Kegerator issues

[unclbuck]

Hey there gents,

So I'm new to the world of generators, but I'm having an issue. I think this is the right place to post it?

So I tapped my keg in my homemade Kegerator tonight, and I'm getting massive amounts of foam.

I'm wondering why this might be?

I bought the keg last Wednesday. It sat in the shed in Fargo for two days in pretty cold weather. Below zero. Brought it inside Friday, and put it in the fridge. It sat in there with the fridge mostly open as I was painting it. I just finished painting today, and tapped it. It's pure foam. Haven't checked the temperature yet.

In the mean time, help me out with ideas.

 

[zachattack]

Temperature is critical, as is CO2 pressure, as is your beer line inner diameter and length. So let us know what all of those things are and we can help out a bit more. Also, starting with a potentially frozen keg generally isn't the easiest way to troubleshoot a new system

 

[unclbuck]

Temperature is cold and there's slightly less foam.

CO2 is a full, new tank at 12 psi. Everything is stock from the kegco kit, but I'll get you some precise answers in a second.

 

[zachattack]

You need to do better than "cold"! Put a full glass of water in the fridge, leave it in there overnight, then in the morning measure the temperature with a thermometer you trust.

At 40 degrees, 12 psi will give you about 2.5 volumes of CO2. At 34 degrees, 12 psi will give you about 2.8 volumes of CO2. That's a pretty big difference, and serving at 2.8 volumes can be tricky without long lines or very cold temperatures.

What beer is in the keg? Many commercial beers are carbed in the 2.6-2.7 volume range. You can e-mail the brewery and ask them for an exact number, if you have the pressure too low relative to the current carb level you can expect some foaming for a while until everything evens out. Use a carbonation calculator like this one to help you.

Almost all stock kits come with 5' of 3/16" ID tubing, which for most users is not enough to slow down the flow and prevent foam. Most people on this forum, myself included, would advocate ditching the stock lines and buying 12 feet of 3/16" ID vinyl beverage tubing and going from there. If the flow is too slow you can trim the tubing a little bit, but a slow + foam-free pour is what you're going for.

If just your first pour is foamy, it's an indication that your lines are warming up. This is pretty common in chest freezer setups as well as draft towers. Adding a small PC fan to even out the temperature can help a lot.

 

[unclbuck]

Here is the fridge after I started sanding it. Old GE fridge from the 40s, I'm told.


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On to the fun stuff.

I put in 10 feet of 3/16 inch tubing.

Temp is about 38.

Pressure about 13, which is what is recommended by Schells for Grain Belt, the beer in my keg.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Is it yellow for those situations when "high visibility" is needed?....................

I like it!

 

[unclbuck]

Yellow and green! I'm a college student so it's school colors. It seems to be pouring a lot better now.

 

[zachattack]

That's a beautiful fridge!

 

[unclbuck]

Thanks. Put a lot of work into her.