Excessive head - but different problem from all the other threads

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sfrisby

sfrisby

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No, not just another excessive head thread, at least not another that I have been able to find on the forum.

I consistenly have excessive head ONLY on commercial kegs. The first pour of the day, or an hour or so between pours (which doesn't happen often) results in excessive head.

If I just undo the type D coupler and install the ball locks fittings and hook up a homebrew keg, it works perfectly. That should rule out temperature, warm tower, line size, line length, ect... concerns.

This has been consistant for several years. Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
Yes! Stop buying kegs of commercial beer! Research only takes a bottle of each, the rest should be HOMEBREW!
 
Could be the different levels the commercial beers are carbed too. More c02 coming out of solution in the lines when it warms up. How long are you lines outside the fridge. It could still be an issue with cold beer hitting warm beer/lines, just the increased pressure of a commercial keg over your homebrew makes it noticeable.
 
i always have a 5 gal commercial keg on tap along with a homebrew on tap at all times and have experienced this same issue. i have found that it varies with the type of beer as well. i normally keep my serving pressure around 10 psi with 5ft of beer line on my homebrew but most of the time i find that is too much pressure for the commerical kegs. i usually keep them around 7 to 8 psi. the pour is a bit slower but it helps with the excessive head. just try lowering your pressure a bit and see if that helps.
 
More seriously, I would suggest using a longer beer line for the commercial kegs to cut down on the foaming. They are probably overpressurized in anticipation of commercial usage by bars and restaurants, where the beer lines are usually a bit longer than what we homebrewers use. Temperature change, as IrregularPulse suggested, can also cause the same symptoms.
 
sfrisby said:
No, not just another excessive head thread, at least not another that I have been able to find on the forum.

I consistenly have excessive head ONLY on commercial kegs. The first pour of the day, or an hour or so between pours (which doesn't happen often) results in excessive head.

If I just undo the type D coupler and install the ball locks fittings and hook up a homebrew keg, it works perfectly. That should rule out temperature, warm tower, line size, line length, ect... concerns.

This has been consistant for several years. Any ideas?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I think the commercial keg was carbed to higher CO2 volumes. Say it was sitting at 13PSI, and you are set at 10 PSI. The CO2 is going to come out of solution. The longer it sits, the more accululates in the lines. So the first pour will be foamy. You could depressurize the keg and re-carb to your levels, or increase the CO2 pressure until Co2 no longer comes out of solution. Once you increase the CO2, you will need to rebalance your lines.
 
RDWHAHB said:
I think the commercial keg was carbed to higher CO2 volumes. Say it was sitting at 13PSI, and you are set at 10 PSI. The CO2 is going to come out of solution. The longer it sits, the more accululates in the lines. So the first pour will be foamy. You could depressurize the keg and re-carb to your levels, or increase the CO2 pressure until Co2 no longer comes out of solution. Once you increase the CO2, you will need to rebalance your lines.
Click to expand...

X2^^ don’t the regular keg hook ups have pressure release? If so just take it off the gas and bleed it off a few times over the next few days to lower the CO2 to your keg levels then carb at your current level.
 
Most BMC is carbed to 14psi at 38f, far higher than most homebrews. It's a simple case of adjusting your keg temps and cranking up the psi, or excessive bleeding. Longer lines won't help in this case.
 
So let me make sure I understand this. I can solve the problem by either increasing or decreasing the pressure. Interesting.

If I decrease the pressure, beer flows slower, but less agrivation to create foam. Makes sense.

Or I can increase pressure to reach equilibrium in co2 solution. And it sounds like 13-14psi will accomplish that. Do I have that right?
 
I think you got it.
A) Decrease pressure and give time to equilibriate with your pressure. You might over shoot (under carb) and have to re-carb a bit.
B) Up your CO2 pressure to be in equilibrium with the keg. Apparently around 14 PSI @ 38 deg. Then rebalance with longer lines if it shoots out too fast. What temp are you at?
 
RDWHAHB -

A) I don't force carb since I bottle part of each brew so undershooting should be a problem.

B) The temp is set at 41, but at any point it can flucuate from 41 up to 47 or so before it rekicks the engines.
 

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