Kegerator problem with foam

so just to clarify... lol... do I want the freezer at the WARMEST temp or the COLDEST temp?

 

Do you have a link or name or something that can help me find this this device?

 

You want it at the warmest . . . sometimes the neurons in my brain fire off in a convoluted manner.

But I would ignore @billandsuz suggestion because you can do better . This is an external controller, typically used in a chest freezer to regulate temps up into the high 30s, or a fermentation fridge to keep temps in the 60s-70s. But he's suggesting an old-timey clunky (analog) US built dinosaur. For half the price you can get an modern digital Inkbird that is created by some of China's finest craftmen(women):


But I estimate you have a 83.7% chance of making your fridge suitable for beer temps with the current onboard thermostat. It'll just need some time to settle in . . . plus, we haven't even started adjusting your "coarse control".

 

Neshaminy Creek County Line IPA and Dogfish Head Namaste. The previous two were Yards Imperial Stout and Allagash White, and though there was no problem woth carbonation, the yards seemed a lot less carbonated than the DFH, yet both poured fine. I was thinking about swapping the couplers to see what the real problem was, but I haven't had the energy for that.

 

Mr. @PortLargo is crazy from the heat. All this 3.5 vols Belgians in the Florida sun. But he means well...

All of our keezer builds are using analog clunky dial t-stats. Mostly because they are cheap but also because there is no operators manual. Anyone can understand the concept of setting a dial.
The biggest trick is where to place the sensor. The temp difference in a chest freezer can be 8 to 10 degrees. That and the dial is not always 100% accurate.

But yeah. Inkbird. With a name like that how could it fail?
Cheers.

 

Found my problem. While cleaning the whole system between the two sets of kegs, I undid the clamp that keeps the CO2 line on the coupler too much. When I reattached it it didn't hold the line to the barb well enough, leaving the keg less than adequately pressurized. Remedied it and am now waiting for the kegs to cool.

 

fridge temp was at 45 all day today. I did a few things...
-got a longer, brand new, clean line (10ft)
-re-clamped and seal-checked gas and beer lines
-filled the freezer with tubs of water (now ice)
-bought an external controller which should arrive tomorrow

Unfortunately, I won't have a keg until friday probably, but I will definitely report back results!!! WE CAN DO THIS!!!

 

I'm not so sure. A healthy unmodified refrigerator should be able to maintain 38'ish temp in the fresh-food section. If everything is stabilized at 45 don't expect an external controller to lower the temp. It's really designed to allow a temperature above the normal fridge range. Do you have the thermostat set on lowest temp in the fresh-food section? Does your fridge run constantly to maintain 45 or is it cycling?

How sure are you about the 45? You want to be measuring liquid temps, not air. The true test is to measure actual beer temp. Since your keg pours from the bottom you might pick up a degree or two. But you really want to see liquid temps down to at least 40.

 

Love the optimism!
45 was taken is a cup of beer in the fridge. Although, the fridge was empty at the time (out of beer).
The thermostat is at the lowest setting on the fresh food side of things, the freezer does not have a thermostat setting. I really feel like a lot of the problem was from the super short, old, dirty line, and I think there might have been a CO2 leak somewhere, because I had to vrank up the psi just to get it properly mixed. Because my fridge is a piece of shit, I'm not planning on having the PERFECT POUR, but a little better hopefully.

 

Well, I apparently have the only beer tower/faucet that has a 1 1/8" nut. Every wrench I can find for beer towers is 1", 1 1/16" or a combination of the two. Looks like I'm gonna have to head to the hardware store, buy a box end wrench and modify it myself.

 

-replaced line with 10 feet, brand new
-tightened and re-clamped everything
-got the ink bird temp control hooked up and running a steady 36-37 degrees

Everything is working great!

 

Well done! It's really a thing of beauty when all is working nicely. Once everything is dialed in perfectly I usually mark the regulator with a Sharpie® so that if someone other than me messes with it, I know where the setting needs to be. There is a nut on some regulators to assist in locking the set screw in as well.

Congrats!

 

I've always used a slip joint plier and broken the nut free by turning the faucet / shank a little, and then run it off by hand. It just takes a little to make it happen, and then do it in reverse on the way back in - leave the last little bit of snugging for the faucet and pliers.

 

I'm not sure that's feasible for several reasons. First, it's on there really tight (or at least seems to be). But worse, the surface where the shank mates with the tower is shaped to match the curve of the tower, so turning it while it's tight with the nut is a bit of an issue. If I wanted to attempt it, though, I don't have a good way to grip the shank without marring it.

 

Plier on the nut, turn the shank using the faucet. The inner bore of the shank is what the nut is attached to, not the curved outer shell.

 

Oh, ok. I'll give that a try when I get home. The faucet isn't even on the shank right now.

 

I have a Nostalgia brand. First beer that i drank out of it Pizza Port's Swamis. I did get alot of foam at first. The sweet spot for me was 6 psi. Now remember that the psi is going to be different depending on the beer that you area drinking. One tip that i was given by a bar tender was that you need to clear the warm beer that is in the tower if you havent drank from it in a couple of hours. So you quickly open for 1-2 seconds then close, wait about 5 seconds and open again 1-2 seconds and close. You are allowing all the warm beer in the tower to leave and be back filled with cold beer.

Something that i have started doing is documenting how many "good" glasses that i yield out of a keg of beer. You can do a quick calculation based on keg size and size of glass you are using. This way i can trend how well my kegerator is performing. Also a log of what psi works with what beer.

 

Oh my...where to begin?

Whoa. So...basically, what happened is you allowed the beer to go almost flat and then it finally poured ok. (Temprature plays a part as well...)

PSI will vary slightly from beer to beer, but the majority of brewers rack their kegs at 12-14PSI and 34-36*F. Running PSI out of range may 'tame' the beer, but it won't be as the brewer intended. (At times I'll run 9.5PSI, but only when the liquid temp is at 33*F)

This technique is referred to as 'the sacrifice' and can be almost completely eliminated with a properly mounted tower cooler. There is no need to do the sacrifice twice...just do it for 3 secs if you feel the need.

There is no reason to accept "bad" glasses of beer in the first place. A properly balanced system running at a consistent temperature should yield less than 1% waste.


I see you are in California; if it's Southern California, I'd love to 'pimp your box' and get you a great pour, every pour. Reply with your general area of residence and we can get the ball rolling.

 

I am in Ontario, Ca

Thanks for responding to my post. Any assistance with getting better yield would be helpful thanks

 

I work in OC but live near Temecula. We will find a way to get together and can have this unit dialed in within an hour.

Will be in touch.