Forced Carbonation ??????????

I just started Kegging and I noticed while I get a good head on the beer it seems to be some what flat. I set the kegs at 20 PSI for a week (Old English Ale and Pale Ale) then dropped it down to 5 PSI, let some pressure out. The beer comes out of the keg almost over carbed (to much head, if there is such a thing LOL) but tastes kind of flat. Did I do something wrong or is this what you get from Kegging?

THis is one reason I force carb (shaking). By doing so, I am forcing gas to be absorbed. Make sure your beer is cold. Make sure your glasses are clean. Make sure you are openning the tap completely and quickly. Nothing will foam your glass faster that a partial openned tap (especially a picnic tap).

I keep my gas at 10PSI for serving.

My 2 cents worth.

Run a search on balancing the tap line. You are over-carbonating, followed by too short of a line for dispensing. Head space has nothing to do with the problem, pressure is pressure.

BierMuncher said:

THis is one reason I force carb (shaking). By doing so, I am forcing gas to be absorbed. Make sure your beer is cold. Make sure your glasses are clean. Make sure you are openning the tap completely and quickly. Nothing will foam your glass faster that a partial openned tap (especially a picnic tap).

I keep my gas at 10PSI for serving.

My 2 cents worth.

Click to expand...

I tried the shake thing on one keg and they are both in the frig. I open the tap full and glasses are spotless. current pressure is 5 PSI. I let out the excess pressure but still get tons of foam and the beer seems kind of on the flat side.

david_42 said:

Run a search on balancing the tap line. You are over-carbonating, followed by too short of a line for dispensing. Head space has nothing to do with the problem, pressure is pressure.

Click to expand...

Holy Cow! You learn something new every day. None of that is in any of my books.

How long is your beer line and is it a true beer line not just clear tubing from home depot? What size ID is it?

I had that exact same problem and here's how I fixed it. (It worked for me).

I carbonate at 35 PSI for 40 hours.
After 40 hours, turn the gas off and completely bleed all CO2 from the keg.
Set the regulator to 5 PSI and turn the gas back on.
Serve. My carbonation is perfect now

Get about seven feet of the 3/16th inch tubing and carb at 12 pounds. Perfect pour.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/tubing.html