Beer is foamy every time

[Darth Brewer]

I have brewed about eight different brewprints so far and everyone has been very foamy when I use my beerflo for example if I pour a pint about 1/3 will be beer 2/3 will be foam. I am cooling the kegs in my refrigerator before I put them in the beerflo. Anybody have any suggestions.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Darth Brewer

[Seth Schramm]

Couple posts about this on the Facebook group for "BrewArt and BrewFlo Owners".  I highly suggest you join as the forums there are very active compared to this forum.  I'm pretty new to brewing and have yet to try my kegs so I cant really share much expertise but the 500+ on Facebook sure are knowledgeable.  I've learned so much already.  Hope to see you there!

[Martin Peters]

I used to have variable results, I have 5 tips...

1. When you get 'ready to keg' leave it another 24hrs
2. Wild yeast will cause problems, make sure you sanitise REALLY well. Consider washing with an alternative steriliser, then rinsing with the droid cleanse.
3. Same as #2, try using 10l 'spring water' from the supermarket, especially if you are on tank water.
4. If you like English style ale rather than fizzy Australian lager, consider halving the dose of primer.
5. I always connect the beer line and pour a couple glasses BEFORE I add air. This can reduce excess pressure more quickly.

Good luck!

I always get great beer now, and I'm very happy with the system.

[Darth Brewer]

I will join the Facebook group. And thank you for those suggestions I will definitely try them are usually use star san to sanitize the beer droid. My water is city water so I didn’t think that would be the cause but I may try buying some bottled spring water and see if that helps. Leaving it in the next 24 hours couldn’t hurt so I’ll probably try that one next I have that Christmas lager that’s about ready to be keg any day now. Thanks again guys 

[Seth Schramm]

Those are great tips. Thanks for posting Martin! I’ve been using city water as well and just started adding campden tablets to kill the potential chlorine. May try a batch with spring water next to see how it compares. See you on the BrewArt forum on Facebook Darth!

[Commander Robo-Timo]

On 11/12/2018 at 5:45 PM, Darth Brewer said:

I will join the Facebook group. And thank you for those suggestions I will definitely try them are usually use star san to sanitize the beer droid. My water is city water so I didn’t think that would be the cause but I may try buying some bottled spring water and see if that helps. Leaving it in the next 24 hours couldn’t hurt so I’ll probably try that one next I have that Christmas lager that’s about ready to be keg any day now. Thanks again guys 

Darth,

You still brewing with the BeerDroid? I'm just starting up, live nearby in Western RI. Cheers.

[Dustin Frothman]

There’s been a fair bit of conjecture on the unofficial Brewart Owners Facebook group regarding foamy kegs. Often I find it quite amusing as the participants are passionate to say the least.

Anyhoo, I’ve had a few foamy kegs of late. Generally if I try all the tips it’ll settle down after a few pours without connecting the air line. The remainder of the keg usually pours very nicely. I love my Brewflo.

I’ve got my Lighthouse Pacific Pale / Cloudcatcher clone in the Droid at the moment and am trying something I don’t usually do - following the cold crash I’ve left it at kegging temperature for an extra 48 hours in an attempt to mop up any lazy yeast. It’ll be interesting to see if this stops the foam.

Adding another 2 days to the process doesn’t really bother me but it’s not ideal, so if this works I’m hoping that the latest firmware update addresses any shortcomings in the EOF algorithm and might ensure that brews are not finshing any earlier than they should.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Dustin Frothman

[Rob Courtney]

1 hour ago, Dustin Frothman said:

There’s been a fair bit of conjecture on the unofficial Brewart Owners Facebook group regarding foamy kegs. Often I find it quite amusing as the participants are passionate to say the least.

Anyhoo, I’ve had a few foamy kegs of late. Generally if I try all the tips it’ll settle down after a few pours without connecting the air line. The remainder of the keg usually pours very nicely. I love my Brewflo.

I’ve got my Lighthouse Pacific Pale / Cloudcatcher clone in the Droid at the moment and am trying something I don’t usually do - following the cold crash I’ve left it at kegging temperature for an extra 48 hours in an attempt to mop up any lazy yeast. It’ll be interesting to see if this stops the foam.

Adding another 2 days to the process doesn’t really bother me but it’s not ideal, so if this works I’m hoping that the latest firmware update addresses any shortcomings in the EOF algorithm and might ensure that brews are not finshing any earlier than they should.

Yeah, I remember reading a lot of complaints on the facebook site about foam and I was adamant that there were less issues if you just put the keg in the day before to cool down in the flo than cool them in the fridge and then pop them into the flo. In saying that though, peple were uploading videos of pours that were just foam, so maybe I was alittle lucky

[Captain 3 Droids]

I think you are on the right track with on occasions fermentation is not quite complete. Sometimes when I go to keg after the notification the surface of the brew may still have some small “bubbling”. I continue anyway as I use ss kegs and any fermentation can continue there without issue.

The other thought is are both beerflo kegs foaming? I keg into 10l kegs therefore whatever volume in the droid goes in.  However when I filled my 2 x 5l ss kegs I noted the first keg was at 5l (use scale) but the second was only 4.8l? Seems I possibly did not fill to the 10l mark. If this were to happen with the Beerflo kegs then too much sugar to the lesser keg, over carbonated therefore foam?

[Dustin Frothman]

1 hour ago, Captain 3 Droids said:

I think you are on the right track with on occasions fermentation is not quite complete. Sometimes when I go to keg after the notification the surface of the brew may still have some small “bubbling”. I continue anyway as I use ss kegs and any fermentation can continue there without issue.

The other thought is are both beerflo kegs foaming? I keg into 10l kegs therefore whatever volume in the droid goes in.  However when I filled my 2 x 5l ss kegs I noted the first keg was at 5l (use scale) but the second was only 4.8l? Seems I possibly did not fill to the 10l mark. If this were to happen with the Beerflo kegs then too much sugar to the lesser keg, over carbonated therefore foam?

I generally make notes in the app and with the latest brew both kegs were foamy. I’m careful to get exactly 10L of water into the Droid for each brew.

I’m using the updated priming bricks but forgot to note which brew I started using them on. It’s entirely possible that I’m still serving kegs where the priming sachets were used and these would’ve been less accurate.

It’s an interesting experiment either way so I’m keen to see the results.

[Glen Rycroft]

I started leaving my brews for a few extra days at kegging temperature beginning in mid-late January.

As some background, my first BrewFlo was DOA so I was super keen when the replacement unit arrived to try out my own beer for the 1st time.  I did experience many foamy pours from my first 3-4 kegs and being inexperienced with the system I contacted tech support to try and troubleshoot.  One of the things which LIam mentioned as a possible cause which stuck with me was the possibility of fermentation not quite being complete, and by kegging and adding the priming blocks over-carbonation may be occurring.

Shortly after this my replacement BrewFlo died (pressurization issue it seems).  As I was still brewing while waiting for a replacement and about to run out of empty kegs I decided to leave each brew for roughly and extra 3-4 days at kegging temperature once the droid stated fermentation was complete and had cold crashed for 48 hours.

Kegs brewed prior to this still had some foam issues with the replacement BrewFlo when it arrived, but I'm now at the point where I have just finished the 1st keg where I left it for the extra few days and the result has been very positive.  All pints poured from start to finish were perfect.  I have just installed the 2nd keg of this batch into the BrewFlo today so am keen to see how it pours tonight.  Early days I know but I am quietly optimistic that this approach is the way to go in the future.  All subsequent brews which are now conditioning have received the same treatment so interesting to see if I continue to receive positive results.

[Martin Peters]

Good to hear you are progressing!
One of the big bonuses with the new 'Dry Hop' BrewPrints (besides making the beer delicious) is the 2 days hopping followed by 2 day cold-crash.   That extra 4 days at EOF has tackled the problem by default.
I have not had a foamy brew for many many kegs now.  Just delicious, hoppy beer 😍  

[Glen Rycroft]

Had a pint from the 2nd keg (West Coast Pale Ale BTW) last night for dinner and it poured perfectly so happy days.  The sample size is still small however, so if the next 2 kegs (GOAT Amber Ale) pour well I'll feel confident I am onto something.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Glen Rycroft

[Dustin Frothman]

7 hours ago, Glen Rycroft said:

Had a pint from the 2nd keg (West Coast Pale Ale BTW) last night for dinner and it poured perfectly so happy days.  The sample size is still small however, so if the next 2 kegs (GOAT Amber Ale) pour well I'll feel confident I am onto something.

That’s good news Glen, thanks for sharing your results.

I’ve got a couple of brews in secondary where I’m also trying this. Hoping for similar results when it comes time to drink them. Until then I’ll keep the experiment going unless the results prove otherwise.

[Dustin Frothman]

21 hours ago, Martin Peters said:

Good to hear you are progressing!
One of the big bonuses with the new 'Dry Hop' BrewPrints (besides making the beer delicious) is the 2 days hopping followed by 2 day cold-crash.   That extra 4 days at EOF has tackled the problem by default.
I have not had a foamy brew for many many kegs now.  Just delicious, hoppy beer 😍  

Great news Martin. Unfortunately this hasn’t been my experience so far and therefore I’m not convinced that the Dry Hop program resolves the issue by default.

[Captain 3 Droids]

I love brewing experiments to try and resolve issues and I think you people are on the right track with potentially foaming brews.

Not meaning to brag but I’ve been brewing for many many years and believe I’m fairly good at ascertaining whether a brew has finished fermentation or not. I’ve noted a few brews at notification of EOF that on removing the lid recent condensation drops are evident and small bubbles still on the surface. This doesn’t bother my set up as I use ss kegs and any fermentation can continue with no harm. (after purging with co2, they sit for a while before being fully carbonated again with Co2).

What would be interesting in your experiments is to take a hydrometer reading when EOF advised and then just prior to kegging, this would confirm your suspicions.

[Dustin Frothman]

Just a quick observation re the extra 48 hours in the Droid technique:

I'm sitting in my study where I have one of my Droids set up and I received the "Fermentation complete" notification on that brew 14 hours ago.

It's very quiet in here and every now and then I hear the Droid belch as an air bubble is released. So without explicitly testing the SG I think it is safe to assume that fermentation is not completely finished and this justifies leaving the brew to sit for the extra time.

The results I've been seeing with my Brewflo pours certainly support this assumption so far.

[Captain 3 Droids]

25 minutes ago, Dustin Frothman said:

Just a quick observation re the extra 48 hours in the Droid technique:

I'm sitting in my study where I have one of my Droids set up and I received the "Fermentation complete" notification on that brew 14 hours ago.

It's very quiet in here and every now and then I hear the Droid belch as an air bubble is released. So without explicitly testing the SG I think it is safe to assume that fermentation is not completely finished and this justifies leaving the brew to sit for the extra time.

The results I've been seeing with my Brewflo pours certainly support this assumption so far.

Spot on, I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, as I keg to ss kegs it doesn’t matter, however bottles particularly glass could be a problem

[Dustin Frothman]

Back in the study again this morning and the Droid is still belching every now and then.

That's 33 hours since the "Fermentation Complete" notification.

[Dustin Frothman]

Now at almost 60 hours since the "Fermentation Complete" notification and I just heard the Droid belch again.

I'm going to be leaving this one for a little while longer yet.

[Captain 3 Droids]

15 minutes ago, Dustin Frothman said:

Now at almost 60 hours since the "Fermentation Complete" notification and I just heard the Droid belch again.

I'm going to be leaving this one for a little while longer yet.

Mmmm, did you dry hop? I’m wondering with the cold ambient temperature in the room when opening the lid to put the hops in if this doesn’t change the the temp in the Droid head space thus giving the Droid  a false it’s EOF reading? Just a thought?

[Dustin Frothman]

Just now, Captain 3 Droids said:

Mmmm, did you dry hop? I’m wondering with the cold ambient temperature in the room when opening the lid to put the hops in if this doesn’t change the the temp in the Droid head space thus giving the Droid  a false it’s EOF reading? Just a thought?

No, not with this one, it hasn't been opened.

It does have ~500ml of cold brew coffee in there though but as that was added from the start the of the brew I highly doubt it has any effect on temperature readings.

I've been in here about 30 minutes and have only heard the one burp so it must be very close to finished.

 

[Captain 3 Droids]

1 minute ago, Dustin Frothman said:

No, not with this one, it hasn't been opened.

It does have ~500ml of cold brew coffee in there though but as that was added from the start the of the brew I highly doubt it has any effect on temperature readings.

I've been in here about 30 minutes and have only heard the one burp so it must be very close to finished.

 

Fair enough, can you see bubbles via the viewing window?

[Dustin Frothman]

Just now, Captain 3 Droids said:

Fair enough, can you see bubbles via the viewing window?

No.

Full of pitch black stouty goodness in there. 

[Dustin Frothman]

And it just burped again ...