Pour was perfect now is totally foam, help a newb please

[Jack Manstroke]

Ok guys, I am new to this site and Kegerators in general here is my problem.

I got a keg of Killians Irish Red, everything worked fine beer was coming out perfectly and all was good. Anyway I noticed that the kegerator was too cold, the water in the kegerator was frozen (I have a cup of water to get temps from) I poured a beer and took a temp and the beer was almost 30 degrees! Way too cold from what I have been read. So I turned the temp up and thats when the problem seem to start, also at one point I dropped the PSI from 14 to 10. When I go to pour a beer now there is like a pocket of air that seems to come out of the faucet then lots and lots of foam. Also the keg got a little jostled but nothing more then what you would normally get transporting a keg.

Right now the beer comes out foamy as hell and is at 40 degrees and the Co2 is at 10 psi.

What should I do to get it back to normal!!! The keg is still half full!!!

PS this is my second keg and I cleaned the lines before I put on the new keg.

Also I am in South Florida, what settings should I have for my Co2 and how long should my beer line be, any tips would be great for this newb

[Jack Manstroke]

I did some research independently and I will try to jack the psi back up to 13 or 14, I turned it down thinking that the foam was from too much gas but perhaps it was maybe from the temperature change and I needed to let the beer settle.

[cubby_swans]

Originally Posted by Jack Manstroke

I did some research independently and I will try to jack the psi back up to 13 or 14, I turned it down thinking that the foam was from too much gas but perhaps it was maybe from the temperature change and I needed to let the beer settle.

You probably over carbonated when the beer was so cold. Then you turned the temp up 10 degrees and BAM, all that co2 REALLY wants to escape out of the beer, but due to the pressure inside the keg, it can't until it hits your glass.

FIRST, using a calibrated thermometer, get the beer to 38 degrees. Then I would let off some pressure from the keg by turning off the co2, pull the pressure relief pin on the coupler, agitated it a bit, and repeat 2 or 3 times. THEN turn the Co2 back on, set the pressure to where it's supposed to be. Probably more like 12, and then let it sit a day to settle and hopefully return to a more normal balance.

[Jack Manstroke]

Ahh see I forgot to calibrate my thermometer DOH!! I hope it isnt to far off as I dont have a digital thermostat just the ole 1-5 setting.

When releasing Co2 like that do I keep the pin pulled until the rate of air escaping is almost stopped? (I would imagine the beer will continually fizz for some time)

I really hope that works, the beer was pouring awesome even without a cooled tower. I feel as though I should have left it alone but I am sure the beer being too cold would have just lead to other problems down the road.

[Jack Manstroke]

One more question. When buying a new keg should I wait 24hrs till the temp is stable to tap it? Or does that not matter? I have a short drive from my liquor store.

[Scott Zuhse]

Depends on the temperature of the beer at the store. Use this thermometer on the Smartstrip to determine the temperature of the beer in the keg before dispensing. Confirm temperature with a calibrated thermometer.

If you target 38F beer and the keg is at this temperature, you should be fine @ 14 PSIG.

Pull the safety until you no longer here gas escaping. Be aware that you can shake out too much gas and the beer will be flat.

[Jack Manstroke]

Uh oh I dont want flat beer So that procedure should be done 2 to 3 times? how will I know if I went too far? Is there a way too tell if I am getting close? Oh well at least when this is all done I should fully calibrated and learned of all I need to know to not have a repeat performance.

[Scott Zuhse]

There is no formula for this procedure. This is why it is critical to know your temperature, the beers' volume level and thus the PSIG to the keg to balance system.

Most certainly if the keg you brought home from the store was warmer than what your system is set up for, it is recommended that you do not dispense until it has acclimated.

Concentrate on temperature and leave the pressure alone once you have set it correctly.

[Jack Manstroke]

So far so good sort of. I calibrated the thermometer last night and it was spot on, fiddled with the thermostat a little and took a sample. Woke up this morning and took a reading and it was almost a perfect 38 degrees but as we all know you got to wait 24hrs before it is set in stone. If I get lucky with this setting I am just going to leave it alone and just get a temp strip, however I may get the digital thermometer and thermostat.

So just to make sure, if the temp is correct do you still want me to go through with the purge? I will report and update tomorrow and hopefully it will be good.