Newbie, Kegerator foaming issues, Please help

[krsmith1]

I am a kegerator newbie, got my 1st Summit kegerator about a month ago. The first 1/6 keg of Blue Moon I got was great, perfect foam level and pours. The PSI was set to 10 and the kegerator temp was set to 32. We had a party went through the keg in one day. Then, I replaced with a 1/2 keg of Blue Moon. Same exact CO2 and temperature. I was getting great pours for the 1st 2 weeks. Then, out of nowhere, the pour is nearly all foam and has been for several days. I tried to bump up the pressure to about 14 psi after reading several forums, but that just made the problem worse.. it's still all foam but now it just comes out quicker. I have a 5 foot line and 3/16 thick with a tower. Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Side question, I have been messing with the co2 so much, now it seems like no matter how much turning I do, it's hard to actually change the pressure. Should the co2 pressure on the gage change immediately as I am turning it?

[djc]

Read any of the threads here about foam, your issue is no different. You need to understand balance, and the first step there is getting control of your variables - beer temp (not "what the kegerator is set at"), the volumes of CO2 for the beer, and the applied pressure for those two settings. You likely didn't have issues with the first keg because it was gone so quickly, the second keg has had time to react to the poor set up conditions.

[krsmith1]

Thanks for the reply... I've been doing a lot of reading and still haven't been able to get the foam down. What is the best way to take the temp of my beer if not to go by the kegerator setting? Pour a glass and put a thermometer in it? Sorry the basic question...newb here.

I have found it hard to adjust my co2 pressure... i can't turn the valve any more counter clockwise to lower the psi... are there any best practices to changing the psi? also once I change the setting of temperature and pressure, how long should i wait until i try to pour another glass?

[djc]

To take the temperature you start with a calibrated thermometer and a room temperature glass. To check the thermometer's calibration make a glass of crushed ice and water, let is stand for a little while and then take the temperature of the water, not touching the sides or the ice. It should read 32. If it doesn't you need to adjust your beer temps by the corresponding amount, either higher or lower. For instance if it reads 33, then you know it is always reading a degree too high, so a beer temp reading of 39 would actually be 38. For beer - you pour a beer into a room temperature glass, immediately chug or dump it into another glass, and then pour another into the original glass. Put the thermometer in beer, not foam, and do not touch the sides of the glass. A pressure change will take 12-24 hours, and if you are lowering the pressure you need to burp the keg over that time using the pressure relief. Temperature will take a long time to change as well. When you make adjustments you don't change more than one thing at a time and then wait 24 hrs before doing something else. Changing multiple variables at once and before anything has actually changed is a recipe for disaster. I believe the volumes of CO2 for Blue Moon is 2.6 because all Miller-Coors are 2.6, but someone can feel free to correct me on that. Using your temperature, and a force carbonation chart you will be able to figure out the correct pressure to apply. BTW if your beer is really at 32 you will have trouble balancing, it is too cold.

[krsmith1]

Thanks so much, I didn't realize I needed to wait 12-24 hours after adjusting and to only adjust one thing at a time. You mention the volume of Blue Moon being at 2.6... is there a chart or a calculation that I should be using with that 2.6 to help me out to show what the temperature & pressure should be? Also, when you say "burp" the keg, does that mean to pull the tab out that releases air and makes the hissing sound?

[djc]

Look up "force carbonation chart" in a search engine. Using the temperature and the 2.6 value, the chart will show you the required pressure. Burping the keg is pulling the ring and releasing the pressure. If you adjust the pressure lower, you have to get rid of the excess pressure for it to take effect. If you haven't been at the higher value too long, one burp should do it. If you have been excessively high or at a higher pressure for a long time, you might also have to shake the keg and burp it a few times over the course of a day to get the beer to release the excess dissolved CO2.

[krsmith1]

Thanks for the help. Kegerator is set to 37 and psi at 12, the problem is the pour is all foam so I cant get an accurate reading on the liquid temp.

[djc]

The best you can do for now then is measure the temp of the beer that settles out of the foam.

[krsmith1]

Thanks. On several threads I've seen people recommend a tower cooler to help with the foam. Are these easy to install? Any recommendations on a specific one?

[djc]

A tower cooler is a must have if you want to get rid of first beer foam, it won't help you with every glass being foam. You can make one, or buy one, not hard to do or install.

[krsmith1]

Ok, I got my liquid thermometer today and I now have the temp set to 34 and co2 set to just under 12, which looks accurate based on Blue Moon's 2.75 v/v. Now that the keg should be balanced, roughly how long should it take for the beer to normalize and no more glasses full of foam?

[djc]

Do you mean the beer temp is 34 or you set the kegerator to 34? Is the 12 psi down from where you were previously? Generally changes will take 12-24 hours, but it all depends on how much beer you have and where you are coming from with the adjustments. Pour a beer, take a look at the beer line after it has sat for a while - are there gaps of CO2 or is it solid beer?

[krsmith1]

The beer temp is 34. The PSI is at 12 now, but I had been messing around with it so much it was really all over the place before, any where between 10 and 14. I am almost to the end of the keg, maybe 10% left. I'll pour one tonight and report back on how the beer line looks. I would imagine gaps of co2 is a bad thing? I've had the beer temp at 34 and psi at 12 for about 24 hours now, so fingers crossed....

[djc]

Gaps are bad, they become foam when they hit the faucet. As you are starting to get closer to beer nirvana here, you need to get a tower cooler and longer beer line. Get yourself 10' of 3/16 line. What that does is let you slow the flow of properly balanced beer so it doesn't get turbulent. It isn't worth messing with until you get balanced because all it will do in that case is give you more places for gaps of CO2.

[krsmith1]

Thanks for the help.... getting the pressure & temp balanced seem to help. only about 25% foam on the last 10% of the keg, I finished it up over the weekend. Getting a Bud Light Lime keg this week, hopefully all goes well!