Looking for some direction. I have two draft fridges … two kegs in each and one CO2 tank in each with a split Y connection to go to each keg. Generally my system hums along like a German train schedule. But occasionally I have a very lively keg where the pour is very foamy but I don’t understand why. All of my beers are carbed the same way … force carbed with a CO2 tank in the fridge at about 20psi for 48 hours. 95% (or more) of the time the carb is perfect and so is the pour. I have a light Mexican Lager on tap now that is ultra foamy. The other beer in that fridge (same CO2 tank and pressure) pours fine. I thought it might be the liquid-out QD not being seated properly but no … it’s fine. I wondered if the liquid-out post gasket had a nick in it or something (which I don’t think would impact the pour) so I swapped it out. Same thing. What else could it be? I had another one like this in the other fridge … that keg was empty so I put a new keg on that tap … pours fine. Seems like the keg but what?
This is a puzzle! You’ve tried the two major things I would have tried (checking that QD is seated correctly on out post, and that the o-ring is in good condition). Is it possible there is an issue inside the post, perhaps a bit of gunk stuck around the poppet? Do you use a floating dip tube? If so, is it untangled in the keg and drawing liquid as it should?
It sounds like you have two kegs in this particular fridge – have you swapped their dispensing lines?
Good luck in figuring this one out…I have had it happen before, and it was a seating issue.
Thanks Andy. I did not swap them, no. I could do that. I thought maybe the line had a kink in it or something but no way … many kegs have behaved on that line before. So one keg on tap 3 was this way and that keg is empty. Maybe I need to check the liquid-out post and verify it’s in good shape. The one acting up now is on tap 2 and that keg is probably about 1/3rd full. Tap 1 and Tap 4 are fine and tap 3 (since replacing the empty keg) is also fine. I can’t think of another variable but I want to say that this beer on tap 2 was dispensing nicely for the first half of the keg … then madness after that. Is there something about the volume in the keg? If so, it rarely happens so I don’t get it.
Frustrating, ain’t it? Perhaps there are some kegologists out there with other ideas…
Are you using check vavles? Is it possible the pressure from one keg is bleeding into another one? WAG
No check valves. And Andy asked my if I use floating dip tubes which I do not. If the check valve theory held water would this happen all the time or just occasionally? This one keg is so supercharged right now it’s like 10% beer and 90% foam. Leave the glass for a few minutes and tap some more … wait, tap, wait, tap. Also, the beer seems undercarbed because it seems like the carb is being released from the beer at a rate that makes it seem flat. Yes, frustrating especially when I don’t know how to attack it.
Are you able to check the pressure in the kegs? Not sure if you have a spunding valve or something, but if you could verify the pressure, that would probably rule out a number of things.
And totally throwing out random ideas here, but are the affected kegs closer to the “cold side” of the fridge (if there is one)? Would it be possible that they overcarbonated at the same pressure because the beer was colder?
These are small 4.5cf fridges and there is a “hump” in the back … both kegs are right against that hump and the entire fridge is probably the same temp if I had to guess. I do have a spunding valve but I was suspicious that it wasn’t working properly (I built it) and I never got a good feel from it. On the carbing … all the kegs get carbed in an old-school, large fridge that is my “on-deck” fridge. All the kegs are on one level (freezer on top) so I assume they’re all carbing at the same temp. I also do not carb kegs unless the the keg has been in the fridge overnight … to make sure the beer is COLD when I carb it. So all the kegs should carb at about the same rate.
Do you have floating dips tubes? I had one version that use to raise hell every time I poured a beer. I only use ClearBeer floating dip tubes now. There may be other versions that work but the one I had in that particular keg sucked air.
Faucets clean?
No lines pinched?
You have to vent the Keg completely, remove the beverage QD and replace the O-ring in there. That is leaking and it is causing gas to get forced into the beer down at the quick disconnect. Be a little generous with the Sip film, and remember that technically the proper O-rings for those dip tubes is a Quatro o-ring. They are quite special and boy are they proud of those things. I think I bought them from McMaster-Carr and I could give you a item number later. But the standard o-ring will eventually fail because it doesn’t correctly fit in there. You can make them last longer by making sure you grease them up good every time you install the parts after you clean your kegs.
(Edit)
If you think about it when you pour, you can hear that something is wrong.
No floating dip tubes. I mentioned that. I also mentioned that the faucets are okay on another keg so I can’t see a line pinched and one keg works and another does not. I do clean things regularly and I have no problem cleaning the lines and taps but I can’t see that being the problem.
I did exactly that and posted about it earlier in the thread.
Well, I don’t see where you said you changed it earlier, but whatever, no big deal. If you “re-seated” it, that ain’t good enough. The o-ring is not sealing. Remove the entire dip tube and replace that o-ring. If you already did that, then do it again and this time be more careful when you re-assemble it to be sure the threads on the inside of the poppet are not cutting it when you screw it on. If it leaks, it’s going to aerate that beer like a nitro faucet. It’s NOT over carbed.
That o-ring is where it’s at.
(edit) I did look on McMaster Carr and the order history only goes back to 2018 or so with one Quattro O-ring purchase, but those are huge and for a hydraulic cylinder, so not gonna help. I can check the bag at home and see if the numbers are on it. Otherwise, If you’d like the proper rings, go to the site and do a search for Quattro O Rings and then select by size as best you can. Fact is, you can buy a truckload of the wrong ones and just use em and throw en away vs buying the right ones for the insane price they want. Mine ended up being an employee theft item so I didn’t care. Lol.
Reseated the QD and then replaced the o-ring.
Just occasionally depending on relative pressure of kegs
Well then you’ve got a problem with those O rings, or there’s a burr in the inside threads of the QD that is scratching it. But, that’s where the gas is getting added to the beer and it’s frothing it just like a nitro faucet orifice. The typical round O Rings are the wrong ones for the job but they are dramatically less money than the right ones, which is why that’s what gets supplied with the gasket kits. It’s going to keep frothing up till you fix that leak. Enough SIP Film in there will certainly help. I put it on the stainless tube before ever putting the o ring on and I add more after the o ring is in place. BTDT with this. With those O Rings, bigger != better…
I want to emphasize again that one keg may do this on one faucet but when I replace that keg the pour is okay. If the issue is the o-ring on the keg and I have replaced it, you think the issue is that the brand new o-ring (out of a bag of new ones) is defective? Another point: I have 10 kegs that are in constant rotation. I bet I have this issue in one out of maybe 50 kegs. That would mean the o-ring is okay because the next beer in the keg that DID have the issue … doesn’t have the issue. What you’re suggesting would have a pattern to it but that pattern does not exist.
I think some foamy pours happen due to debris (bits of hops) in the poppet, QD, faucet, etc.
I’m legitimately trying to help here. I can kind of see where you might be fooled by this because one time you assemble it and it leaks and the next time you assemble it it twists the ring to a new position and somehow seals by some miracle. That in spite of the fact that it has already been cut up by the threads on the inside of that beverage out. If you use enough CIP film, sorry I said sip film before because the voice to text threw that in there, enough of that stuff will fix the problem even with a bad o-ring.
With that said, if we just look at this from a strictly common sense standpoint. You can hear that there is a leak. That is not in debate. You are getting additional gas into the beer. So okay, where is the only location where gas is being sealed away from the beer at a fitting AND it is under pressure? Ah, yes at the dip tube o-ring. That is the single only place where there is gas Under Pressure that it can get into the system. Any other place with a leak would result in beer spraying out all over your kitchen. Air cannot come in when the pressure is greater on the inside of the draft line.
I did pull out my bag of O-rings but the label is virtually unreadable. It says minus 109 nitrile to quattro seals. A number on it is in parentheses 1 and then 1RHDR is the item number I assume. The brand looks like RT Dygert. These don’t look like any other o-ring, they are clearly a squarish shape with rounded edges. Yes it does say rtdigert.com on the bag. But I’m pretty sure that’s not where they came from. Still I do use the regular ones like you get from more beer all the time. It just happens to be whichever ones I pull out of the bag faster. But those are known to get scarred up because they’re a little bit too big in diameter.
One other possibility is that the fitting is not screwing down all the way because the threads are gauled. That is very common when you have stainless against stainless, especially when it’s clean and dry. Not that typical lubes will help it. But I highly doubt that’s the case. You could try some CIP film on those threads so that they are less likely to jam up but if that’s done you probably have bigger issues. The female fitting would need replaced and the Keg would need a thread file taken to it. Worst case you could maybe try two O-rings but I seriously doubt that will work. It would probably work in the very short term but one of them is going to be absolutely destroyed if not both.