What does this mean?

[VictimKBrew]

So I just tapped my first keg of homebrew. I also purchased a keg of Sam Adams. I hooked them both up to the kegerator. The Sam Adams was already cold since I purchased it from the store. My homebrew I added 5oz to 4 gallons of beer last week. I let it sit for about 10 days. I purged out the extra gas then hooked it up. It was at room temperature. I realize it will probably take a few days for the CO2 to reach equilibrium but i figured it'd be in the ballpark. So:

1) The Sam Adams pours out with tons of head. Prob more than 2.5 inches. Is this because of the temperature of the keg and length of beer line?

2) My homebrew poured out great. About an inch of head granted its still warm. It tastes flat though. How can that be if I added all that sugar over a week ago? I figure now I just have to wait around a week or so until it reaches equilibrium.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Screw991le]

What is the Co2 pressure set at? Should be 5lbs for dispensing.

 

[motobrewer]

so, you added corn sugar to your homebrew to carbonate?

if you did, it'll take about 3 weeks at 70F (usually closer to 4 weeks) to carbonate.

 

[blizzard]

are these on the same gas line? also, what temp is the Sam Adams at and how long is your beer line?

 

[gypsyhead]

how's the suspension on your car, are there potholes, and did you strap the bought keg in for the ride?

 

[VictimKBrew]

are these on the same gas line? also, what temp is the Sam Adams at and how long is your beer line?

CO2 set at 12 PSI.
One gas line goes to the manifold which splits it to two lines. Beer line is approximately 5-6 feet (came standard with the kegerator). I'm not sure of the temp Sam Adams is at. I had picked it up at the store which keeps it in the freezer room. I'd imagine its around 42 degrees or so.

 

[waldoar15]

5oz of sugar was a bit overkill for carbing a keg. And 10 days wasn't long enough to let it sit. Not to mention that even though you had pressure in the keg, the beer has to have time to cool and absorb the CO2.

 

[rawlus]

What is the Co2 pressure set at? Should be 5lbs for dispensing.

incorrect.

Serving pressure should match your desired carbonation level. This is typically closer to 10-12psi for typical serving temps.

If you have to dial back the pressure while serving to minimize foam, then your system is not correctly balanced and you are treating the symptoms not the problem.

The greater foam on the Commercial Keg could be attributed to a few things - sometimes commercial kegs are a bit overpressurized from the store, it can help to purge excess pressure from the headspace when you first hook up. Sometimes a warm glass can create more head, warm lines and or short lines will also lead to more head. Lines with too large an I.D. or lines that are not designed for beer/beverages may have rougher inside surfaces which can scrub CO2 out of suspension.

Generally excess foaming problems are a result of CO2 coming out of suspension for one reason or another. Usually, this is because the resistance created between the keg and the faucet does not match the pressure of CO2 in the beer - when the resistance is not great enough to hold the CO2 in the beer, it comes out of solution as foam.

While there are balancing calculators that help you determine the correct line length - i personally just start with 10' of line, which is more than enough to maintain control over the CO2 that wants to come out of the beer.. this results in a slower pour, but more reliable control over CO2 pressure within the beer itself.

I'll also echo an earlier comment, that the homebrew keg has not had sufficient time to prime/carbonate with the sugar addition - if you set your reg at 12psi it should be better in a week or so with gradual force carbonation.

 

[EKennett]

Agree with Rawlus. I've always had foaming issues with commercial kegs that I don't get with homebrew. I solved the problem by turning the gas off to the keg and purging all of the co2 from the headspace (by pulling the little keyring on the release valve on the side of the coupler). Do this a few times a day for a few days, what's happening is some of the co2 is going out of the beer into the headspace in order to equalize the pressure. Once you are satisfied, turn the gas back on to serving pressure (10-12 psi) and try dispensing.

I also would upgrade to 10' of 3/16 BEER line. You will get a slower pour but it will be more controlled. Last I checked none of us were running busy bars where pour speed affected profit margin.

Lastly, what is your kegerator setup? If you have a tower, are you cooling it in any way? If not you are bound to get foam on your first pour. If you have "through-the-door" faucets or are using picnic taps from inside the fridge this shouldn't be an issue.

 

[akthor]

Commercial kegs are always foamy in the beginning even with a hand pump. I believe its the travelling in a car that shakes them up. Serving it using it's own pressure and not hooked to the gas for a bit till it calms down helps.

As a veteran of many "keggers" I don't remember one that wasn't foamy for the first dozen pulls. Sometimes the first couple of pints are pure foam and gotta be poured out. Depending on how rough and long the ride was getting there and how cold the keg is.

 

[VictimKBrew]

I've come to realize that its always the first beer that has lots of foam. So if I have 3 friends over, the first guy gets a lot of foam while the other 2 get great pours. this isn't too bad if you have people over, but when its only me drinking a beer every 20 minutes or so, I'm always getting the foamy beer.

So why would the first beer served always have lots of foam? Is this because of the temperature in the tower is warm and the beer is coming out colder?

 

[rawlus]

if you get foamy beer every 20min, that's a problem IMHO. if the tower is uncooled, that is likely one of the sources to the problem - when the tower is warm, it warms the cold beer as it travels to the faucet, this warming pushes CO2 out of solution, as warm beer has a more difficult time holding the CO2 in solution than cold beer.... usually the remedy is to cool the tower...

on a keezer or through the door fridge design, the metal shanks typically extend into the cooled airspace of the chamber, this means that the taps themselves are usually cold to the touch, sometimes even sweat in humid air, and they generally suffer less problems related to warm lines/warm taps and foaming. foaming for these systems is usually a case of either overcarbing or unbalanced system (lines too short, too unrestricted)

 

[VictimKBrew]

if you get foamy beer every 20min, that's a problem IMHO. if the tower is uncooled, that is likely one of the sources to the problem - when the tower is warm, it warms the cold beer as it travels to the faucet, this warming pushes CO2 out of solution, as warm beer has a more difficult time holding the CO2 in solution than cold beer.... usually the remedy is to cool the tower...

That could be it. My tower is insulated with some foam and thats it. I doubt enough cold air gets from the fridge into the tower chamber. My beer lines are also unorganized so I'll look into making sure they spiral up and have no kinks. Thanks.

 

[rawlus]

there are alot of threads here on DIY tower coolers - usually they involve uninsulating the tower and encasing the beerlines that go up to the taps in copper pipe to act as a cold sink, to help draw cold up the length of the lines - sometimes that is augmented by small DC fans to help keep cold air blowing up the copper pipes and keeping the lines cold all the way up to the taps.... pros and bars often use glycol chillers for the same purpose - to maintain beer temp in the lines all the way to the taps...

 

[akthor]

On my trash can kegerator I poured ice on top of the coils of beer line I had sitting on top of the kegs figuring that would keep the lines cold and prevent foaming since the ice was at the bottom of the kegs. Had perfect pours till after about 7 hrs. Then started to get some foam. Opened up the lid and sure enough all the ice on the coils was melted. I am sure even that few degrees difference was causing it.

I am going to look at putting some sort of tray around the shanks that I can fill with ice to help keep the shanks and hoses cold.

 

[jane]

if you get foamy beer every 20min, that's a problem IMHO. if the tower is uncooled, that is likely one of the sources to the problem - when the tower is warm, it warms the cold beer as it travels to the faucet, this warming pushes CO2 out of solution, as warm beer has a more difficult time holding the CO2 in solution than cold beer.... usually the remedy is to cool the tower...

on a keezer or through the door fridge design, the metal shanks typically extend into the cooled airspace of the chamber, this means that the taps themselves are usually cold to the touch, sometimes even sweat in humid air, and they generally suffer less problems related to warm lines/warm taps and foaming. foaming for these systems is usually a case of either overcarbing or unbalanced system (lines too short, too unrestricted)

rawlus, new question
where can I get my 25# CO2 tank filled in Milford area?
THanks
Jane

 

[kpr121]

I've come to realize that its always the first beer that has lots of foam. So if I have 3 friends over, the first guy gets a lot of foam while the other 2 get great pours. this isn't too bad if you have people over, but when its only me drinking a beer every 20 minutes or so, I'm always getting the foamy beer.

So why would the first beer served always have lots of foam? Is this because of the temperature in the tower is warm and the beer is coming out colder?

Heres what I do in my kegerator tower tap, which is insulated with pipe insulation and also has a copper pipe that runs down into the cold area:

The first full beer is always foamy on my shorter like tap (5 feet). The way I get around this is to take an extra cup, pour about 2-3 oz in that cup, then move to my serving glass without closing the tap. This usually leads to a perfect foamless pour. Then I stop the pour with about an inch or two of room in the glass, and dump the foam from the spare cup on top. Perfect beer! This usually only needs to be done on the first pour of a session. Unless the faucet is unused for about an hr, I do not have to do it again.

Its worked well enough for me that I dont feel the need to go out and get 10 feet of beer line, although eventually I will probably do that sometimes.