Major Foam and Temp Issue

[cford88]

Hey guys I just popped my Kegerator cherry and taped my first keg this evening. I have read through the forums and found so much information, thank you all for that. My question is my keg has been in the fridge for 24hrs prior to tapping, the temp in a glass of water was 36 but there was ice on the back side that was against the back cooling plate (understandable). I have the pressure at 13 PSI and Nothing but FOAM. If I let it run and waste valuable beer it never gets clear. My first pour temp was 44, and I am assuming that is my main problem but just wondering why there is such a discrepancy in temps between beer and water. I know that the cup is much smaller but that seems drastic. I just cranked the temp down and will let the keg rest for a while, I have turned off the CO2 because I had a mishap and the Keg is a little shaken so I think I will let it sit, is this not a good Idea, it is Coors light?

Let me know if I am in the right zip code with my issue and a little bit of encouragement won't be frowned upon either.

Thanks for your continued support.

[cubby_swans]

A keg can take 2-3 days to get down to temperature. If you don't have adequate circulation in the kegerator, then there can be a major discrepency in temperature in various areas of the kegerator (front/back or top/bottom). You should check a SECOND beer pour. Pour half a beer, chug it, pour another, and take the temperature of that second beer with a calibrated thermometer.

Where do you live? (altitude matters when setting your PSI)

Coors Light, you need 16psi at 38F beer temp. (at sea level)

How long is your beer line? The elevated pressure required for Coors products generally requires a longer beer line to slow down the flow of the beer.

[cford88]

Thanks for the reply. I ended up putting a PC fan in their last night and this morning I had a pour temp of 40 degrees so it is dropping and I am hoping that in the next day or two it will drop even lower. I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia and the beer line wasn't changed out so I think it is probably around 5 ft.

[cubby_swans]

Altitude doesn't play a part until you get over 2000' Above Sea Level, so you're fine, there. Hopefully you get down to the target of 38F. Like I said, 16psi at 38F. If you end up colder than 38F, you adjust that number down for ever 2F below 38...

36f = 15psi
34F= 14psi

I still think you're going to want 7-8' of beer line at the elevated pressure needed for Coors, but let the temperature settle out, and see how you're doing, then. Hopefully you'll be drinking care free this weekend.

[cford88]

Well beer temps are still the same at 40. I cranked the thermostat to 5 1/2, installed a Tower cooler I made. Question is I am using the same fan to cool the tower and circulate air inside but it is about a 90 - 10 ratio, 90 being tower cooler. I will have to take pictures so you would understand what I am talking about. Do you think I should have 2 fans, one to circulate inside and one for the tower? If so, do I need two seperate power sources or can the one 12vdc adapter run both? If it can run both how would I wire it?

The Two green lines are the gap that blows air in the fridge, the hose goes up into the tower.

Fan1.jpg

[cford88]

Ok guys so I woke up this morning anxiously awaiting my beer temp test and pulled the tap handle and NOTHING? Uh Oh, I immediately shut off the fridge, opened the door and had a frozen glass of water reading 32 degrees. I made sure my coupler was ok, checked everything then found what appeared to be ice in the Beer Line. I worked it a little by bending it while the faucet was open and pow, beer started flowing, thank GOD. 2 Pours, checked the temp and dead on 38, yes, finally. It is pouring a lot better now, some foam when you open the faucet but clears up super fast, I probably need a bigger hose to my tower.

How can I prevent my hose from freezing in the future, do you guys have this problem?

Thanks for all the continued support while helping me achieve COLD NOT FOAMY beer Bliss.

[2004blackwrx]

By the sounds of it you may have turned your fridge down too much. 38 degree is a good beer temp, but I bet if you wait a feew days at your current temp setting the beer will continue to get colder. I would turn the thermostat a little warmer. The glass of water in my fridge never freezes. I would aim for about 35 to 38 degrees on your water because with time your keg will be the same temp as the water or at least close.

Also I am not sure what you mean buy a bigger beer line. If by bigger you mean longer then thats fine it may help to slow flow rate if you are having issues with beer coming out of faucet too quickly. Make sure you buy actual beer line not tubes from the hardware store. The tubes at the hardware store are not as smooth inside and can cause foaming. However, if you mean bigger as in wider, you dont want to do that. Typically beer lines are 3/16 ID (inside diameter) This allows for the right amount of resistance to get a good flow and keep the co 2 in your beer.

As far as your earlier fan question it depends on whether the air is being circulated in the fridge enough by one fan. In my fridge I have a air temp thermometer. I have placed it at both the top and the bottom of the fridge and get the same temp. Before my fan I noticed as much as a ten degree difference between top and bottom of fridge.

If you find you need another fan you can run two off one power supply. Below is the link to an earlier post I made on how to wire your fans if you have no electrical knowledge.
Keg fans for electrically impaired.