Too Much head!!

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rcb

rcb

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okay heres the deal. I kegged a honey brown porter that i made. Iused priming sugar and i didn't force carb it. The only problem is no matter what tap i use it shoots out all foam. I know i didn't over carb as i've done this beer before withno problems. Any ideas on the problem or a solution?
 
It sounds overcarbed. I'd release the pressure a couple of times over the next day, and see if it helps. How much priming sugar did you use? And what psi is your serving pressure? Do you have long beer lines?
 
How much sugar did you use? What temp is it at?

I just naturally carbed my first keg. Used half the normal sugar as I would have for bottles. I had the keg at a work party this last weekend. Dropped it in a large bucket and filled the bucket with ice. It shot foam until it cooled down a bit, then was fine.
 
rcb said:
okay heres the deal. I kegged a honey brown porter that i made. Iused priming sugar and i didn't force carb it. The only problem is no matter what tap i use it shoots out all foam. I know i didn't over carb as i've done this beer before withno problems. Any ideas on the problem or a solution?
Click to expand...

More details would help.

Final gravity.
Fermentation times..etc.

Is the keg cold?
What is your PSI for pushing the beer?
How long has it been chilled?
 
Sorry I didn't have more time earlier to give more info. The final gravity was 1.017. It was in primary fermentation for 2 weeks, secondary for 1, and in a keg for a month. The keg was kept at roughly 60 degrees for that month until i put it in my kegerator, then it was at 40 degrees. It sat there over night. I used 3.5 oz. of priming sugar. I also tried to release the pressure slowly over the past few days but it hasn't done anything.
And i believe im currently at 10 psi. And my lines are about 2ft.
 
BierMuncher said:
Ding, ding, ding.

That is too short to serve a properly carb'd beer.

You have no resistance. You'll get foam all day long. Try a length of 6-10 feet and you'll see a big difference.
Click to expand...
Damn my keyboard, I meant to type 5 ft, thats how long they are. I thought that though but none of the other beers i have on tap have that problem and all my lines are pretty much the same length.
 
rcb said:
Damn my keyboard, I meant to type 5 ft, thats how long they are. I thought that though but none of the other beers i have on tap have that problem and all my lines are pretty much the same length.
Click to expand...
Degassing the keg sounds like the logical move.

Here's what I recommend:

Close off the gas.
Release the pressure on the relief valve.
Remove the lid and set it sideways on the keg.
Let the beer sit for 24 hours.
Re-set the lid, set to about 6 PSI and draw a sample.

If it is still too carbonated, repeat for another 12-24 hours.

If it is slightly undercarb'd, set the PSI to 12 and leave it alone until it is perfect.
 
I had a heck of a time getting my serving pressure right on my first kegged beer. I ended up taking the serving pressure down really low and was able to minimize the amount of foam while maintaining decent carbonation. Not the best solution, but the one that works for now.
 
are you using a faucet or a picnic tap?

I am new to kegging but recently read that if you are using a picnic tap you will need to carbonate your keg, then purge air out and reduce serving pressure to 2-3psi to get a slow pour into your glass. and it would be okay to leave it at this low serving pressure for a few hours, when finished go back up to your carb pressure of 10+ psi. I also read that no length of tube on a picnic tap will be sufficient to serve at 10+ psi.
 
Filter said:
I did not know there was such thing as to much head:p
maybe the purge the tank and reset at serving PSI
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly. Unless you get to the point like in the Deep Throat movie where Harry needed gause.

Too much FOAM is bad though.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
 
amishland said:
are you using a faucet or a picnic tap?

I used my faucet and then when that was acting up on both of them i tried a picnic tap and it was the same result.
I'll give BM's idea a try. I'm starting to think though that it has to do with the one variable i haven't thought about and that is the keg itself. But i'll look into that after i try degas the keg and all that. Thanks for all the help everyone.
Click to expand...
 
+1 on biermuncher's idea. that should solve it eventually. How long depends on how overcarbonated it is. It took me about 5 days to dial it in right.
 
Dominator6 said:
+1 on biermuncher's idea. that should solve it eventually. How long depends on how overcarbonated it is. It took me about 5 days to dial it in right.
Click to expand...
In an extreme case...say the beer is overcarb'd and you have company coming over tomorrow night...

  • Shut off gas.
  • Release pressure from keg and remove lid.
  • Dip a sanitize paddle into the keg and (without aerating) gently move the paddle back and forth in the beer.
  • The beer will suds up and foam.
  • Leave it sit for 30 minutes and repeat several times.
You are basically knocking the CO2 out of solution.
Now you can re-lid, purge the O2 and set to a low PSI and test.

If it's a bit flatter than you like, set the PSI to 20 and taste test every 2-3 hours until it's right and drop the pressure.

I've had to do this before, but only when it was critical to get a keg ready for a party. Doing it wrong and you risk oxygenating your beer which is not good.
 
BierMuncher said:
In an extreme case...say the beer is overcarb'd and you have company coming over tomorrow night...

  • Shut off gas.
  • Release pressure from keg and remove lid.
  • Dip a sanitize paddle into the keg and (without aerating) gently move the paddle back and forth in the beer.
  • The beer will suds up and foam.
  • Leave it sit for 30 minutes and repeat several times.
You are basically knocking the CO2 out of solution.
Now you can re-lid, purge the O2 and set to a low PSI and test.

If it's a bit flatter than you like, set the PSI to 20 and taste test every 2-3 hours until it's right and drop the pressure.

I've had to do this before, but only when it was critical to get a keg ready for a party. Doing it wrong and you risk oxygenating your beer which is not good.
Click to expand...

I am doing this right now. My brother and I just finished undergrad and we have a whole lot of beer drinking family coming over tomorrow. I inadvertently over force-carbed the keg. I'll try this out.
 
update:

mother of god. i opened the top, stirred ever so gently, then watched the beer rise up like a horrific volcano and spill over the sides of the keg. I threw the top on and latched it again.

: (
 
BierMuncher said:
Degassing the keg sounds like the logical move.

Here's what I recommend:

Close off the gas.
Release the pressure on the relief valve.
Remove the lid and set it sideways on the keg.
Let the beer sit for 24 hours.
Re-set the lid, set to about 6 PSI and draw a sample.

If it is still too carbonated, repeat for another 12-24 hours.

If it is slightly undercarb'd, set the PSI to 12 and leave it alone until it is perfect.
Click to expand...

Normally beer exposed to air will oxidize and go stale. The reason you don't have that problem here is because C02 is heavier than air and the excess C02 will be coming out of solution always providing a protective blanket? Is that the logic here?

(I need to lower the carbination level on a couple of pre-carb'ed FULL kegs as I've set up a nitrogen tap system but don't want to harm the beer. Full kegs are hard to de-carb so I'm going to warm them up and pop the tops for a day or so).

Kal
 

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