Too much foam even after longer lines

[CampRdBrewingPG]

Hi everyone! So, my father and I just got into a brewing. We have our first brew in the kegerator, and everything turned out great, with one problem: Too much foam. We did the first thing that everyone says to do, and we got longer lines ( went from 3' to 10' of 3/16" hose). But even after we changed out the lines, the foam was still as bad as ever: About 90% foam and 10% beer in every glass. Psi is set at about 12 lbs and the temp is at around 40 degrees F. Anything else we can do to fix this?

 

[J A]

Try purging and lowering the pressure and so that it's pouring pretty slowly and be certain that you're opening the tap all the way up when you pour. Let the line clear completely and see if you can get a clean pour. Even if it's just a trickle and it fills the glass, it'll tell you if you've got it overcarbed to begin with. It shouldn't be if your gauge and temp control are reading correctly. There has to be a low enough pressure to get it through the tap cleanly.
Also make sure your outlet poppet isn't clogged with hops. I had a beer that I absolutely couldn't get to pour until I got all the hop gunk out of it. I had to disassemble the post and clear the poppet a dozen times.

 

[Mark Farrall]

If I think I've over-carbed I just disconnect the gas from the keg for a few pours and see if it slowly calms down. If it does, it was more than likely over-carbed.

And JAs second suggestion has caught me out more than once.

 

[CampRdBrewingPG]

J A, I did what you suggested and, when I turned the gas back on, I only turned it up to 10 lbs. The beer is perfect now!

 

[J A]

J A, I did what you suggested and, when I turned the gas back on, I only turned it up to 10 lbs. The beer is perfect now!

Glad it helped!
It's all about balancing the forces. Keeping CO2 in suspension with the proper amount of pressure for temp and adding just enough to push through the lines and overcome gravity from the top of the fluid level to the tap requires a pretty specific set point for any system. It's good to start with a formula but it's always going to take some trial and error.

 

[thunderwagn]

Sometimes there be demons in them taps and lines. I've chased a few of them around.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Sometimes there be demons in them taps and lines. I've chased a few of them around.

And that thar be the liquid side of things a sly gas leak be testing a brewers nerves ma hearties!