Help! 1st beer always foam now!

[wakedog]

I am somewhat new to home kegerators and everything was working great until my last keg. My equipment is as follows:

1) Full refrigerator kegerator conversion located in garage.
2) Summit Station IPA
3) 10-11 psi @ 36.5 degrees

I have had 4 or 5 kegs that have worked and tasted great. The last keg blew out on a weekend back in February. I turned off the CO2 on top of the CO2 tank and left everyting that way. I left for business and was not able to replace the keg for ~5 weeks.

I finally went to replace the keg and noticed the interior light bulb (used to warm the inside of the fridge to maintain constant temperature since the fridge is outside in the garage) burnt out and the glass of water for temperature was frozen solid.

I replaced the bulb, cleaned the lines and replaced the keg as usual. That evening, I poured a beer and had nothing but foam. It would get slightly better after couple of pours, but not much. After a few days (thinking things needs to settle), the 1st pour is always 100% foam and the immediate next pour is ok. But the foam comes back very quickly. I did notice bubbles form in the beer line right after the coupler.

Sorry for the long post. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[topgun3208]

Wake, the bulb in the fridge does not maintain temps, it is for light to help you see what is in the fridge. most fridges have a little button on the side of the door that when closed keeps the light off. thermostats are what control temps. if your glass of water was frozen then you have another issue, t'stat turned down too low, bad t'stat etc.

"So many great beers, so little time, and only one liver" Mark

[wakedog]

Gun, I did not mean to imply the light bulb controls the temperature inside the fridge. The inside temp is controlled by the thermostat inside the fridge. On my fridge, if the outside temp falls below 50 degrees (as it would because it's in my garage during the winter) the inside light bulb remains on wether the door is open or closed. This is to prevent the contents inside the fridge from freezing. My point was since the bulb burnt out, the contents inside the fridge froze since it was below 32 degrees outside.

[topgun3208]

I have to admit Dog, that is a new one on me. some folks around here keep fridges in their sheds for seafood and bait (fishing) and never heard of that before. you live and learn

"So many great beers, so little time, and only one liver" Mark

[wakedog]

It was new to me also. I got the fridge from streamline.com (an internet grocery delivery service that went bankrupt). They gave everyone a fridge to keep in their garage and would fill it with groceries you would order online. I think the fridges were designed not to freeze since they were in peoples' garages.

The fridge turned into a great Kegerator conversion. Could tapping a new keg with a CO2 tank that was recently "frozen" cause my foaming problem?

[Scott Zuhse]

What was frozen, the keg or the CO2? If it was the beer, normally it will be cloudy after it thaws. Based on how severely it was frozen.

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute

[wakedog]

When I put the new keg in the fridge, the CO2 tank had been "frozen" (subject to temperatures below 32 degrees). The keg was never frozen. I tapped the new keg with the "frozen" CO2 tank. The fridge at this point is "fixed" and is holding a constant temperature of 36.5 degrees.

[martyd]

as far as i know c02 really doesnt freeze arent co2 holding tanks outside? check to make sure your co2 guage is right check to see what temperature you cooler is at the bulb in your fridge has nothing to do with temperature you compressor for your fridge will actually maintain temperature (like a soda machine outside ) no heaters just all works on the compressor so if everything froze in you frig check the thermostat

marty

[Larry Tapper]

Did you try untapping the keg, then clean the coupler and the keg socket for the coupler, may have something in there that is not letting the gaskets seal together.

L. Tapper

[wakedog]

Thanks to everyone for their help. It turns out the psi was too LOW. It was set at ~10 psi and I bumped it up to ~12 psi. This eleiminated the bubbles in the beer line. After things settled, I am now on my second foam free keg.[]