Newbie with Extreme Foam Problem--Please Help!

[deanger1]

Hey guys, I just joined the site and I'm dying for some advice. Basically, I'm a 22 year old college student who bought a kegerator from these kids who lived in the house before us. It's a fridge converted to a kegerator with a kit from ***************.com.

Last night I had some guys over to hang out and watch the devils game. I got 2 kegs of keystone (only the best beer, right? haha). I carried them downstairs and tapped the first one in about 10 minutes and threw it in the fridge (that might've been my first mistake---tapping it too soon?). I tapped it, turned on the co2 tank, opened the co2 line, and tried to pour a beer. It was entirely foam, and I figured that was normal, so I kept pouring and pouring and it was literally all foam, zero beer. I'm a newbie so I wasnt really sure what I was doing, although i have read some extensive articles online to try and learn about it more. I checked the pressure and it was about 18 psi--which I knew was wayyyy too high. I assumed the kids had the pressure set beforehand so thats why I didn't check it before pouring (dumb, i know). So, I tried to lower the pressure and I eventually got it down to about 10psi. However, cup after cup after cup was all foam. I figured maybe since we had so much pressure when we originally tapped it that maybe the keg was still too pressurized, and I didnt know how to relieve the pressure that was already in the keg. We decided to turn off the co2 and just pour until the pressure was completely gone. It worked beautifully and we were getting pretty good beer. The beer looked like it was falling out with just enough foam, and not like the beer firehose we had a few hours earlier.

We kicked the first keg at like 2am, and in my drunkenness I forgot to tap the 2nd keg and throw it in the fridge. So this morning when I woke up I tapped it the same way I did last night and threw it in the fridge. The pressure went up to like 20 psi (I think my friends messed with the adjustment knob and accidentally turned it back up to 20 psi). Obviously, all foam. So I turned off the co2 line and released all the pressure. I turned the pressure adjustment knob all the way out and slowly turned it in to about 10psi. I tried pouring a few more beers and it was pretty much all foam again. I had to go home to my actual house (this kegerator is in my college house) so I left it tapped with the co2 on and everything.

Also, my friend had tapped the 2nd keg last tap with a regular hand pump party tap and tried to get some beer out of it and it was pretty foamy. I didn't know he was doing this so when I saw I took off that tap since we already had the one in the kegerator. I'm hoping since I tapped it this morning that the beer doesn't go bad since I plan on drinking it Tuesday.

Basically, I want to learn how to eliminate the foam problem as much as possible. Since I was going to drink the 2nd keg with my friends on Tuesday night, itd be great if anyone can help by then. Thanks a bunch.

[KillianBoy]

deanger1,
You said:
"(that might've been my first mistake---tapping it too soon?)", YES
Dispensing Beer Immediately After Transportation
They call that acclimation, you need to let the beer sit it the environment it will be in for it's entire life, a little while before tapping. Link says a few hours, I think best 6+, if your fridge is newer forced air then a few hours should be fine.
You also said:
"I'm a 22 year old college student who bought a kegerator from these kids who lived in the house before us"- Most kids don't clean after themselves let alone their kegerator, the following is the way to clean your gear.
Draft Beer Dispensing System Cleaning

You should have cleaned gear before using but with your situation, you don't know when it was cleaned before or was even cleaned at all and when it was used lasted. You need to clean and inventory and inspect everything that is there. You are going to have to disassemble faucet, coupler and most likely change out the beer line to one a little longer (wouldn't even try and rehab an old pre-made beer line assembly).
You said:
my friend had tapped the 2nd keg last tap with a regular hand pump party tap
This is really bad, air and beer don't mix well, party pumped kegs are good for a couple days at best, once air gets to beer it starts to degrade it, as long as you kill the keg Tuesday it might be fine but don't be surprised the beer has a bad flavor (with Keystone I'm not sure if you would notice the difference), it definitely will not last longer than a week. I assume these kegs are 1/4 or smaller (if you and your friends killed 1/2 in 1 night then you have bigger problems than foamy beer).
First thing one person should have control of the unit (adjustment of PSI, connecting and disconnecting of equipment) once decided NO ONE ELSE CAN TOUCH CONTROLS, then make sure everything is connect correctly and everything is cleaned properly (resource section of site). The main thing you need to check is the regulator, I'm not sure what type but if it is one that you need a screwdriver to adjust make sure it has the lock nut, without the nut the PSI might drift. After setting to 12 PSI wait to see if it drifts if it moves on it's own, you may need to get a new regulator.
Then you need to read up on balance if you intend to have 1 keg of beer for longer than a week and then you need to pick up a digital thermometer.
If you going kill kegs in one night you might be better off setting PSI at 6 (again if <6 guys killed a 1/2 you really have problems).
No matter what you need to clean and check everything that you have, make sure you have all the parts and that everything is clean.
KB

[deanger1]

[QUOTE=KillianBoy;56146]deanger1,
You said:
"(that might've been my first mistake---tapping it too soon?)", YES
Dispensing Beer Immediately After Transportation
They call that acclimation, you need to let the beer sit it the environment it will be in for it's entire life, a little while before tapping. Link says a few hours, I think best 6+, if your fridge is newer forced air then a few hours should be fine.


okay I appreciate the reply. I noticed the pressure was jumping a little during the night but nothing drastic. It slowly drifted up about 2psi from like 10 to 12 when i originally trying to lower it. When you say i should let the beer acclimate, do i not tap it at all and just throw it in the fridge? and then after a few hours I tap it between 6 to 12 psi and it shouldnt be too foamy?

[deanger1]

Also, it was a 1/2 keg but we had about 12 guys drinking it, and probably lost atleast 20 beers worth in foam hahahaha. Why does the beer go bad so soon if i only had it party tapped for a little while? I moved it into the fridge with the co2 so it wouldnt be alright? how does the co2 keep it from going bad? Sorry i have so many questions i'm just trying to understand this more so I can be more efficient next time around

[KillianBoy]

deanger1,
I don't know if it's a (mis)understanding of terms or what but you can "tap" (put coupler on keg, turn CO2 on and run the beer to the faucet (spout)) whenever you want, some have said when you first put in fridge or when you first dispense your beer, but I normally tap when I put in fridge, run a little beer out to faucet and wait several hours. If you mean dispense beer, you need to wait before serving beer.
I don't know what part of :
"air and beer don't mix well"
you can't understand but by adding air to beer is BAD, no matter how much, it is BAD, it will start to degrade the beer almost immediately no matter if you use CO2 after, you still added air into keg which is BAD.
CO2 is not just there to push beer out, it there to keep the beer carbonated over time, any added air into keg will make the beer go bad over time, that's why they use CO2 and Nitrogen to keep beer viable over time. It also about Pasteurization, most kegs beer are NOT pasteurized, this means the kegs beer is more susceptible to bacteria, which air has, it not that CO2 keeps it from going bad, it keeps air out.
Every beer is carbonated to a certain v/v level, once you tap a keg if you want the beer to stay carbonated without any foam you need to match the carbonation level with the temperature of the beer -this is balancing the beer.
But if you kill kegs in 1 night then again set at 6 and see if this helps (even with the waste of beer you still have 140+ beers for 12 guys, which is really bad). If beer is foamy, pour in pitcher, let set for several minutes and it should become beer.
No matter if you kill kegs in 1 night to 3 months, you need the clean your gear and keep the beer at temperature (normally between 45 and 36 degrees). If beer gets warmer than 45 or colder than 36 degrees, your going to have problems with foam, if your second keg was sitting without refrigeration or in a tub of ice, no matter what until beer is acclimated to serving temperature you will have foam
Search forum regarding "balance", "carbonation chart" if you want have 1 keg more than a week, but you continue to kill kegs the way you do you really don't have to balance, set at 6 and pray for your liver.
KB

[deanger1]

KillianBoy,
So I'm back at my house now. While I was gone for the past 6 hours I had the beer at 12psi and the fridge was around 40. It was still foamy as hell so I dropped it to 8psi. I'm going to buy a new beer line this week. The line I have now is 5ft and 3/16" diameter. I've been reading some articles on here about the diameter/length of the beer line and its relation to pressure. What do you think pressure would be based on the length and diameter of my tube?

[KillianBoy]

deanger1,
If you think you can solve your foam by adjusting the PSI, your wrong, if you think you can solve your foam by just changing the beer hose, your wrong. In a used system, you can have a many number of things that is causing the foam. If your regulator is drifting, you have to fix first before you even try and solve foam, a regulator that doesn't hold PSI won't be of any good. What you can try and do is set the PSI, tug on the pressure relief valve on coupler and wait for needle to steady and reset again and wait, if continues to move, regulator is no good and you can never solve foam until it's replaced, it might be reading wrong and over carbonating keg causing your foam.
If your regulator holds, then it might be working right, then make sure all your parts are clean (you have to disassemble faucet and clean every part of faucet) and not damaged (dirty equipment and damaged washers can cause foam), if clean and intact, replace hose (remember you need to go to 7 feet + and the only way is to put your own beer assembly together, you cannot buy a pre-made assembly longer than 5 feet).
This is all for a standard lager/ale faucet system, if you post pictures of faucet and other parts maybe something else is wrong. It might come down to it's a stout system and your pouring from a stout faucet with nitrogen which will cause foam.
Once you figure out if you have a lager system you can try and balance and set PSI, but you need a thermometer. I think Keystone is a Coors product and has a v/v of 2.9, depending on where it was kegged and also your elevation above sea level. None of this matters until you have the actual temperature of the beer.
KB

[deanger1]

KillianBoy,
I just checked the regulator and it's working properly. As of now, I'm just going to cut my losses with this keg. It's already starting to taste nasty so my friends and I will just drink it tomorrow and Tuesday. I am going to order the new beer line, a cleaning kit, and a thermometer. I'll take apart the faucet and clean that out as well. Once I have done all this, I will check back with you. Thanks for all your help so far!

[KillianBoy]

deanger1,
Nastiness could come from air in keg or dirty gear, could be it got really warm while it was waiting to be tapped. Don't forget the small things like brushes (to clean the coupler probe and faucet tube), neoprene washers and tools (faucet wrench) if you don't have them. Your going to need a faucet wrench to take the faucet off the shank and you can make do with a crescent to take off the hex on the coupler, but if you don't have a faucet wrench, you ain't getting the faucet off.
KB

[deanger1]

KillianBoy,
So I ended up emptying the keg out the other morning because we weren't able to finish it throughout the week (it was starting to taste nasty, you were right about it going bad). So I have my entire system apart and cleaned out. The kids had a faucet wrench in the original packaging of the conversion kit so I just used that. All of is currently drying before I put it all back together. I actually saw pieces of dirt/mold inside of the faucet (you were also right about the dirt). Clearly the kids never cleaned it before. I think I'm getting a keg next friday. I'm hoping this one doesn't foam up like the last one. Wish me luck.

[KillianBoy]

deanger1,
Remember to clean with BLC only, if not water is fine, dry and reassemble correctly, look for and clean the 2 air holes in the faucet, look at the DIY on MM site on how to put everything together properly. I would not even try and rehab the beer line, I would replace with new line before you even tap new keg.
I had to rehab a Haier that was neglected, parts were grungy and filthy, only part I basically replaced at start was the beer line.
KB

[deanger1]

KillianBoy,
Okay I put the entire system back together. I'll replace the beer line this week and let you know how it goes. I think I'm going to perform a flashlight test this weekend. I'm getting a more accurate thermometer from my other house and I'll get an exact temp of the beer and then I'll perform the flashlight test. Thanks for all your help so far.

[xscash]

deanger1, i think you are missing the point. this is not a guessing game, its actually exact science. the beer at a vol/co2 will require x amount of co2 pressure at x amout of temp. a change in temp requires a change in co2 psi. you need to fill in the blanks, exact temp of the beer not the fridge, this will give you the exact amout of co2 psi and as for the extra 3/16 line....you add or subtract line to increase or decrease the flow of pour rate. if the flow is too fast it can create foam but get it to the right lenght and it should never need to be modified. every time you tap a keg with the incorrect psi/temp you can cause a under/over carbonation in the keg and continue to fight this issue for the remainder of the keg. gettin the correct temp is crutial to obtain a great pour, after the temp....every thing else is easy.

[deanger1]

xscash,
I'll pick up the keg on Friday. I'll let it acclimate to my kegerator and then I will get a beer temp. Once I get the beer temp, I will let you know.

[deanger1]

xscash and KillianBoy,
How long of a beer line should I order?