Too much foam during first pour

[Jeff]

I have a kegerator at home and each time I pour my first beer, the beer seems to spit a little (like there is air in the line) and then it pours normal. The problem is that when it spits, it creates half a glass of foam. I have the CO2 pressure set at 12lbs. I have consumed several kegs, cleaned the lines, and I had the CO2 cannister refilled. Is there a way to stop this?

[sevman]

The beer in the line between faucet and keg is getting warm;do you have a hose that blows cold air up the tower to keep it cool?

Steven W. Every

[Jeff]

I don't know if it blows cold air up the tower, but the tower is insulated. I have a Haier Kegerator- HBF05EABB. If it doesn't blow cold air, can that be added to it?

[Scott Zuhse]

What is the liquid temperature and brand of beer? If it is 38 degrees F the pressure should be approx. 14 Psig. For Coors products 16 PSIG. For every one degree warmer, adjust pressure up one pound. Even with the correct pressure, the initial pour will be foamy due to temperature difference behind shank. Beer will eventually clear since colder beer from keg is chilling line. When this foam comes out of faucet into glass, stop immediately and dump. Then try to dispense. It is very difficult to pour clear beer on top of foam. A blower and flex tube routed into tower will correct this.

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute

[gbessom]

I have been having the same trouble. I was advised to make a blower system to cool my tower. Mine is a small hairdryer connected to flexible pipe that is then connected to a diverter at the bottom of the tower. Inside the tower is a strip of plastic that keeps the blown cold air on the side of the beer line and allows the returning air to flow down the other side. The entire system is inside the kegerator.

One problem though. My Danby (Home Depot) stops cooling and I killed a keg because over night the temp inside (display on front of Danby) read 65*.

Any tips as to why circulating air inside the kegerator would effect the cooling?

[psychodad]

Any tips as to why circulating air inside the kegerator would effect the cooling?

The only think I can imagine (and I doubt happened) is that the air circulation caused the compressor to short cycle which eventually opened the thermal overload.