Trouble with dispensing my brew. ALL FOAM! Please help!

Well, I just got my kegerator all set up. 3 gallon Corny keg. I have spent countless hours scouring forums for solutions and finally thought i would post here.

I set my PSI to 40 and shook like crazy for a while. Set it to 30 and left it overnight. then I woke up and noticed I had some carbonation, but it was dispensing with nearly solid foam. I keep setting my PSI to 30 or 40 to try to carb it up, but so far all I get is a glass of foam and flat beer.

I have a 5foot twisted PVC beverage dispensing line. I am dispensing 2feet below the top of the keg. I have tried dispensing at 10, 5, 3, 2, psi and all i get is foam. Its been 3 days since i placed my beer in the keg.

Would it be a good idea to set and forget it at 15 psi for a week?

Will flat beer come out as foam?
Please Help!

as_saturn_ascends said:

Well, I just got my kegerator all set up. 3 gallon Corny keg. I have spent countless hours scouring forums for solutions and finally thought i would post here.

I set my PSI to 40 and shook like crazy for a while. Set it to 30 and left it overnight. then I woke up and noticed I had some carbonation, but it was dispensing with nearly solid foam. I keep setting my PSI to 30 or 40 to try to carb it up, but so far all I get is a glass of foam and flat beer.

I have a 5foot twisted PVC beverage dispensing line. I am dispensing 2feet below the top of the keg. I have tried dispensing at 10, 5, 3, 2, psi and all i get is foam. Its been 3 days since i placed my beer in the keg.

Would it be a good idea to set and forget it at 15 psi for a week?

Will flat beer come out as foam?
Please Help!

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Its flat since all the CO2 came out as foam. When I force carb as you did I shake it and then let it sit for a day or two depending on the size keg at 30psi or so. Then I drop it down to 14-15 psi and bleed off the extra co2 from the release valve twice a day or more for the next 4 days or so. Then pull a pint and adjust the CO2 down or up depending on the pour. You really can’t go from full force carbing to pouring overnight without having a foam issue. To me force carbing is carbing in one week vs. three. Also check out the thread on short hose issues.

Ryan

as_saturn_ascends said:

I have a 5foot twisted PVC beverage dispensing line. I am dispensing 2feet below the top of the keg. I have tried dispensing at 10, 5, 3, 2, psi and all i get is foam. Its been 3 days since i placed my beer in the keg.

Would it be a good idea to set and forget it at 15 psi for a week?

Click to expand...

Anytime the pressure within the beer is greater than the pressure you have set on your regulator, foam develops. Anytime you have more psi on your regulator than you have resistance in the line, foam develops.

In your case, it sounds to me like your carbonation is greater than the 10psi equivalent, or is "overcarbed". If you set it at 15psi, you might have less foam from your overcarb, but more because your 5ft only gives a resistance of about 12psi.

I would take it off the gas and burp it a few times a day. Next time, don't shake your keg. It makes the carbing process really inaccurate. If you must rush it, just set to 30 psi for a day, burp it, then let it gradually come to correct carb over the next few days at the correct pressure.

man that was a great post! i think it really helped me understand what it takes to keg. i have been bleeding the co2 out before pouring, but i think i will follow your instructions Ryan before i try to pour anymore.

any other suggestions are welcome!

dkershner said:

Anytime the pressure within the beer is greater than the pressure you have set on your regulator, foam develops. Anytime you have more psi on your regulator than you have resistance in the line, foam develops.

In your case, it sounds to me like your carbonation is greater than the 10psi equivalent, or is "overcarbed". If you set it at 15psi, you might have less foam from your overcarb, but more because your 5ft only gives a resistance of about 12psi.

I would take it off the gas and burp it a few times a day. Next time, don't shake your keg. It makes the carbing process really inaccurate. If you must rush it, just set to 30 psi for a day, burp it, then let it gradually come to correct carb over the next few days at the correct pressure.

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would you recommend leaving it at 10-12 psi or should i up it to 15-16 for a week? thanks man! good stuff!

as_saturn_ascends said:

would you recommend leaving it at 10-12 psi or should i up it to 15-16 for a week? thanks man! good stuff!

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Since it sounds like it’s really over carbed now I would shut the gas off completely for two days venting it a few times a day. Then put the gas back at 10-12 and up it from there as needed allowing at least 24hrs between psi increases.

And to clarify I usually only shake my 3 gal kegs since I usually use them for testing. For a 5 gal I do everything else the same like dkershner said just set it high for a few days then bleed it off and lower the psi for another few days bleeding off any extra pressure as needed.

I am not a "shaker", but it sure sounds like 40 psi and shaking is asking for foam. Think about a soda and what happens when it's shaken up.

Do as the others said, and turn the gas off and then burp the keg a couple of times per day.

Also, since the line is lowering and you're dispensing at lower than keg height, you may want to adjust your line length. Or, dispense higher. The more resistance you push through, the less foam you'll get.

Wow another over carbed beer, that makes about 5 a week on here. Please read the caption under my username.

The 40psi shaking probably carbed it to 2 volumes right away. Letting it sit overnight at 30psi pushed it way over the top.

What's the inside diameter of your serving line?

When did you brew this beer?

as_saturn_ascends said:

would you recommend leaving it at 10-12 psi or should i up it to 15-16 for a week? thanks man! good stuff!

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Just to answer your question, I agree with Ryan. 10-12 should always be your target unless you got a Belgian or a Hefeweizen on your hands, though in that case you would need longer lines. There are also reasons for less, but for starters, stick to 10-12, erring towards 10.

I am not sure what the inside diameter of my line is. its 1/4" braided PVC. It fits nicely onto my faucet and the top of the keg. I shut off the c02 and will begin to burp it. time to find out my inside diameter!

I started this batch 17 days ago. Its a tasty specialty amber. a very unusual malt profile. lots of mountain herbs and mountain water. a really delicious beer. I can't thank all of you enough for your help getting this on tap. i was really impressed at how hard it was to find a solution online. thank you!

as_saturn_ascends said:

I am not sure what the inside diameter of my line is. its 1/4" braided PVC. It fits nicely onto my faucet and the top of the keg. I shut off the c02 and will begin to burp it. time to find out my inside diameter!

I started this batch 17 days ago. Its a tasty specialty amber. a very unusual malt profile. lots of mountain herbs and mountain water. a really delicious beer. I can't thank all of you enough for your help getting this on tap. i was really impressed at how hard it was to find a solution online. thank you!

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I'd start by going out and buying 3/16" beverage line, 10 feet per tap. That should solve any foaming problems later, and improve the overcarbed beer now.

Yooper is right about the 3/16" and 10feet of it. I don't get the hurry to be drinking a carbed 17 day old beer. Gotta be a bit more patient.

If you think it will be a really delicious beer, I would give it at least month to blend, especially with spices in there.

Rush your IPA's and Hefe's, leave the malt boys alone for awhile.

the upside to this beer is that when you drink it young it has such a fantastic flavor! But even better, when it hits the 2month mark it totally changes; after 2 months its just ridiculous how good it is! but its different. its almost like having two beers at once. you get the young malty unblended side of it and the delicious strange flavor after two months (fruity/spicy) I thought kegging would be the best way to have both of these worlds in this beer.

Either way, I definitely appreciate all the replies. I am off to the store to get some 3/16" line and 10 feet of it!
Thanks for the quick deductions and ample advice. it comes highly appreciated.

i will give it some patience. Patience is practically an ingredient in any good beer!

Thanks to you guys i hope to have it ready to go here in a couple weeks.