Very foamy beer. Faulty keg tap?

[jondread]

Just pulled a sample pint from an ale I kegged last week. It seems to have carbonated fine as there is a lot of foam coming out of the tap. Almost all of it is foam actually, but the strange thing is, after one pint it just totally lost all pressure. Yet when I gas it back up again the pressure seems to be way too high and the keg is rocking backwards and looks like its eggshaped. I turn the tap on and foam just pours out.

Could it be that either I have a faulty tap? Or maybe perhaps I don't have enough headspace at the top of my keg, it was literally filled to the brim.

 

[winelight]

Not enough headspace. Drink some more, quickly!

 

[jondread]

Not enough headspace. Drink some more, quickly!

100% sure? I poured a pint out and it stopped rocking back and forth and being all egg shaped. But then it was dribbling out and I stopped it before it did the infamous gulp of air back up inside it? Gassed it back up and its bouncing on the spot again.

 

[chrig]

Can you put it in the fridge to lower the temperature, and absorb some of the co2?

How much co2 are you adding, a bulb full or from a refillable cylinder?

 

[jondread]

Just one bulb full, but it was foaming like mad before I'd gassed it whilst it was naturally carbonated. This morning it was in a warm living room, and I moved it into our cold kitchen just before lunch, pulled the first pint 6 hours later. Just pulled another half pint and its still foaming like mad.

 

[winelight]

Keg beer does that (at least, it always has for me, many different kegs over the years). The first few points foam like mad, and then the pressure goes.

That's what you get with cylinders, anyway.

That's why I prefer bottled.

 

[iceo]

what about running some beer line to a party tap to try and stop the foaming

 

[jondread]

I think the keg I'm using is just a bit too small, its a 20 pint keg. The pressure is really unbalanced. I'm half way through it now and its still foaming like crazy... I injected a canister of co2 into it too and it sounded like it was gonna explode. :hmm:

 

[Bernie]

Not enough headspace. Drink some more, quickly!

Brilliant advice! :drink:

 

[pittsy]

It's all about resistance , i don't know why kegs come with a tap attached . What is needed is a bit of piping (thinner the better then the tap on at the end so the foam gets controlled , how you do that is another thing , the more carbed the beer the longer the pipe is needed.

 

[jondread]

It's all about resistance , i don't know why kegs come with a tap attached . What is needed is a bit of piping (thinner the better then the tap on at the end so the foam gets controlled , how you do that is another thing , the more carbed the beer the longer the pipe is needed.

Well I did try with a tube, about a foot long, easy enough to reach in the bottom of the glass, but it still foams like mad. The beer does taste fine it just takes me a while to pour it, I've resorted to scooping the head off with a spoon. Bloody good head retention though with this one.