Problem With Taps In Fridge.

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Drederick Tatum

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I recently put my taps in the door of an upright fridge which is located in the garage. My problem is when i go to pour my first beer of the day the first bit that comes out of the tap is all foam then it pours fine as the tap seems to get colder. Is this because the taps are not cold when i pour my first beer or is it something else. I know it definately is not a leak in the lines as i meticulously checked them all last night. If it is the temp of the taps how can i make them so they are cold to stop this from happening.
 
Drederick Tatum said:
I recently put my taps in the door of an upright fridge which is located in the garage. My problem is when i go to pour my first beer of the day the first bit that comes out of the tap is all foam then it pours fine as the tap seems to get colder. Is this because the taps are not cold when i pour my first beer or is it something else. I know it definately is not a leak in the lines as i meticulously checked them all last night. If it is the temp of the taps how can i make them so they are cold to stop this from happening.
[post="82655"][/post]​

FT,

It's the CO2 coming out of solution & filling your beer lines. Open your fridge & you will see it trapped in the lines. This tends to happen more when you first fill your keg & especially if you over carbonate your keg. just pour the first few ml of foam down the sink & the rest of your glass will pour fine....
 
Ross said:
Drederick Tatum said:
I recently put my taps in the door of an upright fridge which is located in the garage. My problem is when i go to pour my first beer of the day the first bit that comes out of the tap is all foam then it pours fine as the tap seems to get colder. Is this because the taps are not cold when i pour my first beer or is it something else. I know it definately is not a leak in the lines as i meticulously checked them all last night. If it is the temp of the taps how can i make them so they are cold to stop this from happening.
[post="82655"][/post]​

FT,

It's the CO2 coming out of solution & filling your beer lines. Open your fridge & you will see it trapped in the lines. This tends to happen more when you first fill your keg & especially if you over carbonate your keg. just pour the first few ml of foam down the sink & the rest of your glass will pour fine....
[post="82661"][/post]​

Yeah it does pour fine after the first few mls. So i have over carbonated is that what you are saying? I had the kegs on 280Kpa for two whole days is that too much?
 
Drederick Tatum said:
Ross said:
Drederick Tatum said:
I recently put my taps in the door of an upright fridge which is located in the garage. My problem is when i go to pour my first beer of the day the first bit that comes out of the tap is all foam then it pours fine as the tap seems to get colder. Is this because the taps are not cold when i pour my first beer or is it something else. I know it definately is not a leak in the lines as i meticulously checked them all last night. If it is the temp of the taps how can i make them so they are cold to stop this from happening.
[post="82655"][/post]​

FT,

It's the CO2 coming out of solution & filling your beer lines. Open your fridge & you will see it trapped in the lines. This tends to happen more when you first fill your keg & especially if you over carbonate your keg. just pour the first few ml of foam down the sink & the rest of your glass will pour fine....
[post="82661"][/post]​

Yeah it does pour fine after the first few mls. So i have over carbonated is that what you are saying? I had the kegs on 280Kpa for two whole days is that too much?
[post="82662"][/post]​

No, it's just something you have to live with, but over carbonating will make it much worse.... Get away from the 280 kpa 2 day method, a real pain if you still want to drink another keg & any surprise leaks will very quicklly empty your bottle....
 
I heard your method for carbonating a keg is the way to go. I am currently searching your posts and cannot find it. Do you have a quick link to your method for gassing a keg

Yeah it does pour fine after the first few mls. So i have over carbonated is that what you are saying? I had the kegs on 280Kpa for two whole days is that too much?
 
Drederick Tatum said:
I heard your method for carbonating a keg is the way to go. I am currently searching your posts and cannot find it. Do you have a quick link to your method for gassing a keg

Yeah it does pour fine after the first few mls. So i have over carbonated is that what you are saying? I had the kegs on 280Kpa for two whole days is that too much?
[post="82668"][/post]​

i've no idea if over carbonated (never carbonated that way) - only drinking it will tell you that.
not saying my way is the best but it's certainly quicker/safer than your current way... http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...s%20method&st=0
 
What confuses me is why the CO2 solution is in the tap line? This is my umpteenth brew and never before have i encountered this until i put the taps in the fridge door. Prior to this i actually had them inside the fridge and the lines just had a solid line of liquid no gas in them. Really starting to annoy and dishearten me from brewing.
 
Drederick Tatum said:
What confuses me is why the CO2 solution is in the tap line? This is my umpteenth brew and never before have i encountered this until i put the taps in the fridge door. Prior to this i actually had them inside the fridge and the lines just had a solid line of liquid no gas in them. Really starting to annoy and dishearten me from brewing.
[post="82702"][/post]​

I think it's mainly caused by the different temperatures at the tap.
Every time my first pour is about a quarter froth then good beer.
Most pubs, for the first pour have the same problem
So just get used to it, or give up drinking

Normell
 
Drederick Tatum said:
What confuses me is why the CO2 solution is in the tap line? This is my umpteenth brew and never before have i encountered this until i put the taps in the fridge door. Prior to this i actually had them inside the fridge and the lines just had a solid line of liquid no gas in them. Really starting to annoy and dishearten me from brewing.
[post="82702"][/post]​

TD,

If your keg is carbonated at a higher pressure than your system is balanced to, as in dispensing pressure, line lenghts etc, then CO2 is going to naturally come out of solution & has to go somewhere.
I'm guessing that the CO2 is getting trpped somewhere between your kegs & taps You will lose whatever beer is between the tap in the trapped gas, so best to have an upward slope from your kegs to the taps if possible.

hope you don't let a little thing like this dishearten you, but if you give up, I know a good caring/loving home for your kegs... :D
 
As Ross said, what's postage for kegs from Bisbane to Castlemaine I wonder ???

Normell
 
That's the way to go, takes alittle longer, but excellent results
 
Drederick Tatum said:
So why not carbonate at dispensing pressure?
[post="82713"][/post]​

you can do, but takes an age, & when you turn the gas off & the pressure drops, you'll get the same effect. You can use the method I posted & gas to the lower range, then let your system balance naturally. I have 5 kegs permanently connected together, so the new one balances nicely to the others without having to leave the gas connected.
 
Balance the system??????? This is really confusing me. Someone should make an instructional video to show us all how to do it properly. It looks like my 280Kpa for 2 days is too much. And i dont have the foggiest idea about systems balancing them selves out. Is there anyone in Brisbane who can balance these systems or at least put you on the right track by advising on such issues and if there is what do they charge.
 
Hey Ross, could you please clarify something for me?

I read your method after clicking the link you posted...so you are saying to position the gas inlet tube at 6 O'clock (looking at the top of the keg as if it were a clock face when the keg is lying down)?

If this is correct, do you need a check valve in the gas line, or does the Co2 pressure prevent beer from travelling up the line?

PZ.
 
If your system has no leaks, then having a blanced system and leaving the gas connected is definitely the way to go. It only takes a few days for the keg to properly carbonate itself this way but if you are always a keg ahead of yourself this is no drama, and the payoff is that you don't constantly have to keep screwing with it. You just hook up your new keg and away you go.

DT, as others have mentioned you will find that there is no way to avoid the first bit of froth, possibly with the exception of having a frozen font setup (even when I had a font flooded with glycol from the freezer I'd still get a frothy first pour - unless it's EXACTLY the same temp (or colder!) all the way through, the gas will still try to come out of solution).

The way I handle it is to just alternate between two glasses - just pour the initial froth into an empty glass, then pour yourself a good beer as normal into a second glass. When you come back for your next beer, first run any new froth into the glass you've just emptied, then take the first glass (which by now will have settled down to a few mls of beer) and fill that - and so on.

If you're having a session and keeping the tap busy every few minutes it won't be an issue.
 
Fingerlickin_B said:
Hey Ross, could you please clarify something for me?

I read your method after clicking the link you posted...so you are saying to position the gas inlet tube at 6 O'clock (looking at the top of the keg as if it were a clock face when the keg is lying down)?

If this is correct, do you need a check valve in the gas line, or does the Co2 pressure prevent beer from travelling up the line?

PZ.
[post="82735"][/post]​

yep, at 6 0'clock - you want the gas to pass through the beer - & yes the pressure will stop the beer flowing back up the line....
 
Thanks Ross :)

I know this is taking the thread ever more off topic, but as I suspected your method involves basically using the keg and gas setup as a giant SodaStream machine.

Bearing this in mind, I will now try what I had already been thinking about...introducing gas via the beer post...no need to rock it around and whatnot this way I hope :ph34r:

PZ.
 

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