Foam problem, wiessbier

[posixPilot]

Hi,

I have a new kegerator setup and have been having wicked problems with foam. The foam appears to start in the faucet, as I've not been able to find significant pockets of co2 breakout anywhere in the line. Let me describe my initial setup, and hopefully some one will have an idea for me:

- Full quarter barrel of Franziskaner Hefe
- The keg is settled, and stable at 38F
- 8' of 3/16" ID beer line. No kinks or twists
- 6" shank with 1/4" bore, and a stainless faucet
- Regulator set to 22 PSIG

This setup initially gave me a very high flow rate, so I presumed that I would need to set the pressure much lower. However, after trying settings of 12, 10, 8 and even 5 PSIG, the problem still continued to happen. Instead of letting the keg go flat at this pressure, I installed 40' coil of 3/16" beer line, and obtained a moderate flow rate at 24 PSIG. However, this had little affect on my wild beer, so I'm stumped now.

The foam still appears to start inside of the faucet, so I'm wondering what I might look at. The faucet is clean, and I open it quickly/fully when drawing a beer. I have noticed that covering the vent hole of the faucet reduces the amount of foam substantially, even though a pint drawn this way is still more than %50 foam.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I realize that this beer is normally very highly carbonated, and "prone to foam" .

Thanks
Mike

[edramshaw]

The consensus here seems to be 14 psi and 38 degrees, however I believe a weissbeir would warrant a little more pressure maybe 15-16 at 38 degrees. Any beer with 22 psi of co2 will over carbonate after a few days. It may look as though the foam is coming from the tap but that is just where it is breaking out. The real problem is more than likely the over-carbonated beer inside the keg. I would drop the pressure on your tank and release the excess gas and let it stabilize. Try pouring then. If your pour rate is too slow I would cut it back. I have about 5.5' of 3/16" line in my converted fridge and my pour rate is pretty good at 14 psi. I hope I've been of some help and let me know how it works out.

Ed

[posixPilot]

Thanks, Ed. I've tried running the keg at a lower PSI, with the same issues. I think you are assuming that the keg was overcarbonated before I bought it due to the boat ride, 2nd fermentation, etc (thanks Scott). How long should I let the keg off-gas, before I put it under pressure and try to pour? (6 - 12 hours?)

Also, I'm using a german slider coupler, that does not have a pressure release valve. Does anyone know what the best way to vent the keg is? I can just pull brew until it won't flow any more. Or would it be a bad idea to decouple my keg, remove the CO2 (and back flow device) and then gently punch down to release the pressure?

Thanks
Mike