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Get an accurate thermometer!
I just purchased a beverage-air bm23 5 days ago... bought a test keg - 5gal of blue moon beer (it's cheap, and spring is the time for Belgian whites!), and have been fighting excessive foam from pour one.
argh!
I spent something like $1500 on beer cooler + taping equipment + keg + rental van to get it home... I was expecting it to just work. Too much foam!! argh!
After reading a lot on this forum I was convinced that my 5' of line wasn't enough and that I had a balance problem and needed a longer line between the coupler and the faucet. I was worried that I didn't clean the new lines. I thought that even though the tower is air cooled that it was still heating up. I thought my CO2 pressure was too low, then too high. Nothing worked.
Turns out that my OXO meat thermometer was 7-10 degrees off (measured in a glass of water sitting in the cooler). I bought a $12 cheapy digital thermometer at Target today and my beer was at 45 degrees Fahrenheit! I since turned up my cooler and even though the beer is still warm at 42F, already my foam problems are 90% gone (still a 1" head, but that's better than a glass of only foam!).
The think is... I've been overcooking steaks with this damn thermometer for the past couple of years. I KNEW it was off! GAH!
My advice: If you are having foam problems, check your temperature. Before you go futzing around with anything else, make sure your thermometer is calibrated... or go pick up a digital thermometer and double check your temps!
Lesson learned.
Mmm....beeer.
argh!
I spent something like $1500 on beer cooler + taping equipment + keg + rental van to get it home... I was expecting it to just work. Too much foam!! argh!
After reading a lot on this forum I was convinced that my 5' of line wasn't enough and that I had a balance problem and needed a longer line between the coupler and the faucet. I was worried that I didn't clean the new lines. I thought that even though the tower is air cooled that it was still heating up. I thought my CO2 pressure was too low, then too high. Nothing worked.
Turns out that my OXO meat thermometer was 7-10 degrees off (measured in a glass of water sitting in the cooler). I bought a $12 cheapy digital thermometer at Target today and my beer was at 45 degrees Fahrenheit! I since turned up my cooler and even though the beer is still warm at 42F, already my foam problems are 90% gone (still a 1" head, but that's better than a glass of only foam!).
The think is... I've been overcooking steaks with this damn thermometer for the past couple of years. I KNEW it was off! GAH!
My advice: If you are having foam problems, check your temperature. Before you go futzing around with anything else, make sure your thermometer is calibrated... or go pick up a digital thermometer and double check your temps!
Lesson learned.
Mmm....beeer.
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