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keg carbonation
December 16, 2009 - 9:33pm
quick question..... i've been bottling my beer and just started kegging. however, i get nothing out of my line but foam, no matter how low i turn down my co2. On top of that, the beer is still flat. I ran it at 30 psi for 3 days and have the keg chilled at around 50-55 degrees. What am i doing wrong? Thanks!
December 17, 2009 - 2:14pm
#2
With that high of a pressure for so many days, your beer definitely has too much CO2 dissolved in it. I don't have the patience to slowly carbonate the beer and force carbonate @ 50psi for one day in the fridge. To get rid of the foam, unhook the CO2 pressure line. If possible, lift the relief valve on the kegs cap and bleed all of the pressure out. Let it sit for a day or check it in about 6 hours. The over carbonation will slowly drop. Continue to relieve the pressure until you get the carbonation level you are after. It will take awhile to get the excess dissolved CO2 out of solution. I was in B3 awhile ago and they were suggesting 30 psi for only one day. He was amazed at 50psi but after doing it for so many years, I know what works for me.
The design of a dispensing system can get rather involved .........if you want to do it. I doubt you are pushing your beer over a long distance. I also doubt you are lifting the beer any great distance. Keep it simple. I dispense with a 12 inch line as well as 4 foot lines. The change in line resistance won't be noticeable.
I did have a leaf hop get stuck in the discharge valve once but the excess foaming wasn't as much as what you are describing.
A leaking o-ring/gasket on the dip tube can also allow gas from the top of the keg to enter the dispensing line.
Reduce the CO2 in solution and you will get what you are after. It may take a few days.
When you get to the level you want, use only enough pressure to get the beer out.
December 17, 2009 - 7:03pm
#3
Thanks for the comments, lots of good info. My line are only about 4 feet, and I had not been opening the tap all the way, so I'll change that right away! I'll make some adjustments and see how it goes. Thanks!
December 18, 2009 - 8:46am
#4
Matt, did you agitate the keg initially when you hooked up the pressure. How full is the keg?
A few things just go through the list below and you should figure it out
How long is your line? Should be about 10ft of 3/16th ID tubing
Make sure you open your tap all the way when pouring, if you half open all you get is foam
Make sure your tap and your fittings are nice and clean anything in them will foam it
Make sure your dip tubes on your keg is correct. CO2 goes into short one, beer comes out of the long
one. I have had a couple kegs that had them reversed.
30PSI for 3 days doesn't sound long enough to carb or it may be to much. I recommend 13PSI for 1 week and then you should be good for next carbonation attempts. If it is too much you will just have to wait for the carbonation levels to go down.
The reason it is coming out flat is because it is loosing all its carbonation before hitting your glass, that why all the foam. Just like a mentos into diet coke. If you can get rid of the foam you may find that the beer is possibly even over carbonated.
Let me know what tap you are using and what your setup is, ie a picnic tap in a fridge or a full kegerator.
Foaming is one of the easy things to figure out what the problem is as it is completely able to be remedied. Just have to make sure everything is good to go!
Eric
DrunkRedDragon.com