressure.

 

[blinky2134]

Hi - old post I know! I think I have the same issue as the op though - IPA has been at 15 for a week or so then 12 for a week before. It pours nice but with lots of head and semi flat beer. I assume its the same issue, I pass through 3m of 5/16 tubing to a flow control tap, the keg is now at 12PSI. What should I do? Let of pressure, use the flow control tap?

 

[IslandLizard]

I pass through 3m of 5/16 tubing

That line is too wide.

Have you tried 12' (4 meter) of 3/16" ID thick-walled vinyl beer tubing, kept cold in your kegerator/keezer? That should fix the foaming issue.
Or better yet, switch to 6' of 4mm ID EVA Barrier tubing, including the push-to-fit couplers/adapters.

 

[blinky2134]

This is what I have 3m of - EVA Barrier 5/16" Beer line per metre - (8mm OD, 5mm ID) which is 4mm inside diameter
Do you think I need Beer line 3/16" Restriction Kit ? How do I know if my beer is over/undercarbed, if I need longer/shorter tubing or thicker/thinner tubing? This is all very confusing!

 

[doug293cz]

This is what I have 3m of - EVA Barrier 5/16" Beer line per metre - (8mm OD, 5mm ID) which is 4mm inside diameter
Do you think I need Beer line 3/16" Restriction Kit ? How do I know if my beer is over/undercarbed, if I need longer/shorter tubing or thicker/thinner tubing? This is all very confusing!

That link is confusing. The text all says 5mm ID, but the picture caption says 4mm ID (the tubing does come in both 4mm & 5mm ID), so you probably actually have 5mm ID. Your pours still shouldn't be too bad, as with 3 m (10') your line is almost long enough for the 5mm ID, although at 15 psi you would be better off with 4.5 m (15'). Here is the only calculator you should use for determining beer line length. 5mm is 0.197" and 4mm is 0.1575".

You would be better off using the 4mm ID EVA barrier tubing for beer, and save the 5mm ID for CO2, as you need less length to get equivalent pours.

What is your beer temperature, and is the beer line at the same temp as the beer? Warm beer foams more than cold beer at the same level of carbonation. Warm lines and taps cause pours to be foamy - until they cool down from the beer flow.

You can try using your flow control taps to slow the pour to see if that helps. You should always open the tap completely, no matter the flow setting, as a partially closed tap promotes foam formation.

Brew on

 

[passedpawn]

It's a good idea to have a picnic tap assembly on hand, preferably 10' of tubing coiled and tie-wrapped. If it foams with the picnic tap, the problem is in the keg and not your delivery system.

Inside the keg, it's usually just overcarbed. Bad regulator, charged with too high pressure, etc. Go to the following thread for a solution for that: Overcarbed Keg? Here's an INSTANT SOLUTION! <-- it works.

One final thing to check is the o-ring / diptube under the beer OUT post. I recently had this issue and it was always massive foam until I replaced the dip tube. See here: [SOLVED] Foamy Pours!

 

[blinky2134]

What size of tubing though for the picnic tap? I now have about 3m of 3/16 beer line and the keg at 7 degrees with 15psi and it seems to pour fine. I think it still maybe needs another few days to fully carb but I think thats it sorted and..... it tastes amazing! Nelson and Galaxy, a winning combo!