keg Carbonation failure, i'm baffled - HELP!

Hi there,

First i want to say this is a great site. I have been lurking for some time, searching the forums and finding all sorts of great info. But now i am stumped so i figured now was a good time to make my first post

i have been brewing about 2 years now and recently began kegging my brew. I have done 4 kegs so far with good results (IPA, Brown Ale, Strong Ale, Scotch Ale)

now i have a Paulaner Heffe-Weizen clone sitting in a corny keg in the kegerator and i have not been able to properly carbonate it. Initially i tried to naturally carbonate it by adding 3/4 cup of wheat DME to the keg. After 2 weeks it seemed over carbonated (glass full of foam). No big deal, i released the head pressure over a few days then had a decent head, but it dissipated very quickly and the beer itself was barely carbonated.

So I set the Co2 pressure to 25 psi at about 35F and let it sit for over a week. Yes this is a lot pressure
considerng my other brews were all set around 10 psi at 38F (i like it cold). However,, but using the following calculator this should work for a Bavarian Weissen with 4 volumes of Co2 right?

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/carbonation.html

Anyway, foam exploded into the glass upon serving. So it was suggested that i increase the liquid line by another 5 feet to help reduce the amount of foam. I did this, and it is still a bit too foamy. Then i eased up on the tap, allowing the beer to gently pour into the glass and evading the excessive foam. The pint looked great but the beer was still hardly carbonated.

Any ideas on what i am doing wrong here?

the beer tastes great, i just need some bubbles

thanks in advance!!

its possible your beer lines are getting warm. if that's the case the CO2 will want to come out of solution and cause foamy beer.

What is the inner diameter of your lines?

25 PSI for that long at that temp will way overcarbonate!!! Ease it back down to 12-14 psi, let the pressure off for a few days. You may be getting a decent head, but it could be due to the CO2 bursting out of solution with such a rapid pressure drop. That would leave you with a flat tasting beer.

Standard solution is this: use 10-12 feet of 3/16" ID lines, set the regulator at 12-14 PSI, let it sit like this for about 10 days and then try it. If the beer is already overcarbed, relieve the pressure a few times a day for a couple days with the keg off the gas before putting it back on.