To much foam

[BSchaeffer]

I run a bar in motel in florida ,we have 5 taps, 3 bud products,2miller products
all in the same cooler ,I have had the the miller people out 3 times they say they fix the foam problem then it starts again,I have talked to other bars in town they say they have pulled out miller draft for the same reason,what I am wondering is could it be something they do at the brewery that causes this problem? I have no problems with the Bud taps, I hate to pull out the miller taps, cause I have customers that come in just for the MGD64 Iam the only bar in town that has it . any Ideas sure could use so help.

[Scott Zuhse]

The bar you run, does it have a direct draw system such as a keg box or are the kegs in a remote location and you have a long run for the beer lines?

Are you using 100% CO2 to propel the beer or some other type of gas?

What is this pressure?

What is the exact temperature of the beer in the keg?

Do you ever tap kegs that have just been delivered?

[OSJ]

are all lines on there own gas regulators? makes adjusting diferent brands easy.
what temp is your glycol unit reading?

[CraigTRD]

I always heard that Miller products are really foamy. I am curious to find out if there is someone here that has found a solution for this.

[Scott Zuhse]

Miller products (2.6 to 2.7 v/v) are not much different than others in regards to gas content. Beers that may have slightly higher carbonation and are foaming normally signals that their is something wrong with the dispensing system.

[OSJ]

did ya get this problem sorted out yet? i would just tell miller that they need to get the problem sorted out or you will have to drop the lines.
usually a kick in the *** works for me.

[Brickyard 400]

Like Scott said watch the temp and pressure. I have a Miller rep that insists on cranking things up to 25 lbs every time they deliver, with the totally insame thinking the high pressure sells beer faster I guess. My Miller always foams more then the Buds. Watch the temps, too. Scott preaches that foaming is usually a temperature problem. Miller likes to be cold and about 12-14 LBS if you're using CO2. Buy one of these litel inexpensive digital pocket thermometers and stick it in the beer when it comes out. Should be 38 degrees. More or less causes different problems. Don in Indy. Home

[Wikus]

i am running Miller Lite in my home kegerator right now. at first the system was running nothing but foam. I eventually found out that the temperature wasnt getting low enough (54 F) I made the appropriate adjustments and got the system down to 38 F. after the keg dropped down to 38 I noticed i was still getting nothing but foam. My pressure was at 12 PSIG. Everyone on herre told me to make my beer line longer so I tried it. I went from a 5 foot beer line to an 8 foot. All my problems have been taken care of except that my first beer I pour is always foamy. i am currently waiting for a tower cooler to get here that will remedy this problem. i hope this helps you in some way

[frugal1212]

What tower cooler are you going to use?

Jon

[searayrules]

Wikus - I currently have the 5 foot line and have experienced excessive foam with Both of my Miller Lites kegs and my bud keg.... I am going to try the 8 foot line....

[Scott Zuhse]

Foam is always perceived as a fast flow. Eight feet of 3/16" will definitely slow the foam down. But this not the cure. The reason your beer is foaming in the first place has nothing to do with the beer line - unless it is really dirty.

Pay close attention to your beer temperature and pressure. This is where you start. If you can accomplish accurate and consistent temperature at the keg and all the way to the faucet, You could dispense clear beer out of three feet of 3/16!

[few2many]

8 ft of restriction line? Thats 24psi of back pressure! 5' is 15 psi. For 12psi, you're restriction line should be 4', 5 at most. If this has a glycol unit to chill the trunk line, you want 29-33 degrees (about) of glycol temp. Keg cooler needs to be 36-38 for a day for the kegs to have the right temp. Do you store anything in this cooler other than beer? Is the door opened and closed alot? Make sure youre faucets are cleaned inside and out.
Also, if you had too high a pressure on the keg for more than a few days, that beer would have excess foam untill its gone(overcarbed beer)

Scott, 8' of restrcit wont slow the foam down, itll slow the beer down to the point of flashing on the dispense, requiring higher pressure to pevent the flash.

Brickyard, 25 psi huh? do you have a pump system, blended gas or gas blender? Thats a fairly normal pressure for systems that dont run on pure c02.

[Scott Zuhse]

8 ft of restriction line? Thats 24psi of back pressure! 5' is 15 psi. For 12psi, you're restriction line should be 4', 5 at most. If this has a glycol unit to chill the trunk line, you want 29-33 degrees (about) of glycol temp. Keg cooler needs to be 36-38 for a day for the kegs to have the right temp. Do you store anything in this cooler other than beer? Is the door opened and closed alot? Make sure youre faucets are cleaned inside and out.
Also, if you had too high a pressure on the keg for more than a few days, that beer would have excess foam untill its gone(overcarbed beer)

Scott, 8' of restrcit wont slow the foam down, itll slow the beer down to the point of flashing on the dispense, requiring higher pressure to pevent the flash.

Brickyard, 25 psi huh? do you have a pump system, blended gas or gas blender? Thats a fairly normal pressure for systems that dont run on pure c02.

The 25 PSIG was a figure of speech.

What is the difference with either slowing foam or beer down with the 3/16? The point is to not eliminate foam with 3/16" line. Accomplish this with knowing what your exact beer temperature is and thus the correct PSIG of CO2.