Initial Foam

[john-beer]

When pouring a beer, I get beer (I'm assuming what is in the beer line), followed by a quick blast of foam, followed by perfect beer. If I pour a second beer right away it is perfect. 20 minutes later, I get the initial result again. I can live with this, but would love a perfect beer pour every time.

pressure is set to 10
Six feet of beer line
Yuengling Lager

Any suggestions.

Thanks - John

[USMC - Retired]

You have air getting into your beer line somehow. Do you notice any drips?

Semper Fi,
The Gunns

"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin

Im a MicroMatic Beer Fanatic! Are you?

[john-beer]

I have not noticed any drips, but did see several extremely small air bubbles moving (exremely slow) in the beer line after pouring. Any suggestions to fixing this. I have a feeling replacing the coupler might be the best action. It is a bit of an older coupler.

On a side note, I am a former Marine 92-98. I was stationed out in Pendleton with a tour in Somalia and a West-Pac. Any chance you were out that way around that time?

[USMC - Retired]

Which way are the bubbles moving? from the coupler end or faucet end. That should give you an indication of where the trouble lies.

92-98 I was at Tustin, Iwakuni and New River in that order. Never got stationed at Pendleton but spent alot of time there during Division Matches. Welcome aboard Devil Dog, the crowd here is fun loving and helpfull so don't be shy about asking questions. We all hate to see good beer go to waste!

Semper Fi,
The Gunns

"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin

Im a MicroMatic Beer Fanatic! Are you?

[john-beer]

Thanks for the welcome. An Air Winger I see. I was a comm guy. I'll look tonight to see which way the bubbles are moving.

Thanks,

John

[USMC - Retired]

I started out as a Radio Tech and lat moved as a Sgt into Aviation Information Systems. Which type of comm guy were you?

Semper Fi,
The Gunns

"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin

Im a MicroMatic Beer Fanatic! Are you?

[john-beer]

I started out as a comm center operator and got a secondary MOS in small systems. I'm still a computer guy, working as a network security analyst in South Central PA.

Could the nut inside the tower (shank nut?) be a problem. I have only been able to hand tighten, because I can't find a suitable tool to use. Anyway, I will do some more "research" tonight and let you know what I find out. Troubleshooting this is a little different to me, but I like the benefits. The only way to see if it is working is to pour another beer.

Thanks again.

[draught guy]

Bubbles in air line could be a sign of low pressure,beer in line between keg and faucet could be getting warm do you have air flowing into the tower? Depending on what type of system you have you could maybe run some flex line from blower up the tower to keep it cool

[john-beer]

After pouring a beer tonight, I looked at the beer line. Air bubbles are entering the beer line through the coupler. I have a wing handle style coupler. Inside the coupler is the ball and on top of the coupler (where the beer line connects) is a white, plastic insert. Air does flow into the tower, and the tower is insulated. Any suggestions would be helpful.

[draught guy]

The insert is for beer to flow one way and not leak out of your line when you change a keg it sounds like the beer in your tower is warmer than your keg beer when the colder beer hits the warm beer it foams but cools your line down the bubbles could be a sign of low pressure but it only seems to affect the first pour low pressure would cause your beer to break up consitently.With 6' of 3/16 I would elevate pressure to 12-15 and see how that works good luck

[john-beer]

Thanks,
I'll give it a try and let you know.

[john-beer]

An update to the air in the beer line. My beer line snakes as I'm sure everyone's does. It comes from the top of the keg, goes down to the bottom of the refrigerator, and up through the tower. There was about 4 inches of air in the beer line this morning near the coupler, right before it drops down to the bottom of the refrigerator. Sorry for all the questions, but I'm looking for a litte methodology here. Tonight, I will elevate the PSI as stated above. After that, is there certain things to check on the coupler, or would purchasing a new coupler be the easist thing to do.

Thanks,

John

[golferguy]

I too am having the same problem. Tiny bubbles coming up from the keg thru the coupler eventually create large pockets of air in the line. I have a new tower, beer line, and coupler. I check the connection of the line to the coupler and all is tight and the rubber gasket is fine. I check the faucet connection to the tower and it is tight. I tightened the nut on top of the faucet spout (under the tap handle adjustment). What am I missing? I have kept the pressure around 10 - 12 and the internal beer tem is 36 degrees. Anybody have an idea of where is the air coming from?

Thanks, Bob

[draught guy]

Golfer how long is your beer line? The bonnet on your faucet should be hand tight there is a washer and plastic spacer underneath overtightening will pancake that washer.What kind of pouring problems is the air in the line causing? Bubbles in line can be warm beer overcarbonated beer or low pressure from your de****ions you dont have these issues 38' is optimal how long has your keg been hooked up? over time beer can over carbonate

[golferguy]

The beer line is probably 3 ft. I just bought a new tower, faucet, and coupler from the home brew store. It had the beer line already attached. I will try a longer hose. The issue I have is the first pour is nothing but foam, then it gets better after a few glasses. The keg is a 1/2 barrel of domestic (Michelob Ultra) that I got on Aug 18. I backed the pressure doen to 8 last night and that seems to have helped the air bubble problem. There are still air pockets in the line, just not as many. Anything else?

Thanks, Bob

[draught guy]

Your 3/16 needs to be longer and also mich ultra is a hard pour highly carbonated and sensitive to temp fluctuation in restaurants it can be a big pain,I think 38' and 5' of 3/16 at 12-14 lbs. you should be good to go

[john-beer]

Thanks for everybody's help. Moving up to around 12 psi seemed to do the trick for the air bubbles in the line. I will also be installing a blower and flex tube in the near future. Once again, thanks for the tips.

[jedivader]

Your post was from a while ago but I am looking for the same assistance. I just got a used (1 yr. old) Haier kegerator and tapped Sam Winter Lager the other day. I have the same bubble build-up. The bubbles move from the coupler/keg area and end up jamming about 3 inches of line at the tap and the line at the coupler is just dead air. The first glass is nothing but foam. I have tried all the troubleshooting and can't firgure it out. I have adjusted psi, temp, cleaned lines, check for broken/worn pieces. HELP!

[jedivader]

Also, while transporting the kegerator, a steel ball bearing fell off/out of something. All equipment was inside of fridge with door shut. I have tried to find out where it goes, but am getting nowhere. A friend suggested the coupler but the ball does not fit in any hole. It does not seem to fit anywhere.

One post talked about stopping the flow when you change kegs/ Well, when I take my coupler off, beer drips out.

[edramshaw]

It sounds like the check ball fell out of the coupler. If you untap the keg and take off the nut that connects the beer line to the coupler you should be able to drop that ball inside of there. There should also be a small piece a plastic that slips in the top to keep that ball in the coupler. If this set up is missing you will find that your beer will in fact drip out of the coupler. Good luck.

Ed