Beer Foam

[TIM STADLER]

I seem to have the same problem many people have I try to tap my beer and i get half a glass of foam.I have tried letting the keg sit for a coulple of hours before tapping but it still doesnt help.
my pressure is set st 12lbs and still the same problem. i also
let the keg get cold to the fridges temperature before tapping.
this is really getting frustrating.

[danno]

welcome Tim, check out this thread, see if it gives you some ideas...

http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4361

[Blkandrust]

I carbonate my beer at 12psi,but dispense at 3-4 psi.If i dispense any higher i get mad foam.

[brian92]

There are a lot of factors in solving your foam issues, but in the end, it's not that tough. Some questions...

1) Determine the appropriate pressure setting to dispense the beer:
What kind of beer are you dispensing? What temperature is the beer stored at? These two things will determine the appropriate co2 pressure.

e.g. Budweisser at 38 F should have a pressure of 12PSI. At 42F, it would require 14.5 PSI, at 46F it would require 16.6PSI, etc... Coors light at 38F should have a pressure of 15PSI. A German hefeweizen at 38F can require about 20PSI or more.

2) Balance your line restriction
Once you determine the appropriate pressure, you need to make sure your line restriction is set accordingly to the desired pressure. How long is your run of beer line and what inner diameter beer line are you running (3/16, 1/4 ???)? 3/16" line has a restriction of 2.2 lbs/ft for a flow rate of 128oz/minute (1 Gal/min). So, you would need ~ 5.5 feet of 3/16" line if you set your pressure to 12PSI. If your restriction is too low, the beer will pour way too fast and every glass you get will be full of foam. If your restriction is too much, the beer will pour very slow, which isn't all that bad...better to have too much restriction and a slow pour than too little restriction and foam.

Misc factors:
3) Are your lines cold all the way to the faucet? The beer must be chilled all the way to the faucet. If the beer warms up in the lines, the co2 will break out of the beer and you'll get foam. What kind of kegerator or setup do you have?

4) Have you cleaned your lines recently? Lines should be cleaned between each keg. Dirty lines can cause foam problems.


Keep us posted on your progress...good luck.

[toneyc]

And I found out yesterday that if you leave your beer lines soaking in Star-san for several days, that slick snotty stuff will build up on the inside of the hoses, making them very good foam dispensers. Dangit.

:rolleyes:
Toney.

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by toneyc
And I found out yesterday that if you leave your beer lines soaking in Star-san for several days, that slick snotty stuff will build up on the inside of the hoses, making them very good foam dispensers. Dangit.

:rolleyes:
Toney.

I did that with 3 runs of 100' line. I pulled them down from the ice house to clean and sani them and got busy on a thousand other things. The next day they were funky from being in the bucket all night.