Ask Mr. Wizard

Excessive Foaming Issues In Kegs

TroubleShooting

Cal Humrich — St. Thomas, Virgin Islands asks,
Q

I’m kegging my ales and storing in a walk-in. I try to get the temperature as low as possible, but that’s just a bit above 40 °F (4 °C). some of the beers pour fine but some are super foamy. I’m assuming it’s probably the temperature (and need to revise my cooling system) but wondering if it is something else because with the problem kegs, they are foaming like crazy when I use the pressure relief valve. An example is as I release pressure with the split ring, gas is released, then nothing for a couple seconds then foam, and more foam, and more . . . I’ll leave the keg alone for a few hours (without gassing) and repeat the process. Eventually it will stop but it’s difficult to serve until it does. Any suggestions?

A
I agree with your suspicion that this problem may be related to temperature, especially if your walk-in cooler temperature swings up and down. A great start to troubleshooting would be to place
Response by Ashton Lewis.