Though home kegerators are advertised to serve perfect chilled draft beer at every pour, they are not specifically designed to do so unlike commercial models. The basic model of your kegerator is that of a mini refrigerator and thus it operates on the same principles. So it shouldn’t surprise you that these appliances do have certain limitations and may run into problems over the course of time. You will find customers complaining about the same issues in their online reviews regardless of what brand of kegerator they are using. The good news is, that most of these problems can be fixed with a little bit of work. Here are the most common kegerator problems and some quick fixes!
Temperature Issues
A common problem you may face while using an indoor kegerator is that it doesn’t cool your beer as much as you’d like. This is due to the fact that your kegerator works like a mini fridge that requires the circulation and flow of air to cool down the interior. Since most of the space inside the kegerator is taken up by the keg, there isn’t enough room for circulation of air which results in your beer not being cold enough. The simplest solution to this problem is to place a small fan inside the kegerator which will help in the circulation of cool air and decrease the temperature inside the keg. If you’re still not satisfied with the temperature, you can get a technician to calibrate the thermostat according to your needs.
Foamy Beer
Another common problem encountered by kegerator users is that the beer comes out a little too foamy. This can happen due to a number of reasons. If you’ve just put in a new keg and start pouring without giving it time to settle, you will be pouring out a lot of foam. Always check that the thermostats is working fine as warm beer also results in a foamy pour. You can put a glass of water inside the kegerator, let it come to the same temperature as that of the beer inside the keg and check the temperature with a thermometer to find out exactly what temperature your beer is stored at – and then adjust the thermostat if need be. Dirty lines and high CO2 pressure also result in foamy beer, so clean your lines regularly (preferably every time you set up new keg); also make sure that the CO2 pressure isn’t too high (ideally between 12-14 psi) and never open the CO2 tank all the way.
Problems with Defrosting
If the walls of your kegerator are staring to ice up, the taste and quality of your beer will suffer as it hinders the cooling capacity of your appliance. Make sure to defrost your kegerator regularly and check for signs of icing even if you have an auto defrost feature in your appliance.
If you were starting to have second thoughts about your decision to get a kegerator after reading scary customer reviews – don’t! Because as you can see, these problems have simple solutions and shouldn’t stand in the way of you and cold draft beer!