Is This What Overcarbonation Looks Like? (photo)

1st time kegging. Long story, but basically I tried to force carbonate for 5 days at 30 PSI at 62 F, but the beer was still flat with 1 inch of foam. Then I put it in the mini-fridge for 3 days at 15-18 PSI at 36 F. Today I turned it down to 8 PSI.

It went from 1 inch of foam in a pint glass to nearly half the glass being foam, but the beer still tastes a little flat. Can beer taste flat when it's overcarbonated too? There are quite alot of bubbles coming up the beer line during a glass pour and even after pouring a pint glass.



If it's undercarbonated (which explains the flat taste) but just has high foam then I should just wait longer.

If it's overcarbonated (and still tastes flat, if that's possible) then I'm going to have to release the pressure tab on the keg and then start over right?

Thanks



By the way, the beer lines are 4.7 feet and are cold, and I raise up the tap when I pour. This amount of foam is not from short beer lines is it? Seems like too much foam for that right?
(photo fixed)

Can't see your photo...{edit} Now I can see it. I would release all the pressure with the value, and put it back on the gas in the minifridge according to the CO2 chart. (there are lots of links to such charts on these forum, sorry I don't have a link handy). What type of beer is this? Most of my beers are in the keezer at 11 psi, but my lines are longer (10 feet).

Here's the chart in question.

Yes, that's the carbonation chart that I used for the last 2 weeks.

GilSwillBasementBrews said:

Here's the chart in question.

Click to expand...

I know all about the carbonation chart. The chart doesn't tell me the state of carbonation that I have in my beer in the photo (over or under). It doesn't even tell you how many days it will take to reach that level (given the temp, PSI, and carb level desired). I'm asking if the photo looks like overcarbonation, or is it just foamy from short beer lines (4.7 feet). And also if beer can still taste flat if overcarbonated (mine tastes flat).

I'm new to carbonating, but not that new.

I think it's foamy from short lines. It could be percieved as flat or under carbed due to the co2 coming out of solution from insufficient backpressure when filling the glass. I would try longer lines ( I use 10') and see if that fixes your issue.

Sorry for posting the co2 chart just figured since the one poster commented about not having it handy I would post it up since I have it in hand.

The lines could be warm. Tucking the lines near a cooler area of the fridge fixed the problem for me

GilSwillBasementBrews said:

I think it's foamy from short lines. It could be percieved as flat or under carbed due to the co2 coming out of solution from insufficient backpressure when filling the glass. I would try longer lines ( I use 10') and see if that fixes your issue.

Click to expand...

Ok, I could see it being from short lines. Of course the store sells you the short lines without mentioning foam. Does anyone else think that the beer line equation should be used, or is 10 foot lines just a good idea?


Two types of resistance exist in the beer lines, vertical resistance (elevation) and horizontal distance (length of lines). A 3/16” tube has a resistance of 3 PSI/ft. Use the following equation to determine the length that you need. Length = (serving pressure – 1)/resistance. If you’re serving a highly carbonated beer at 18 PSI, then (18-1)/3 = 5.5 feet of vinyl tubing is required. So according to this equation, it seems like 10 foot lines would never be necessary. People usually say that regular serving pressure is 6-12 PSI, so that would make tube length less than 5 feet. That doesn't really make sense.

I'm not advocating the equation necessarily, equations can be wrong and if 10 foot lines work, then they work.

spaceyaquarius said:

I know all about the carbonation chart. ...

I'm new to carbonating, but not that new.

Click to expand...

I see that you've been discussing this issue in two other threads in the last few days, and the chart was given and the equation to figure line length. If I had known you knew all that, I wouldn't have mentioned it. Sorry.

FWIW, short lines almost always our the first pint foamy even when the line is cold and the pressure is right. ymmv.

Ok, I realize I'm being very impatient. It's my 1st kegged beer and I screwed it up (at least temporarily). Now that I've drank 3 more pints, the head is a little lower now (2.5-3 inches), and now I can see consistent bubbling (more than champagne bubbles).

I am thinking of concluding that it went from an undercarbed beer to an overcarbed beer overnight (last night). The beer lines are very cold since the fridge is 34-36 F.

I turned the tank down to 8 PSI and that should let some of the CO2 equilibrate as each pint is poured. Didn't mean to be too pushy. I'm new!!!!

I found a temporary solution. If you place 2 orange slices and 2 lime slices in the glass before pouring, the acid in the citrus will kill the head so that it almost pours out normal.

I think the beer will equilibrate itself inside the keg in the next day or two.



Thank you everyone!!!

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spaceyaquarius said:

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Click to expand...

The carbonation seems to have balanced out. The underlying problem is the fact that I let the grains boil at over 170 dgress (actually at 202 degrees F) and I have read that tannis leeching makes a bitter taste. The beer lines are also too short at 4.7 feet.

So I have the dirty trifecta of homebrewing and 1st time kegging.

My next batch is almost ready for kegging. I will invite my 300 pound loser friend over to frain the crappy beer keg.

OK, if anyone cares, the force carbonation did overcarbonate the beer. When the keg had a leak, some carbonation did get infused into the beer. Then when I re-filled the CO2 tank, I jacked up the pressure even more wanting to be able to drink my 1st kegged beer in 3 days.

Then when I thought the beer was flat and tasted bad, I even rocked the keg back and forth for a few minutes. Burping the keg let out some pressure, but by 03-16-2013 all of the head was gone and the taste of the beer was so bitter that it was completely undrinkable. I poured out the last 1/6th of the keg.

Blue Moon Clone is now in the keg. Set the PSI to 10 and just waiting until it is ready. I'll never force carbonate again.

Well....what you're doing right now is force carbonating your beer.

What you really mean to swear off doing is commonly called "burst carbing".

And I took that oath from the jump...

Cheers!

When I want to force carb I rack my beer to the keg and set the reg to 30 psi. With the keg at room temperature
24 hours later of refrigeration I set to 10 psi and its pretty darn spot on every single time.

Don't tempt me do try force carbonation again.

Satan, get thee hence!

Those photos really do show what overcarbonation looks like. There were different stages.

2 inches of head with a flat tasting beer, then a few glasses later 3 inches of head with an acidic/metallic aftertaste, and sometimes the head in the glass in low/medium/high.

Sometimes there are no bubbles in the liquid (bc so much CO2 had come out and turned into foam/head). Then other times there were medium/large amounts of bubbles coming out of the liquid.

Overcarbing sucks!