Way too much foam!

[Brewme]

So I have an Apricot Hefe on tap and all that comes out is foam! Even after 4-5 pints poured, it is all foam. I have an IPA that is carbonated higher and it has no foam. I am trying to fix this before 20 people are at my house for the Superbowl tomorrow. Please help!

The hefe is carbed to 20 PSI. Too much? Could it be something else? I tried lowering the psi and waiting a few days and it didn't seem to change much. yes, I purged the keg first. Thanks for the help!

 

[nitrousjunkie]

First thing i can think, how long are your lines??

 

[Brewme]

5 ft. The IPA is the same length and no foam.

 

[Blender]

You have to keep venting the keg and turn down the pressure if you want to stabilize the keg. At least that has been my experience.

 

[JesseRC]

increase your line length to 10 ft 3/16" and lower serving psi to 8. It will be slow, but atleast you wont have all foam

 

[Brewme]

What does increasing the line do for foam? I've heard the longer the lines the better, but damn it, I jsut bought my set up and I wish they told me 5 feet wouldn'y be enough. I really don't want to pay more for my set up unless I really haev to. I noticed that I had foam all night (probably 20 beers poured) and every one was all foam. How would longer lines fix that?

 

[RCxc]

What does increasing the line do for foam? I've heard the longer the lines the better, but damn it, I jsut bought my set up and I wish they told me 5 feet wouldn'y be enough. I really don't want to pay more for my set up unless I really haev to. I noticed that I had foam all night (probably 20 beers poured) and every one was all foam. How would longer lines fix that?

The longer lines will slow the speed of the beer so there will be less foam without you having to drop the PSI. The other option is keep your 5 ft lines but drop the PSI. Now if the PSI is too low then you will start to lose carbonation over time in your beer. I bet if you keep venting the beer until it rests at about 10 PSI you will notice a huge difference, it just might take a number of venting to accomplish this.

 

[conpewter]

20 PSI is too much even for a hefe, I think 15PSI is good for those plus the 10ft line I have 10 ft lines on all my taps and run 10-12 PSI and I get a good pour that I can control the head on.

 

[Brewme]

I lowered my PSI the morning of the Superbowl...probably not enough time, I know. It is currently at about 10 PSI. When venting, should I shut the co2 off, purge, then turn back on or what? I guess I really don't know that much about my kegging system yet. Please advise. I am ok with a slower pour (I am never in that big of a rush when pouring good beer!).

 

[conpewter]

One time I had a brew that was overcarbonated (issues with the regulator) and I opened the pressure relief valve and let it sit for a day. That way I knew the carbonation level was again below where I wanted it, then I hooked it back up to the Co2 at 12PSI.

If you simply vent the keg and then put it at 12PSI it could (if there is not a lot of headspace) just go down to 18 PSI instead of 20 since all the beer has abosred Co2 at 20 PSI (however many volumes of Co2 that works out to at your temp)