PSI and foaming troubles

[dschomp]

I just bought my first co2 system and taped my first keg last weekend and have been having some issues.. I'm using the micromatic "American "D" System CO2 Party Dispensing System with Upright Faucet" and taped a 1/4 slim Yuengling Lager that was stored in my fridge overnight at 37 degrees. I gently moved it from the fidge to my front deck and placed it in a garbage can with 6 inches of ice around it. Second pour showed a beer temp of 38 degrees. When I set the regulator to 13 PSI I get about 1/2 inch of beer in a glass the rest foam. It also seems to be pouring extremely fast. I am only able to get a good pour when I reduce the presure to about 4 PSI and it seems to pour about the right speed then. Towards the end of the night it seemed to be getting a little flat. I put it back up to 13 PSI and still all foam.. untaped and put it back in the fridge for the night. I pulled it out this morning and it doesn't seem flat anymore but still have the same foaming issues unless I lower the PSI. I checked for a leak on both the beer side and the co2 side and found none, the keg gasket seems ok too. I'm not sure what is going on.. any advice?

[Sketch]

This is one scenario where you can read everything you can about a properly balanced keg, follow it to the letter and still have problems.

Due to the fact that your keg is sitting on ice/exposed to the elements, you can't really expect your beer temp to stay consistent throughout the day - so forget worrying about temp in this scenario, other that just checking to be sure you are below a temp that is palatable, but your mouth will tell you that.

Next, you only have about 12 inches of beer tubing, which provides almost zero friction to slow the rate of the pour down. At a normal psi setting that will spew beer out like crazy, and beer hitting the glass too quickly will cause foam.

4 psi is about right for that sort of setup, it is no way a balanced system, but it's about the max psi that setup can pour with. At the end of the night, crank the PSI back to 14 or so ( as you did) and untap the coupler. This will replenish the Co2 in the headspace and allow for the beer to retain close to the proper carbonation level.

This dispensing method is really suited for kegs that are going to be consumed rather quickly - otherwise negative effects such as flat beer start to take effect. How many days do you plan on drinking off this keg in this manner?

Something I just thought of, with this tap setup, you have a 12 inch metal rod that sticks up into the air, which your beer runs through. When that beer rod get's warm/hot all the beer in that space will separate from the co2 and cause foam when it's poured. Depending on how hot it is outside and how much time resides between each pour, that beer might be warming up each time and causing Co2 to break out. This is the same effect that happens with a "warm tower" - search for that term as well, if you are so inclined.

The way to combat this is to get a pitcher and pour off the foam each time you draw a beer - once clear beer flows, then fill your glass - you can set the pitcher down in the ice and allow it to cool off for drinking later. You can try to wrap the beer line with icepacks or something similar to slow this process down.

[dschomp]

Well I'm using it for a parties so we are drawing glasses about every minute or two. The tower portion only seems to hold about 1/3 of a glass if that. It does look like there are restrictions built into the upright dispensing rod to reduce the flow rate. Over the weekend I ended up drawing pitchers to give the foam time to settle down, untill I figured out that lowering the PSI seemed to fix it.
My idea was just to save the unused portions of the keg for the next party.. so usually only taping the keg 2 times, unless I draw a pitcher for myself between parties.

[Scott Zuhse]

Unfortunately Sketch is correct as this system is designed for party applications versus long term dispensing. Such that you cannot follow the rules of truly balancing the system as you would with a kegerator. This system is not particularly a favorite of mine since there is so much of the hardware exposed to the elements. Truly a beer chilled system.

Your beer may have been flatter than normal with the amount of foam dispensed up front. Follow Sketch's recommendations to be as successful as possible. Possibly sleeve an insulated four inch piece of PVC over the tall stem and keep it filled with ice. Cut out a notch for access to the faucet.

[cubby_swans]

With this type of setup, you're just going to have to do what Sketch advises. Lower the PSI while dispensing to get an acceptable pour, and if you don't kill the keg, raise the PSI on the keg back up to 12 or so while it is being stored to keep the beer carbonated.