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  #1 (permalink)  
Old 04-16-2009, 12:57 AM
dougles dougles is offline
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Default A few rookie questions...

First obviously im new here so hi.

1. I made the mistake of cooling my fridge to somewhere well below freezing and my keg ended up freezing. Currently i get alot of foam but from what ive read most foam issues are because of temperature and pressure problems. I was wondering if my problems will clear up once everything is back to a normal temp?

2. What are the ideal temps and psi for a quarter keg of Labatts?

Thanks for any help guys.
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Old 04-16-2009, 09:20 AM
DPIStorm DPIStorm is offline
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Dunno about Labatt's, but a rule of thumb is about 10-12 psi and liquid temp out of the tap at right around 38. Due to temp being lost in the tower i've found the liquid temp of the keg needs to be about 32 for me to accomplish this.

Once I did the above 99% of my problems vanished. I now need the tower cooler to keep the first pour foam to a minimum, but other than that i've had perfect beer for the past week!
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Old 04-17-2009, 05:18 PM
dougles dougles is offline
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ok so ive got my fridge and keg at 38 degrees and 12 psi of pressure but im still getting all foam. Also its definitely not a tower cooling problem because i have a tap that comes out the door so its the same temp as the fridge.
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Old 04-17-2009, 09:13 PM
DPIStorm DPIStorm is offline
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Do you have a liquid thermometer? You can get one at target/walmart for around 10 bux.

I added a glass of water inside the kegerator, and then tested that after 24 hrs (32 degrees) and then I test the temp of the second pour off the tap (about 39 degrees).
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Old 04-17-2009, 09:43 PM
c5guru c5guru is offline
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what's the length of your beer line?
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Old 04-18-2009, 07:32 AM
shuggy shuggy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dougles View Post
my keg ended up freezing.
Your beer is never going to pour or taste right after freezing. When it freezes the alcohol and water separate but when it thaws they don't mix back together correctly. Get your temp and pressure corrected then get a new keg and chalk this one up to a learning experience.
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Old 04-18-2009, 07:59 PM
dougles dougles is offline
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ok i get that freezing was a big no no but my main concern right now since i do have a keg of already ruined beer is that i can get the foam under control. should the freezing effect the beer dispensing at all? ive got my pressure and temp under control its right at 36-38 degrees and 12 psi but i do only have 5-6 feet of 3/16 beer line.
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Old 04-19-2009, 08:23 AM
shuggy shuggy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dougles View Post
ok i get that freezing was a big no no but my main concern right now since i do have a keg of already ruined beer is that i can get the foam under control. should the freezing effect the beer dispensing at all? ive got my pressure and temp under control its right at 36-38 degrees and 12 psi but i do only have 5-6 feet of 3/16 beer line.
There is nothing that can be done to get your current keg to pour correctly. I would go ahead and change the line to 7 or 8 feet but it is not going to help any with your current keg. It's a lost cause. If your liquid temp is stable at 38 go get a new keg, lengthen the line, and everything should be fine.
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Old 04-19-2009, 04:08 PM
dougles dougles is offline
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thanks for the help guys ill get a new keg tomorrow. ill update with progress
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Old 04-19-2009, 09:45 PM
lunkhead lunkhead is offline
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I froze a half of killians once, had a little under half of it left. I let it warm back up to about 36 which is where I drink it at. The taste was off a little but was not bad. But it did foam. Had to pour it in pitchers and let it settle in the fridge. About 2 weeks the foam returned to near normal and stayed that way to the end. Taste near the end was ok, but not normal.
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