Foamy Keg - Commercial, but want to resolve before corny keg

Brewing Processes
1

Hi All,

Super frustrated.  Had a kegerator for over 10 years.  Numerous homebrew and commercial kegs ran through it.  On the last 3 or so commercial kegs, I am having a foaming problem.  I want to resolve this before putting on a batch of homebrew IPA.  Any guidance would be great!

Background:

  • Replaced Regulator
  • Moved from a 5 foot line to 10 foot line
  • Using 3/16 line
  • Replaced Coupler
  • Same results with Picnic faucet versus tower faucet

Conditions

  • 30 degrees inside
  • 33 degree beer temp after pour

Results

  • @ PSI 2-3 (yes, 2-3) the beer comes out mildly fast and foamy
  • @ PSI 8-10 the beer comes out super fast and incredibly foamy
  • Beer after foam, still tastes a bit flat.  Not sure if this is because we let it sit so long or if by pouring in a pitcher and then pouring into the glass (to manage foam) is making it taste like that.

At this point, I am leaning to the regulator i bought is bad.  I replaced that for other reasons earlier on.  When the faucets didnt change the outcome, I changed the coupler.

Thoughts ??? HELP!

John

2

It does sound like the regulator, especially if the timing lines up. Another option is that if your thermometer is even a couple degrees off you could be getting ice crystals in the lines.

3

Great, thanks…  I am going to move my lines closer to the door and replace the regulator.

Any other thoughts from others I could consider would be helpful as well…

Thanks all

John

4

Give all lines, connections and tap a thorough cleaning. A restriction could be whipping the co2 out of solution.

5

Thanks MNWayne.  Worth noting, I clean lines / Faucet after each keg.  When I moved to a 10 foot line, I actually cut a new piece of bev line so its fresh and new.

Any other suggestions to consider from this great community?!

THANKS!

6

Going back to your original posting: The thing that changed seems to be the ‘last three commercial kegs.’ Were they all the same brewery?  Perhaps they arrived / were packaged over-carbonated?  Easy check: after settling on a stable temperature over a few days, what was the measured keg pressure as rec’d? Check that vs. a carbonation chart for your kegerator temperature.

Besides the regulator, I would also check or replace the pressure gauge. Some are very cheap and fail over time. Let us know what you find!

7

Thanks TeeDub.

Two questions:

  • They were from different breweries but how do you measure keg pressure as received?  Is there an easy way to do that?

  • If replacing entire regulator, I would be replacing the pressure guage or are you referring to something else?

THANKS!

Note:  New regulator in mail…

8

You can definitely order a regulator body separate from the gauge, but odds are you’re getting both.

9

OK - the different breweries pretty much cancels out the probability of over carbonation being your issue. To measure as-received keg carbonation level (and pressure), I would let the keg temperature stabilize for a few days in your fridge. Then just connect your tap and regulator, but don’t turn on the CO2 bottle. One of the 2 gauges on your regulator will show the keg pressure after you connect. Then check against a carbonation chart.

Wish I could help more - will think about it. Replacing the regulator and gauges is a good step.

10

Thanks for the clarification.

I will plug up regulator and keep C02 tank off and see what the read is before I get started.

Question - can a long line (that is unneeded) make foam?  I wonder if I need to go back to the shorter line now that I got a new regulator to hook up?  Last pour did seem to sputter a bit which I assumed was because of the length.

Thoughts?

11

In general, a longer line should reduce foam.

12

Update:

  • Changed out regulator, still foamy at first
  • I kept the PSI at 10 and kept running beers
  • After about 10-15 pours (not one after another, just on and off), beers started pouring perfect

I am going to try another keg but I think that my regulator (which was NEWLY ordered/installed) was bad off the jump.  I think it took some beers to level off the pressure it mistakenly put in.  We will test again next post.

Thanks for all the help on this topic - will update everyone!

John

13

CONFIRMED - The regulator was bad.  This is a good example of not taking for granted how new your equipment is.  I tried so many other things before changing out the item that was the newest!  Thanks everyone for the ideas and support.  Hopefully this thread helps someone else!