Excess Foam

Hey everyone,
I just got my keggorator going and I'm drawing off the first couple glasses and I have a ton of foam, any suggestions? I have my pressure at around 12-13psi.

how long have you let it sit to carb, what is your serving temp, and how long are your hoses?

I would try turning down the PSI.

Hopper5000 said:

how long have you let it sit to carb, what is your serving temp, and how long are your hoses?

I would try turning down the PSI.

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Well..... I didn't let it set for a very long time( way too excited) serving temp is around 38f and hoses are roughly 2ft.

Thanks for the quick reply

AnimalDoc said:

Well..... I didn't let it set for a very long time( way too excited) serving temp is around 38f and hoses are roughly 2ft.

Thanks for the quick reply

Click to expand...

your hoses are the cause of the foam. I would go with atleast 6 feet of hose.

Def need some more length on those hoses. its a balance between restriction of the hoses and the flow over the distance. Go 5-6'

Thanks guys! I guess I should get some hose. Any good suggestions on the best place to gather hose?

yea with 2ft of hose maybe try like 4ish psi

Hopper5000 said:

yea with 2ft of hose maybe try like 4ish psi

Click to expand...

Thanks, ill give it a try.

what size tube are you using? 3/8 usually has about 2 psi of resistance per foot so want to have your setting a little higher than that. I think 4 is probably a little low and maybe 6ish would be better

That is really short line. A common suggestion on the forum for 12 psi is 10 feet of 3/8. It would pour slower, but rarely foams. Holding the line vertical would help in theory. I would just incrementally lower the pressure till the foam stops and use that.

^Typo alert. 3/8 should be 3/16...

Cheers!

Well...I have had the pressure all the way down to 2 psi and it still foams. I let it sit all night and just poured on with a good 3" of foam. I'm at a loss.

Is this a commercial keg? That's the impression I'm getting. If it is, I'd recommend you do a few things:

1) Contact the brewery and try to find out the carbonation level in volumes of CO2. If this is impossible, assume 2.6.

2) Use a kegging carbonation calculator or chart to determine the appropriate PSI given the keg temperature.

3) Set the regulator to that pressure and leave it there

4) Go to a homebrew shop and buy 10 feet of 3/16" inner diameter vinyl beverage tubing and install that in your system

5) Try pouring. If the first pour is foamy, you may need to solve some temperature stratification problems (copper heat sink, tower cooler, PC fan etc.) or you can live with your first pour of the night being a bit foamy.

If it's homebrew in a corney keg, I'd recommend:

1) pick a carb level for your style, use the calculator or chart to figure out the pressure

2) set the regulator, walk away for 2 weeks except to check the pressure

3) If you're under 3 volumes of CO2, 10 feet of 3/16" ID line should still work

4) After that, if anything but the first pour is foamy, report back and we can help you diagnose further (dip tube o-ring problems, etc)

if it's a corny keg and you want to turn down the pressure you have to vent it as your turning down the psi and then it will go down to the desired psi

Thanks for all the info guys! I'm defenitely going to pick up some longer tubing in the morning.

12' of 3/16" line would not be too long!

So I have let the keg sit and used it a lot. The foam is getting better. If I open the faucet it foams for a second or two and if I stop it then the next pour is good. I just want to make sure prior to getting more hose that it is indeed the Jose length. Thanks everyone.

Sounds to me like the beer in the line is warmer than the beer in the keg. This is pretty common. It'll pour a bit of foam until everything cools down. A PC fan can make a big difference...

I had the same issue when I started my corny keg up. I made my lines 10' long and found that if i bleed off the keg before i pour its good to go. I routed my long lines around the inside of the keezer for long swooping lines too, no sharp turns.