Balanced System Newbie Question

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natelatte

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Ok.. so i've looked at calculators out the arse. I've got my hefeweizen kegged at 38 degrees. I'm running 10 foot lines of 3/16" ID. By all accounts I am supposed to be in the 27 psi range to obtain the area of 4.1 vols of CO2 for my brew. But i'm still getting 80% foam. Tap is all the way open. lines are actual beer lines. I'm pouring directly into the side of the glass tilted at 45 degrees. I'm stumped.. but then again I'm really not that smart.:mug:
 
Are you trying to pour at 30 psi? That's why you're getting all foam. Disconnect the CO2, vent the keg, turn your psi down to serving pressure and reconnect your CO2.
 
Okay.. that's what I figured was the problem. I knew inside that that was way to high to pour at, but i had a problem with the logic of pressure.

I figured that If I set the PSI to 27, so that the gas will get into the liquid, won't it come out of the liquid when i vent it? or is it not an instantaneous process?

I will definitely do the steps you advised though, thanks.

:mug:
 
No, it's not instantaneous.
Use higher pressures over a period to carbonate the beverage, then drop it to a level that is just enough to push the liquid through the system.

My lines are shorter than yours, but, ~4-5psi is usually plenty to dispense.
 
4.1 volumes of co2 is a huge amount of carbonation. What are you drinking?

I keep my psi at 11-12 psi at all times for carbonating, dispensing, etc. It gives me about 2.1 volumes of co2. If I have a British mild, I just turn it down on that keg, so that it isn't quite as carbonated. I have 8 feet of line, and get a perfect pour.

If you want to have 4.1 volumes of co2, and keep the setting where it is so you're not venting the keg, you'd need about 25 feet of line. I did that with root beer- I had 30 feet of line for it, and kept it about 29 psi, and it poured perfectly. (I'm guessing on the length- you could look it up on the carbonation charts and truly balance your system).
 
Head retention (read foam) in hefes is greater than in most beers. Even though the calculators call for CO2 vols of over 4.0, I've found that even dropping it to 3.0 and still using 10' lines I will get some foaming. Also, when the tap is closed the pressure in the line is at equilibrium. When you open the tap the beer in the near end of the line experiences a rapid drop in pressure and foams. If you let it flow for a second or two the pressure drop along the line becomes stable. Those of you who have tended bar correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you see this at bars where they have high CO2 vol beers on tap.
 
Thanks. I think what i am going to do is just buy a long hose and keep it on hand for the wheat beers since they are the ones that call for a high co2 vol. I have threaded quick disconnects so swapping is easy. The hefe's almost gone now anyway. mug:
 
Homebrewtalk has many many answers and knowledgeable people come in abundance. In light of the numerous answers i have uncovered here, both through posts of my own and other's posts, I have paid my dues to Homebrewtalk and upgraded my membership. The money I have saved in buying the wrong parts alone is well worth it.

Thanks for all your help.
 
Homebrewtalk has many many answers and knowledgeable people come in abundance. In light of the numerous answers i have uncovered here, both through posts of my own and other's posts, I have paid my dues to Homebrewtalk and upgraded my membership. The money I have saved in buying the wrong parts alone is well worth it.

Thanks for all your help.

Cool! Welcome to the club! :mug:

I was the same way. I was here a very short period of time when I realized that I was saving money by reading HBT. I think I became a supporter within a week or so of finding this forum.

I never even thought I'd make really good beer, let alone make AG beers and have my own kegerator! I blame all of you!
It really becomes an obsession, doesn't it?
 
Homebrewtalk has many many answers and knowledgeable people come in abundance. In light of the numerous answers i have uncovered here, both through posts of my own and other's posts, I have paid my dues to Homebrewtalk and upgraded my membership. The money I have saved in buying the wrong parts alone is well worth it.

Thanks for all your help.

That is why I became a Lifer. :mug: I have only brewed 4 batches so far. 3 of the 4 have been in the last 26 days and have been all grain. Batch number 5 is coming up on Monday. I have a 4 day weekend. I have been working on a Pale Ale recipe and an IPA recipe. Batch number 3 for the Pale Ale is the one on Monday. So far I have brewed only one batch of the IPA but when I get done the only place you will be able to find these beers is in my garage :D. Or in yours if'n you want the recipe when it's complete. All grain is a blast. Although I have discovered that I need a new, improved and bigger MLT.
 
OK.. to I purged the keg and set it down to 12 psi.. a few hours later i purged it again and refilled it at 12 psi.

I'm still getting about 80% foam. I know that hefe's foam a little more than normal.. but I'm pretty sure that this much foam is not ok.

The shanks are drilled through the refrigerator door.. so a warm faucet shouldn't be the problem. 10' of 3/16" line.

Could it be the wide spout of my cheap faucet?

I'm not sure how "wide" it is, but i measure it at approximately 14mm..
 
correct me if I am wrong.

If I vent the keg and then reconnect the gas, turning it up from zero until I get a pour won't that dispense foam free beer? But then it would go flat right?
 
A couple of things you can try to nail it down:

-- try venting and dispensing at 2 psi. it will take a long time, but that's ok if it solves the problem.

-- if it's still foaming, then you know the problem's probably not the dispensing pressure, and is probably something in the line. At that point, you could try swapping faucets, tubing, connectors, and even the liquid pickup tube (one at a time, not all at once) to see what fixes the problem.
 
8 psi gives a decent pour. I just worry about the beer going toward the realm of flat as the keg empties. Also I think my faucent is junk. There are a good two seconds of what I would describe as a hollow pour, during which foam is the king. I'm just gonna switch it out for a forward sealing faucet next order I make.
 
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