Unusually foamy beer

[EuDvine]

I filled my first keg today! All went well except for when I was racking the beer into the keg, the racking cane would just turn the beer into foam and then the liquid wasn't able to get through to create a siphon. The only way it worked was to start the siphon as fast as I could and then get the end of the racking hose as low as possible. I've never had beer this foamy before and I know it wasn't still fermenting (in primary a month because I was waiting on backordered couplers). The beer doesn't have any flaked barley or other head retention enhancing ingredients. It's an American Wheat beer: 6 lbs wheat malt, 5 lbs pilsen, citra, and Wyeast 1056. 7.75 gallons, O.G 1.040, F.G too bubbly to read, but not sweet at all.
Any idea why it was so foamy?

 

[Dan]

Not totally sure I understand what you're describing but I think you're saying the beer starts flowing well and then a lot of foam builds up inside the cane?

If this is the case maybe the racking cane has a small air leak above the level of the liquid. Beer flowing through the cane would create a venturi and pull air into the cane making the beer foamy.

Or are you saying the beer once it goes into the keg becomes foamy. If this is the case - is the end of the beer line all the way at the bottom of the keg? If it isn't then oxygen is being introduced and making the beer foamy as it freefalls.

I'm probably way off base but those two scenarios are all I can think of.-

 

[BigFloyd]

It sounds like you may need a longer hose. It should reach all the way to the bottom of the keg. The last few feet of mine is a 1/2" PVC pipe so that I don't have to worry about the hose coiling up or snagging when being inserted.

How much higher do you put the fermenter than the keg? When siphoning, gravity is your friend.

 

[EuDvine]

That could be it. The foam starts in the racking cane, not the siphon hose so it would have to be a crack in the racking cane. I had just racked a different beer before this one with no problems so it seems like an issue with the beer having gas dissolved in it. But it's been sitting in a carboy with an airlock on it for four weeks! It was totally bizarre and annoying because I had to blow the foam out of my racking cane and restart the siphon five or six times before figuring out I had to siphon quickly. Nothing makes sense. I guess I can only hope it doesn't happen again.

 

[EuDvine]

I have a good 3ft distance from the counter top to the floor. I was siphoning from my carboy on the counter to my keg on the floor. I do need to replace my racking hose so I'll get a longer one for sure, but I don't think that was the issue. It seemed more like a reaction of the 60° beer coming in contact with a warmer siphon hose or something because all the foaming started as soon as it got sucked up into the racking cane.

 

[beergolf]

Are you using an autosiphon?

Sometimes the gasket between the cane and the body gets loose and lets in air. I had one like that and the solution was to put a little bit of beer above the gasket to help seal it better.

 

[BigFloyd]

Are you using an autosiphon?

Sometimes the gasket between the cane and the body gets loose and lets in air. I had one like that and the solution was to put a little bit of beer above the gasket to help seal it better.

+1. I've gotten into the habit of doing that as well. I use a sanitized turkey baster to draw a small amount of beer and put it into the top of the autosiphon. Works great.

 

[EuDvine]

No auto siphon. Just a regular racking cane that's about 2 ft long or so. The beer tastes great. I think it was just some freak place in time that made it foam like it was possessed. I just hope it never happens again.