Impromptu Foam Party

[Old Speckled Ben]

Hi everyone

I've just moved on to my first corny/kegerator set-up and I'm having a bit of a problem with foam that I'm hoping someone can help me with, please

Current set-up:
x1 Corny Keg (ball lock)
x1 CO2 bottle and dual gauge regulator
x1 Gumtree bargain fridge fitted with:
BrewUK Kegerator tap with 6" shank
9 feet of 3/8" beer line
8 feet of 3/8" gas line

The gas connect that I got with the corny seems to leak, so I opted for the "shaky"method of force priming the keg at about 24psi for 4 minutes (it's a Marston's Pedigree clone in the keg) - I'm ordering a new gas connect, so I can do the slow method from now on

Left it over night in the fridge, let the pressure off via the PSV then atempted to serve at about 4psi (regulator is a welding on, so it's difficult to gauge)

When I pour off a beer, all I get is foam

The beer isn't over carbonated, in fact it's probably under carbonated. I've also got it chilled down to pretty cold, and the beer line is inside the fridge, so no warm pipe.

The only way I can get a beer poured is to release all the pressure from the keg, open the tap and then gently apply CO2 to get a slow pour

Sorry for the long post but if anyone can see where I've gone wrong, I'd appreciate it

Many thanks
Ben

[rpt]

You need to reduce the pressure in your system so that when the beer reaches the tap it is down to no more than about 2psi. The easiest way is to insert some 3/16" beer line. There's a good article at BYO about it and various calculators on t'interbob. What matters is not the pressure that you set the regulator to when you serve but the actual pressure of the CO2 in the beer.

[Old Speckled Ben]

I see, so it's not how much I've carbonated it, it's the pressure the beer is under as it travels down the beer line to the tap?

[Old Speckled Ben]

Hmmm, just found an online calculator that suggests the following:

3/8" line has 0.2psi/foot of resistance
Keg pressure 4psi -1 =3 3÷0.2 = 15

So that would suggest I have the CO2 regulator set at 4psi with 4feet of 3/8" beer line and I'll end up with 1psi at the tap

And if I switched to 3/16" line, then I would only need 4 foot of line and the keg set to 12psi


My brain hurts

[neilmcca]

i had the same problem with my set up yesterday,
turned out the pipe going from out post on corny to the tap on my beer fridge had creased / folded slightly where it connects to the back of the tap,
got the pliers out and squeezed it back into a round shape, and all is well.

and as u stated, the length of the pipe can be an issue, mine is around 5 foot and 3/8" diameter.

[rpt]

I see, so it's not how much I've carbonated it, it's the pressure the beer is under as it travels down the beer line to the tap?

I'm actually saying that if you have carbonated at 24psi but are serving at 4 psi the pressure, at least initially, will still be 24psi. Over time, as you dispense the beer at a lower pressure, the pressure will drop. This is why the best thing to do is to carbonate and serve at the same pressure, preferably at a constant temperature. You choose the pressure depending on how fizzy you want the beer and the temperature. Then drop the pressure by having a long enough length of beer line when you serve.

[Old Speckled Ben]

i had the same problem with my set up yesterday,
turned out the pipe going from out post on corny to the tap on my beer fridge had creased / folded slightly where it connects to the back of the tap,
got the pliers out and squeezed it back into a round shape, and all is well.

and as u stated, the length of the pipe can be an issue, mine is around 5 foot and 3/8" diameter.

Aaah, I'll check it for kinks, etc.

Thanks

[Old Speckled Ben]

I see, so it's not how much I've carbonated it, it's the pressure the beer is under as it travels down the beer line to the tap?

I'm actually saying that if you have carbonated at 24psi but are serving at 4 psi the pressure, at least initially, will still be 24psi. Over time, as you dispense the beer at a lower pressure, the pressure will drop. This is why the best thing to do is to carbonate and serve at the same pressure, preferably at a constant temperature. You choose the pressure depending on how fizzy you want the beer and the temperature. Then drop the pressure by having a long enough length of beer line when you serve.

Righty-ho, I see what you're saying, I'll do some more tinkering

Thanks very much for your help