Foam but no bubbles in solution

I am working on carbonating my first kegged batch. I am serving from 8 foot cooled lines.
Initially I had my fridge at 50 degrees and 20psi I left it for 2 weeks and it poured a good beer, but no bubbles in the beer, just in the head.
I wanted this to be a highly carbonated beer so I turned the regulator to 50psi and rolled the keg for ~5minutes. I let it settle for 12 hours. This time the beer poured mostly foam but still no bubbles in the beer itself.
Now I have turned the fridge down to 40 degrees and to 25 psi for 1 week. Still, the beer pours all foam and when it settles there are no bubbles in the beer itself.
Just to experiment I relieved the pressure from the keg and set the regulator to 2psi to serve a test; still all foam and no bubbles when it settles.
While there is foam if I swirl the glass I can see tiny bubbles, but they quickly settle to the surface.

What am I doing wrong?
My lines should be long enough. I don't think I've overcarbonated because nothing seems to be in solution. I've read the https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/keg-force-carbing-methods-illustrated-73328/ I cant find if I've done anything wrong. I want this beer to be fairly highly carbonated and have a steady stream of bubbles flowing from the bottom of my glass.

Thanks for any input.

This seems to be a common problem and not in the FAQ. I am having the same problem with a ginger ale that's my first thing ever kegged. Trying to learn the ropes before kegging my beer.

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I am no exert in anyway, in fact I have not kegged anything yet, but have read a lot b/c i am starting kegging this weekend. I have read that if you card and then put into the fridge, it will loose all carbonation. Not sure if that helps at all, but I am curious what others say as well. Also, the 50 PSI is way too high from what I read, especially if you are shaking it. Same with the 25 for a week. I have read either 12 PSI for two weeks or 30 PSI for 24-36 hours, purge then 12 PSI for remainder. This all while beer is at serving temperature.

Not sure if that is right either, but from what I read, it seems good. Let me know if I am wrong, b/c I will be kegging soon.

8 foot lines but what inside diameter? 1/4"? 3/16"?

Your beer is grossly overcarbed by now. 20psi at 50F for 2 weeks would get you close to 2.5 volumes which is pretty good for most beers. However, at that pressure, your serving line length and ID is really crucial. If you want to serve at 50F in the future, you'll want about 12 feet of 3/16" ID tubing.\
From there, a 50psi + agitation process is going to put a ridiculous amount of CO2 into solution. You might have hit 3-4 volumes doing that.

After going 40F @ 25psi for a week, your beer was likely maintaining near 4 volumes which is on the high end for all beers.


Any time you get more foam than beer in the glass, your serving line is not restrictive enough for the carb level you have. The last thing you want to do is try carbing it MORE.

smmcdermott said:

I have read that if you carb and then put into the fridge, it will loose all carbonation.

Click to expand...

Not 100% true without clarification. If you carb to 2.5 volumes using the chart and later chill it down, it still has 2.5 volumes. You just have to pay attention to the chart as you move temperatures so that you can readjust the constant pressure you're applying.

Example. You want to carb to 2.5 volumes but the beer is 50F.

Refer to http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

You'll need 18psi and wait 2-3 weeks.

Now you want to put the keg in the fridge at 38F and maintain 2.5 volumes.
Let it cool to that temp, set your regulator to 11 psi and connect it back to the keg.

Thanks Bobby, question though. If you do carb at 50 at 25 PSI then put in the fridge, how do you use that chart to figure out your new volumes?

Volumes is a measure of actual carbonation, how much CO2 is dissolved. If you achieve carbonation at one temp and pressure, changing only the temperature leaves volumes the same. The pressure inside the keg will drop but the carb level is the same.

So is there a way to calculate the actual difference?

Thanks for the input.

I am using 8' of 3/16" line.
I was shooting for 3-3.5 volumes, so highly carbonated.
But my question remains; even though there is foam, when it settles as liquid beer there doesn't seem to be any carbonation.

Is there anything wrong with using more 3/16" line? Since I like highly carbonated styles should I go ahead and replace my lines with 15'? Would that still pour a head?

This is just a suggestion but co2 will absorbe into solution much easier at colder temps you should get it as close to freezing as possible, most beer will freeze at 28 degrees F. Also running the co2 down the product side, the tube on the product side will send the co2 to the bottom of the tank, and force the co2 up threw the solutuion this should help with co2 absorbtion. OR even better a stainless steel carb stone attached to a lenth of hose on the co2 side.