Foamy Beer!!

[beergirl25]

I have a Nostalgia kegerator that I've done some serious surgery to over the past year. The most recent addition I've made is a Perlick forward-sealing faucet. However, ever since I've added the faucet, I get pure foam coming out of the faucet that does not subside with additional pours. The keg is cold and there is no foam in the beer line (when I open the fridge, I can see the beer is clear in the line), but when it comes out the faucet it is foam and is on the warm side. Is the tower/faucet too warm? Is there anyway to fix that?

 

[hunter_le five]

Welcome to HBT beergirl25.

1) Are you certain the Perlick faucet is installed correctly and everything is seated properly, so that there is no spaces/gaps/misaligned parts to cause turbulence in the beer?

Perlicks are generally great faucets, so it seems weird to me that it could be the cause of foaming.

2) How long are your beer lines? Kegerators generally come with 5' beer lines, and many people find that they actually need 10'-12' lines to have a decent pour. (Mine are 12', for the record.)

3) The tower/faucet being too warm, as you suggested, is a very common problem with tower-type beer dispensers. If the beer is getting too warm as it flows to the faucet, the gas comes out of solution and creates foam. That is why many commercial units feature glycol chillers in the tower.

The easiest fix for a home kegerator is to add a circulation fan inside the kegerator that will blow cool air from the main compartment up into the tower. You can rig one up pretty easily using a cheap PC tower fan. That is what I use on mine.

4) what is the temperature of the beer in your glass when you pour it? What is the temperature of the keg? What temp is the kegerator set to?

 

[TimmyWit]

I can't explain why every pour would be warm since it should cool as you continue to pour it. Is it possible that your faucet shank doesn't match the diameter of your beer line? Was it really difficult to slide the beer line on? Maybe you have 3/16" line with a 1/4" diameter shank.

 

[beergirl25]

I think the problem may be with the faucet fitting. When I screwed on the new faucet, I didn't get any beer out. I think tried to take it off and put the old faucet back on (I had just gotten a new keg) and as I was unsrewing, I started getting beer out so I left it on. Now that I have a keg hooked up, is there any way to start messing around with the faucet and shank without beer spilling everywhere? And does anyone know what size shank I would need?

Thanks for your help. I' knew to the kegerator and it's been a lot of trial and error so far.

 

[TimmyWit]

You should disconnect the beverage line from the keg before you tinker with the faucet. I recommend 3/16" line and shank. 1/4" gives you less resistance so you would need a longer line to get an appropriate pour.

 

[beergirl25]

Not to sound stupid, but when I tried to disconnect the beer line from the coupler, beer started to fizzle out of the coupler and I got scared, so I quickly reconnected it. If I unscrew it, will the beer pour out?

 

[TimmyWit]

sorry, remove the actual ball lock, pin lock, sankey connector from the keg. Then you can mess with the faucet.

edit: if you're unsure, perhaps you could take a picture of it so we can see what you're working with

 

[beergirl25]

Thank you for all your help! I attached a picture of what the Nostalgia looks like to give you an idea of my problem. The beer line is connected to the coupler with one of those butterfly nut things. I don't know if there is anyway to disconnect the beer line without the beer coming out. I tried unscrewing the butterfly nut and the beer poured out. Does anyone have a suggestion besides for waiting for the new keg to kick? Thanks

 

[hunter_le five]

You need to shut off the CO2 and disconnect the entire coupler, not just the beer line.

 

[TimmyWit]

So, you have a commercial keg then, yes? Can you disconnect the actual sankey connection from the keg?

 

[beergirl25]

I can, but won't the beer start spilling out then?

 

[hunter_le five]

I can, but won't the beer start spilling out then?

Not unless something is seriously wrong.

 

[Homercidal]

For clarity, the sanke coupler *should* have a vavle built in that prevents the beer form escaping when it's taken off. Most homebrewers use corny kegs with Quick Connect posts. That's probably why it took a few posts to understand your system. Sanke connections are not terribly unusual either though.

So, remove the connector from the top of the keg before messing with the faucet. Open the faucet before messing with the faucet too. This will remove the pressure from the beer line (Use a glass to catch the small amount of beer!) Now you should be able to replace the faucet or whatever you need to do.

I have perlick faucets and the only time they foam is when I've done done something wrong, like overcarb the beer, have my lines too short or something. Even then, it's not a really bad foam.

There are charts out there that can tell you what pressure to use with what beer temp, line length, height of kegs, etc. It will help balance your system to prevent foaming and give a good pour. If you still have problems with your foaming, you might want to check that out and see if anything jumps out at you.