glass full of foam

I'm not sure if I've over carbed or if my beer line is too short or what. I carbed at 30psi for about 24 hours then dropped to 10 psi. When I try to fill my cup I get a cup full of foam that eventually settles down. Once it settles down it tastes great, but it's kind of a pain in the ass to have to wait like that. I have a 2 keg setup with 5' of 3/16 beer hose that I got from keg connection.

Me too! I two or three glasses that are perfect with about an inch of head. Good to go....but then on pour four, nothing but foam. WTH man.

5 foot of line is too short for most of us. I have 10' lines. Your beer could be over carbed also. If it is overcarbed and then you dropped down to 10psi the beer is gonna off gas like crazy. I've found that being patient when kegging is a virtue. I carb the beer at serving pressure for 2-3 weeks before I sample it and it's always a perfect pour and carbonated perfectly. But, first I would start with longer lines.

There is a lot of talk about forced carbonation in 24h using the old shake-the-carboy-with-the-PSI-jacked-up method. To me, this is asking for trouble, 'specially if you're using 5 foot lines. Turn the reg down to 10 PSI, get yourself 8 foot lines and wait 5 days. You'll be rewarded with perfectly carbed HB.
If you wan't to salvage what you have, sanitize a long metal spoon, depressurize, open the carboy and give the beer a good swirl to get the CO2 out of solution. But it back on gas and wait 24h and you should be ok.

Longer lines might help. I force carb (not shake) at 30 psi for two days and then two days at final psi level. I've had a couple that turned out too foamy but you can turn the psi down lower and it will settle.

The essential missing part of the equation here is the temperature your beer is at. 10psi is pretty low unless you're around 33F with 5 foot lines. Turn up your serving pressure.

Btw, are people seriously using 8-10 foot beer lines? I've never heard of using more than 5 feet if you have the right serving pressure for your serving temperature.

My system is set @12 PSI.

I had 5' of 3/16" line and it foamed quite bad. I changed the beer lines out to 10' of 3/16" and its about perfect.

dmcoates said:

My system is set @12 PSI.

I had 5' of 3/16" line and it foamed quite bad. I changed the beer lines out to 10' of 3/16" and its about perfect.

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ditto . was having a similar problem. Longer lines and now I get great puors.

It's about 44* in my fridge.

I had to run about 8 foot of tap line until I put those McMaster epoxy nozzles in my dip tubes.

those are the bomb! I need to remember to take one to the brew club meeting thursday to share.

I think it boils down to imprecise regulator pressure readings, variations in beer line quality (really smooth vs. rough inner walls, not to mention diameter), type of tap (picnic vs faucet)...and the fact that some guys just like a little higher CO2 volume due to growing up on overcarbd BMC's.

Ok,

So I've added 10' of line and I'm still getting a full glass of foam. I've tried at 8 psi, 10 psi, 12 psi, 14 psi. When it settles out it doesn't taste over carbonated but I'm guessing that it's got to be my culprit. How do I go about getting it not over-carbonated?

I am sure you have checked, but it sounds like you have an obstruction somewhere in your system. Maybe in the faucet itself or maybe the faucet needs to be rebuilt. Thats odd, how does it pour if you turn your Reg down to 2 PSI

dmcoates said:

I am sure you have checked, but it sounds like you have an obstruction somewhere in your system. Maybe in the faucet itself or maybe the faucet needs to be rebuilt. Thats odd, how does it pour if you turn your Reg down to 2 PSI

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Well I definitely over-carb'd. At 2 psi the glass pours perfectly but is almost at a soda level carbonation. Guess I goofed up my first batch. Going to try and cut off the gas, release C02, shake keg, de-gas, and repeat. Thanks for the help.

Don't shake the keg. Just set it at serving pressure, hit the pressure relief valve when you get a chance for the next few days and wait a few weeks.

What I typically do if I'm trying to "rush" it is put it at 30 for a day, purge the gas then set it at serving pressure. Usually takes a week. I NEVER shake....EVER.

This thread will have all the information you need. Bobby's method has always worked for me.

I tried the tip from Bizoune about gently stirring out some of the CO2 because I had a dinner party tonight and the beer was perfect. I'm not sure of the long term affect but it worked in a pinch.

Well I did as I saw in another post and shook the keg a bit and released the c02 about 3 times and now it's perfect at serving pressure. Thanks everyone for the help and helping me isolate this down to an over carbonation issue. I'm new to the world of kegging and am looking forward to kegging my IPA tonight as well.

I know this is an old thread but I figured I'd share a technique we used in a brewery. Maybe someone will be able to use this in the future. I've never tried it at home. Hook your gas up to the fluid out tap. Bleed the pressure from the keg. With the co2 in ball/pin lock pressed open (to let out gas). Pump a few quick strong bursts of co2 into that dip tube your hooked up to. These large co2 bubbles knock co2 out of suspension. It will escape through your cracked ball/pin lock. It doesn't take much so after a few shots, pressurize it and test it out.

So I'm running with 6 ft 3/16th lines. Ive been using the set and forget method. 38-40 degrees at 12 PSI. Three different styles on tap. My Honey Nut Brown pours with alot of foam and my Honey Basil Ale is just right. This is all connected by a 3 way air distributor. I'm thinking about buying a secondary regulator with individual pressure gauges. That stuff is expensive!!! Is it even worth it or should I lengthen my lines first?