Overcarbed My Keg

I cranked it up and shook the heck out of it, and now it's pouring glasses of pure foam. How can I get the carbonation back down to a normal level?

How long has it been sitting, without being shaken? Sometimes it's fine after it sits for a while, and it's not overcarbed. Kind of like soda- shake it and it's foamy but after it sits for a while it's ok. What temperature is it? Warming it up a bit, and pulling the pressure relief valve will get rid of some excess co2.

If it's foaming, though, it's not necessarily overcarbed, that's why I'm asking the questions. I'm not trying to give you a hard time! What pressure/temperature/procedure have you used so far?

just take it off the c02 and pull the relief valve every couple of hours it will be fine.

It's at around 40 degrees, maybe a bit cooler. I've run two other kegs through this setup recently and the only difference was the high pressure shake-up technique. By the way, it worked awesome! It went from flat to foamy in just a few minutes. It's been sitting for a couple of days now and still poured pretty foamy. It settled a lot faster today but I still ended-up with 3/4 a glass of beer when it settled down.

I dont mind the questions buddy, just looking to get this keg right and start sharing with the neighbors!

Thanks.

Buzz_Armstrong said:

It's at around 40 degrees, maybe a bit cooler. I've run two other kegs through this setup recently and the only difference was the high pressure shake-up technique. By the way, it worked awesome! It went from flat to foamy in just a few minutes. It's been sitting for a couple of days now and still poured pretty foamy. It settled a lot faster today but I still ended-up with 3/4 a glass of beer when it settled down.

I dont mind the questions buddy, just looking to get this keg right and start sharing with the neighbors!

Thanks.

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Are you calling me "buddy?". I hope so- that's awesome. Not too many guys call me that. One guy called me "dude" which was kinda cool.

Well, if it's pouring foamy, there are a couple of things you can do. As Sketerbuck said, you can pull the pressure relief valve every so often, and that will help. Do you have it on the gas now? If you do, what pressure? Also, how long are your serving lines?

Buzz_Armstrong said:

I dont mind the questions buddy, just looking to get this keg right and start sharing with the neighbors!

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hilarious...

do you happen to have a shorter line on this keg than your others?

this is why i don't like the high pressure shakign method.

If you have a couple kegs on hand, there is no need to rush carbing, and you get a better product.

I like to do 30psi for 2 days then back it down to serving pressure for a week.

Buzz_Armstrong said:

I dont mind the questions buddy...

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Um...you've never met our den mother in person have you.

Loosen your lid. Let the beer sit for 24 hours and the re-fasten the lid and test.

You just need to knock some C02 out of that beer.

YooperBrew said:

Are you calling me "buddy?". I hope so- that's awesome. Not too many guys call me that. One guy called me "dude" which was kinda cool.

Well, if it's pouring foamy, there are a couple of things you can do. As Sketerbuck said, you can pull the pressure relief valve every so often, and that will help. Do you have it on the gas now? If you do, what pressure? Also, how long are your serving lines?

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I started to use "bro" but I remembered that not all Red Wings fans are dudes. "Hey Buddy" is my unisex greeting for all humans, as it makes no assumptions about their view of themselves.

ANYWAY, homie... I've never actually used a measuring tape on the hoses. I asked my wife how long she thought my serving line was and she just laughed at me and said "trust me, its WAY too short". I'll just have to measure it myself later, becuase she's just making jokes about ID/OD and flexibility now... not very helpful.

Buzz_Armstrong said:

I started to use "bro" but I remembered that not all Red Wings fans are dudes. "Hey Buddy" is my unisex greeting for all humans, as it makes no assumptions about their view of themselves.

ANYWAY, homie... I've never actually used a measuring tape on the hoses. I asked my wife how long she thought my serving line was and she just laughed at me and said "trust me, its WAY too short". I'll just have to measure it myself later, becuase she's just making jokes about ID/OD and flexibility now... not very helpful.

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Now, that's funny right there.

I'm sorry to hear about your short hose troubles, though. If it's over 6 feet long, then you're probably overcarbed and releasing the pressure will fix it. Just like shaking a can of soda, once the beer settles down a bit, it'll be better. My serving lines are about 8 feet long. I keep my beer at 11-12 psi, and it dispenses perfectly. I had 6 feet long lines at the beginning, but did get a little foaming after 1/2 the keg was gone, so I went with longer lines.

If your other kegs dispense ok, then it's probably best to just assume this one is overcarbed, though.

Great News! I disconnected the gas line for 24 hours, pulling the relief valve whenever I would think about it. Hooked it back up this morning and poured a perfect beer out of it!! WOOHOO! Time to invite the neighbors over!

I have another question now, though - through this process of speed carbonating, the beer itself (Mexican Cerveza mini-mash kit made with california ale yeast and 1lb of local honey) has come out really nice - tastes "ready", great mouthfeel, flavor is good, etc. I normally don't start serving until 2 months after brew date, just to get it to that optimum condition (otherwise most of it will be gone before it hits it's peak). This beer was brewed on 5/3 and tastes really good already. In another few weeks it could be awesome!

On 5/09 made an amber ale extract kit which I have in the same kegerator, hooked to a common CO2 line via a "T" connector. I just poured a sample of it and it's slightly carbed already but tastes WAY green still. Is it possible that speed carbing would change the actual flavor of the beer and seemingly "mature" the beer faster?

Anyway, I am way off my own original topic and starting to ramble... maybe I shouldn't wake up, crawl out of bed, and sample two beers before I have my coffee! I better go now. Besides, Rachael Ray appears to be trying to communicate with me through my TV. I always knew she would...

I kinda wondered why you were drinking beer at 8 AM but who am I to judge?

I think the conditioning issue is just that the Mexican lager is a less complex beer and it tastes mature faster than your other beer. Carbing vs non-carbing really has nothing to do with aging. Carbonated green beer is still green beer!

That makes sense. Thanks to all for the tips!