A couple foamy setup questions

[EP1416]

Hey everyone. First post, been lurking for a long time. I just picked up a new kegerator. Keggermeister brand whatever that is. I have read every post on this subject and still have questions. Anyway first keg, Miller LIte, 42 degree second glass pour (as low as I can get it), no circulation fan yet, and no matter what I do I can't seem to get the foam down. I have to pour a pitcher and let it sit for 5 min before I can drink. It never flows clear beer out the faucet. I have had it a week now and have not been able to get it settled down. I did the flashlight test and one of my questions is, can too little CO2 cause foam? I have my new CO2 bottle turned all the way on and the regulator full open and am still getting breakout bubbles in the line. I only have a single gage on the regulator so I am not sure what the actual pressure is going to the keg. I do know its getting in the keg because the flow is fine and I can release pressure with the valve. The line from the regulator to the coupling is TINY. Any thoughts on where to go next is appreciated.

[psychodad]

You say your regulator is full open. What pressure does the gauge show? At 42 degrees, you will need a little higher co2 pressure to keep the co2 from breaking out of solution in the line. A tower cooler will help with this as well.

[EP1416]

Quick update. My "new" regulator was junk. I got a dual gauge setup on now. I have it set to 15 psi and I am going to wait a while for things to settle. I had the door open making changes so I am sure things warmed up a bit. I picked 15psi because at first the flashlight test showed breakout around 12psi.

[Mark Borland]

Miller Light has a CO2 content around 2.6v/v according to the carbonation levels thread. That indicates you'll need about 16-17psi if the keg is at 42 degrees (or maybe a bit more if you live at high altitude).

You said the temp is 42 degrees at the glass - what's the keg temperature? Is your thermometer calibrated properly?

[EP1416]

Keg temp is 38.xx degrees based on my infrared thermometer. Yes my thermometer is calibrated. My regulator is set to approx 15psi but it could be a bit higher or lower. I have no breakout bubbles in the beer line now. I still have 90% foam coming out. I have 5' of 3/16 beer line to install today and see what happens.

[psychodad]

I'm guessing from your original post that you either did not have a guage on your regulator or it was not working. At this point you may be overcarbonated. When you have a known temperature it is easy to set the pressure for the style of beer. If you have a bad gauge or no gauge, it is a crap shoot.

[EP1416]

Psychodad, The original regulator was new with the kegerator so it was only a week old. When I couldn't get the breakout bubbles to go away I unhooked it and checked. Barely any CO2 came out at full open so the regulator was junk. I put on a new dual gage setup,adjusted it and no more bubbles. If anything with the other regulator I under carbed it and not over carbed it.

[EP1416]

Update: Just changed out my line to 5ft of 3/16 tubing. The old tubing was probably 1/4. Was getting a little breakout so bumped up the pressure to 18, second glass beer is 42F. Still no change. Foamy and flat. Any more thoughts would be appreciated.

[EP1416]

Ok guys help me out here. I adjusted everything per the science and got nothing but foam. I finally set my regulator to 6psi and I have perfect pours. Nicely carbonated and 1" of head. I don't like the fact its at 6psi because I don't want flat beer at the end but right now its great. Where should I be looking to get my system more in line with the science???

[bkl63]

One thing you always need to do is be sure you are pulling the Faucet fully open. There are only 2 useable possible positions on a faucet, fully open and fully closed and going from position to the other should be done instantly. Anything in the middle will surely give you foam as you are forcing liquid under pressure through a smaller opening. I routinely have to educate guests to my tap system around this.

I would give it a day or two to settle in, you have done several things over the last couple days, and it seems clear that it was undercarb'd at one point and at 15 lbs. it will take a bit of time to recarb it, maybe 4 or 5 days, especially since it is a nearly full keg.

[Mark Borland]

Update: Just changed out my line to 5ft of 3/16 tubing. The old tubing was probably 1/4. Was getting a little breakout so bumped up the pressure to 18, second glass beer is 42F. Still no change. Foamy and flat. Any more thoughts would be appreciated.

Interesting that you're losing 4 degrees from keg to glass. Not sure it's the cause of your problems but it suggests you either have cooling issues or one of your thermometers is off.

Good suggestion from bkl63 regarding pouring technique. Be sure you are pouring with the (unfrosted) glass tilted at a 45 degree angle and the faucet completely open.

[EP1416]

I think the temp issue is because I put a digital thermometer at the very bottom of the cooler next to the keg and it was 38.xx something. Close to 39. I am sure up higher there is a degree or two difference. I made up a tower cooler I am going to install tonight and see if that helps.

[bkl63]

The tower cooler will do two things, cool the tower and create air movement to help balance out the temperature within the box.

[EP1416]

Well in an attempt to actually make this thing work per the beer science, I added an additional 2 ft of beer line. I now have 7ft of 3/16 line. I turned the pressure back up a bit to around 15psi (beer temp 42). No breakout in the line at all and it comes out fast as ever. The extra 2 ft of line did not slow the flow one bit. I am beginning to wonder if my faucet is throttling the beer out causing foam. I have a spring return faucet and I wonder if it is not opening all the way or something.

[EP1416]

Final update. The issue was the faucet. I took the "new" one off the tower and installed a used one I had and now my beer pours perfect. I still get the puff of foam from not having a tower cooler but after that shot its clear beer with nice carbonation. So if you have everything else set up correctly and still getting foam...check the faucet.