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Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 9:10 am
by kyledandrus
Hey all,

I have my 5 gal keg and 5# tank in one of those can-shaped fridges. Last night, it was basically pouring straight foam. Like thick foam. It was only the second night pouring from that new batch, first night was fine. The only adjustment I made was making it a bit less cold in there. I don't have a thermometer in there, but I didn't think it would make that much of a difference.

I put the temp back to where it was, and can check tonight, but could that have made that much of a difference? It was the only change I've made. Never had an issue before.

Thanks,

Kyle

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 9:47 am
by mckay75
what do you have your pressure set to?

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 10:07 am
by kyledandrus
Should have included that. It's at about 12 PSI, I think? The tank is in the fridge, so I know the cold can mess with the pressure in the tank, etc.

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:08 am
by LiverDance
How long is your serving line? Based on 12 PSI it should be about 6ft long

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:15 am
by kyledandrus
It's probably about 4'. I dialed the serving pressure back a bit last night. Talking with Mark over DM, seems like my diptube may be clogged with hops. Going to troubleshoot a bit after work.

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:48 am
by jeffsmith
kyledandrus wrote:
Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:15 am
It's probably about 4'. I dialed the serving pressure back a bit last night. Talking with Mark over DM, seems like my diptube may be clogged with hops. Going to troubleshoot a bit after work.
Could also be your poppet clogged with hops. For really hoppy beers, I sometimes remove the poppet from the out post on the keg along with the pin in the keg connector. You may end up with some hop debris in your glass, but it's better than constantly fighting with clogs.

One thing to remember if you do that—always depressurize your keg before disconnecting the line. Otherwise, you'll get a nice shower. :spilly:

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 1:09 pm
by ackes
I had an issue with one of mine being foamy and when I finally emptied the keg to clean it - the end of the dip tube was up against one of the walls of the keg on the bottom - instead of being directed to the middle (which leaves a gap between the bottom of the keg and diptube). I think was causing turbulence and foaming.
I had also taken the dip tube and keg posts off and cleaned them - thinking that was it. But this was a porter - so not a hoppy beer at all.
And in hindsight the beer was too dark to see all the way to the bottom of the keg to make sure I put the diptube back in properly once I cleaned everything.


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Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 1:21 pm
by Keith
What temp is your beer?
Did you force carb? If so what temp and pressure did you rock at?
See you have it set to 12psi and are using 4' of line. I use 10' of line on mine which solved this for myself when I started.
Are you using a picnic tap or regular tap?
Also check your dip tube, faucets etc for any clogs.

Kyle if you want I can pop over this weekend and take a look. I think I have a 10' line on a thumb tap we can use to rule out your line length.

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:17 pm
by kyledandrus
Keith wrote:
Fri Oct 06, 2017 1:21 pm
What temp is your beer?
Did you force carb? If so what temp and pressure did you rock at?
See you have it set to 12psi and are using 4' of line. I use 10' of line on mine which solved this for myself when I started.
Are you using a picnic tap or regular tap?
Also check your dip tube, faucets etc for any clogs.

Kyle if you want I can pop over this weekend and take a look. I think I have a 10' line on a thumb tap we can use to rule out your line length.
It's been on 12psi since I kegged it. Didn't force carb. I'm going to depressurize the keg and shoot my gas down the beer line this evening and see if that fixes it. It's on picnic tap right now.

I've done every beer the same way since I started and never had an issue (and the first pint poured fine the other night) so I'm thinking it's a clogging issue.

I'll give you a shout if that doesn't work.

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 3:26 pm
by Keith
Cheers!

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 5:59 pm
by kyledandrus
Ok, so I turned off the gas and gradually got a decent pint. Seems hella over-carbed

Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 9:10 pm
by LiverDance
Based on your comment about your can shaped fridge. Could your beer be freezing? Sometimes those are colder at the bottom and warm as it gets a higher


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Re: Kegerator foaming

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 9:32 pm
by kyledandrus
LiverDance wrote:
Fri Oct 06, 2017 9:10 pm
Based on your comment about your can shaped fridge. Could your beer be freezing? Sometimes those are colder at the bottom and warm as it gets a higher


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Possible. I should get a thermometer in there. But there is a fan in the bottom