Foam Pouring from one new tap

[hwall95]

I set up my new keg fridge on the weekend with my previous 2 perlick 525ss and my two new perlick 650ss and balanced all the lines based on their carb level however one beer (Oktoberfest lager) is pouring all foam on the 650ss regardless of the flow rate. Its been sitting on 10-12psi for 1-2 months now so I know it's not over carbed. I've got it on a 1.5m line like the other beers but and also tried a 2.5m line which poured worst.

The main issue seems to be that there are CO2 bubbles forming within the line as the photo shows. I'm unsure what's causing this as it never happened before. I've checked all the fittings and there's no leak etc. Have a Oktoberfest themed party tomorrow and was hoping to have to beers all pouring well but this one seems to be a pain..

If anyone has any ideas, let me know. Cheers guys.

 

[dannymars]

try it on the other tap?

bubbles in the line usually mean that there's not enough pressure, therefore allowing gas to escape. is the beer cold enough?

 

[hwall95]

Yeah I've tried it on the other tap. Temp controller says it's sitting on 4 degrees. With the chest freezer setup, is there often a inhomogeneous temperature across? I've made it with the assumption that the beer mass would essentially reach equilibrium and equal what set temperature, but if that's not the case I could add a couple computer fans to move the air around.

I shortened the line to before the bubbles were forming however it seems the bubbles are originating from the keg.

 

[quantum8]

Adding a fan is definitely the way to go. As you touched upon, there will be a temperature difference between the upper and lower areas of the freezer.

Adding a fan will reduce this difference quite a bit.

 

[earle]

Inhomogeneous heterogeneous.

Sorry, not helpful but I can't help myself. It keeps making me think of a guy at a bar trying to crack onto a girl and assuring her that he's inhomosexual.

Have a great oktoberfest btw. Feel free to post your address and the time on this public forum. h34r:

 

[Diesel80]

Have you tried a MFL Tap Shank Adaptor to hook a tap up directly to the out post?
I have one on my party keg setup. Great piece of kit. That would rule out the line altogether.

Cheers,
D80

 

[hwall95]

Okay I'll investigate some fans to place on the chest freezer roof. Should get the air moving a bit.

Earle I agree it was probably a poor choice of words, although I do believe inhomogeneous is a word as I've come across is a slight in academic writing. From what I understand it's generally used when there's slight variations from the norm, while heterogenous more is used when there is no norm. Or something like that

Cheers, hope it all goes well and my non beer friends like the German styles.

 

[trevgale]

Is the line sitting at the top getting warmer than the beer in the keg? if so it could be letting CO2 come out of solution.

Have you tried using the line on another keg and if so did you get the same problem?

 

[earle]

Okay I'll investigate some fans to place on the chest freezer roof. Should get the air moving a bit.

Earle I agree it was probably a poor choice of words, although I do believe inhomogeneous is a word as I've come across is a slight in academic writing. From what I understand it's generally used when there's slight variations from the norm, while heterogenous more is used when there is no norm. Or something like that

Cheers, hope it all goes well and my non beer friends like the German styles.

You are right. I only put my comment for the intended humour value.

I'm sure they will. This year was my 3rd annual Okoberfest party and I find most guests get stuck into oktoberfest lager, kolsch and weizens even if its not what they normally drink. Now I've got to get brewing and refill some kegs.

 

[pcmfisher]

Have you tried a MFL Tap Shank Adaptor to hook a tap up directly to the out post?
I have one on my party keg setup. Great piece of kit. That would rule out the line altogether.

Cheers,
D80

Your party set up with the tap connected straight to the keg, what pressure do you pour at compared to having a couple of metres of beer line to slow it down? Just wondering.

 

[Diesel80]

Same pressure.
All my kegs are carbonated at kegerator serving pressure. Regs are set the same for portable and kegerator (with 3-4m @4mm ID line).

Have flow control tap on the party keg, but even without (with the old basic tap), provided tap is cold. Pour is absolutely fine.

Cheers,
D80

 

[Black n Tan]

The beauty about flow control taps is you can keep line length to a minimum. The issue with long lines is it knocks out CO2 which result in foaming issues. So for my flow control taps I keep the line short and let the tap do the throttling. The fact that as you increase line length the problem get worse suggests that shortening your line further is the way to go. My lines are about 50cm long, just long enough to reach the keg. Fans are helpful.

 

[Adrianc5]

I have just had a very similar problem with a new keg, the keg was supplied without the o-ring on the beer dip tube. I went back to the LHBS and was given an o-ring from a box under the counter. Put it together, filled and then once my dunkelweizen was carbonated I had a steady stream of bubbles in the beer out line when pouring. The bubbles would gather in the tubing between pours and then spit and burp during the next pour and give 3/4 foam in a glass. I searched the net and everything said temperature or pressure when I knew it wasn't that as I had no issue with 2 other kegs with identical temp/pressure/line length/etc.

Yesterday I transferred the beer into a keg I knew was good, pulled down the problem keg and found the o-ring from the LHBS was slightly too big. It was letting gas from the keg headspace into the beer out line when pouring. Very frustrating but an easy thing to fix - you don't need to transfer like I did. No external gas leaks, just internal so no real way to troubleshoot it aside from eliminating other potential sources.

No need to empty the keg, just take the quick connects off, depressurise and then remove the beer post and dip tube. Remove the o-ring and ensure it's the right size, replace if necessary and then reassemble making sure it's seated properly. Maybe use a wipe of keg lube on the o-ring to help it seat?

I reckon I've found the problem (it was obvious the beer dip tube o-ring was larger than the gas dip tube one), so I've replaced it and will be refilling the problem keg this weekend with a nice galaxy pale ale. The dunkelweizen is now pouring beautifully from a keg at the same temp/pressure/line length.

 

[Diesel80]

I have to say Adrian, pretty useful / constructive post first up.
:icon_cheers:
Cheers,
D80

 

[Adrianc5]

I've been lurking for a bit...

but seriously, this was really annoying me but it was good to figure it out last night so why not help out?

 

[hwall95]

Okay I've shortened the line to around a metre and taken the afternoon off uni work to add fans to hopefully even out the temperature a bit more. The extra benefit to the cpu fans is they have a green led which looks cool and helps finding the bottle beers without turning the deck light on. It seems to be pouring a bit better as it begin to cool down, so hopefully that was the issue. Will check tomorrow arvo when I get home. Worst case it'll pour shit and I will just claim it (my favourite beer out of the four) and everyone can drink the others unless they don't mind waiting a couple minutes for the foam to drop.

I have just had a very similar problem with a new keg, the keg was supplied without the o-ring on the beer dip tube. I went back to the LHBS and was given an o-ring from a box under the counter. Put it together, filled and then once my dunkelweizen was carbonated I had a steady stream of bubbles in the beer out line when pouring. The bubbles would gather in the tubing between pours and then spit and burp during the next pour and give 3/4 foam in a glass. I searched the net and everything said temperature or pressure when I knew it wasn't that as I had no issue with 2 other kegs with identical temp/pressure/line length/etc.

Yesterday I transferred the beer into a keg I knew was good, pulled down the problem keg and found the o-ring from the LHBS was slightly too big. It was letting gas from the keg headspace into the beer out line when pouring. Very frustrating but an easy thing to fix - you don't need to transfer like I did. No external gas leaks, just internal so no real way to troubleshoot it aside from eliminating other potential sources.

No need to empty the keg, just take the quick connects off, depressurise and then remove the beer post and dip tube. Remove the o-ring and ensure it's the right size, replace if necessary and then reassemble making sure it's seated properly. Maybe use a wipe of keg lube on the o-ring to help it seat?

I reckon I've found the problem (it was obvious the beer dip tube o-ring was larger than the gas dip tube one), so I've replaced it and will be refilling the problem keg this weekend with a nice galaxy pale ale. The dunkelweizen is now pouring beautifully from a keg at the same temp/pressure/line length.

Thanks for the advice Adrian but probably unlikely in this case as the last beer I had in the keg was pouring fine, so hopefully it's more due to the new fridge lack of air movement.

 

[Pogierob]

If the problem is following the keg, then it wouldn't hurt to inspect the disconnects like Adrian mentioned.

all it takes is a loose connection or a slightly loose one to allow pressure release/air intake.

I would be doing the "soapy bubbles" on all of the connections from keg to tap and tightening everything possible along the way.


The two main foaming issues for me have been over-carbonation and leaky lines/fittings.

Leaky lines can be more subtle and end up costing you a bottle of co2.

try disconnecting the keg from beer and gas, leaving it over night and then reconnecting the c02, if you hear the keg take in some gas, then you have a leak.

soapy bubble test the rest.

good luck

 

[tateg]

I have just had a very similar problem with a new keg, the keg was supplied without the o-ring on the beer dip tube. I went back to the LHBS and was given an o-ring from a box under the counter. Put it together, filled and then once my dunkelweizen was carbonated I had a steady stream of bubbles in the beer out line when pouring. The bubbles would gather in the tubing between pours and then spit and burp during the next pour and give 3/4 foam in a glass. I searched the net and everything said temperature or pressure when I knew it wasn't that as I had no issue with 2 other kegs with identical temp/pressure/line length/etc.

Yesterday I transferred the beer into a keg I knew was good, pulled down the problem keg and found the o-ring from the LHBS was slightly too big. It was letting gas from the keg headspace into the beer out line when pouring. Very frustrating but an easy thing to fix - you don't need to transfer like I did. No external gas leaks, just internal so no real way to troubleshoot it aside from eliminating other potential sources.

No need to empty the keg, just take the quick connects off, depressurise and then remove the beer post and dip tube. Remove the o-ring and ensure it's the right size, replace if necessary and then reassemble making sure it's seated properly. Maybe use a wipe of keg lube on the o-ring to help it seat?

I reckon I've found the problem (it was obvious the beer dip tube o-ring was larger than the gas dip tube one), so I've replaced it and will be refilling the problem keg this weekend with a nice galaxy pale ale. The dunkelweizen is now pouring beautifully from a keg at the same temp/pressure/line length.

I also sorted out two kegs this way.
I bought a heap of spares and they are all too thick, just can't remember from where.
I got draw to the o ring because I couldn't get a real poppet to sit correctly.

 

[hwall95]

Forgot to update. The tap ended up pouring really well once it cooled down with the fans. Sadly there was only half a keg or so left to begin with and being the crowd favourite it got finished pretty fast
Thanks for all the advice guys. :beer:

 

[MichaelM]

Anyone have an issue with beer starting to foam excessively when the keg empties to below half. I have this problem with one of my kegs and can't figure it out. Beer poured fine when it was above half. The keg wasn't moved- stayed in the same fridge. Same pressure. Around 3 c. I have a flow control perlick tap 1.5m of beer line. Pin lock fittings. Any insight or advice would be appreciated. I tried depressurising it and leaving it for a day. Washed the tap and beer line and still didn't change things.