Carbonation problems

Ok. So here is the set up.

I made root beer and tried to force carbonate in my 5 gallon keg.

I set my reg to 52psi, and shook the keg vigorously untill no more gas went in.

I let it set overnight with that pressure.

Then in the morning, I lowered the pressure to about 6 psi.

I let it set again for a few hours.

When it dispenses, it pours out as mostly foam.. But once the foam is gone, the soda is flat!!

What am I doing wrong??

Not having served soda from my kegs the only thing I can think of us your serving lines are most likely too short to dispense the soda at that pressure and provide enough resistance to the liquid running through them. This will cause pressure to drop allowing the co2 to come out if solution and giving you a glass if foam. Then once the foam settles your left with the flat soda water. I would suggest longer lines but in sure someone more experienced with soda dispensing can help you out better. Just my .02

I'm not sure but what if you let it carbonate for two days and not drop the gas to 6. Leave it as is try that.

When you do find the problem let us know how you solved it

But then again, it's not logical that (if the liquid is fully carbonated, than one pour at 6psi is a way to de carbonate the liquid). It might be that you are just too anxious for yummy root beer.

Let it carbonate for at least two days.

Well, it's sat for a couple of days,
But that didn't seem to help.

However, I turned the pressure all the way off, then vented the keg (slowly).
After that I turned up the regulator until I started feeling gas pass through the line. (I'm not sure what the pressure is, but it is very low..
Anyway... This seems to work for now.. I'll let you know if the soda goes flat

When i force carbonate i don't like to shake the keg. It always seems to make foam for me.

I like to turn up the pressure to 40 psi and let it sit for one or two days. Once that carbonates it i burp the keg and turn it down to serving pressure. For me that is 15 to 20 psi at 38F.

What is the temperature you are storing the keg at? How long is your serving line and what is that line's inner diameter?