What pressure are you serving at??

Alright, I'm having problems with my kegerator again! I've been down this road ever since I've started kegging and it's very frustrating to say the least.

I typically "boost carb" a chilled keg (40* F) at 30 psi and shake until it's a little under the volume I'd actually want (by taste of course). I then release the gas and set at 12 psi at around 43* F for my serving pressure.

I have a dual tap Danby kegerator and have 10 ft lines by the way.

It's been about a week since I kegged an APA of mine and it's now pouring straight foam! It's not only on the first pour, but all of the pours (this morning I tested it and I filled 4 pint glasses up with foam!!). It was a little frozen last night b/c I was playing with the temp gauge, but it's not today (I opened and checked).

I turned my gas off and it's not sitting with 12 psi that's in the keg and no more going into it. I've been kegging long enough to know when my beer is overcarbed and I don't think this is the problem.

What pressure do yall serve at b/c I'm thinking this may be my problem?

the problem with "boost" carbing, as you call it, is it's very easy to overcarb a beverage. A good rule of thumb I know many people follow including myself, is to NOT carb at Hi pressure...carb it at the serving pressure you wish to use. If you serve at 8psi, then hook your keg up to the co2, adjust to 8psi and let it slowly carbonate over a week or so..then you'll have perfectly carbed beer, and correct serving pressure as well. I can't even count the number of posts I read like that, where people have foaming issues after they force carb at high pressure.

How long is your dispensing hose? and what is the I.D.? Also 12psi is too high to be serving at.....you should be down closer to 6-8psi.

Basically sounds like your beer is now overcarbed....turn the gas off, and over the next day or so..go out and pull the let off valve on your keg to let off extra/unwanted co2....keep doing this until it releases no or minimal gas...then you can start over.

Dan

Well, I have 10' 3/16 ID beer hose. I have it off of the gas right now and I think that I'll try what your saying.

Thanks,
J

I've got 12' of 3/16" line and I serve all my beers at 12 psi, although I'm not sure about the temperature.

Could be an obstruction in the Out line. Try the above suggestion first and if its not a fix, vent the keg, pull off the out post and dip tube, clean it, re-install, and then check the tap line for anything like hop leafs or a glob of 'something', including the tap spigot itself.

malkore said:

Could be an obstruction in the Out line. Try the above suggestion first and if its not a fix, vent the keg, pull off the out post and dip tube, clean it, re-install, and then check the tap line for anything like hop leafs or a glob of 'something', including the tap spigot itself.

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Well, it is an APA and it's highly hopped, but I used pellets so I don't think that's the problem, but hey, I'm willing to try anything.

Thanks,
J

It's just overcarbed, nothing more. It's very difficult to decarb quickly too. Warm the keg up a bit, then pull the release slowly until foam comes out. Wait 4 hours, pull the release until foam comes out. Repeat again about 3 more times. Then chill it back down. Rather than boost carbing it at a higher pressure, try making the beer cold and shaking it at serving PSI. That will speed carbonation but it will never overcarb. It might take a couple days with a few shakes per day, but it will be right.

Bobby_M said:

It's just overcarbed, nothing more. It's very difficult to decarb quickly too. Warm the keg up a bit, then pull the release slowly until foam comes out. Wait 4 hours, pull the release until foam comes out. Repeat again about 3 more times. Then chill it back down. Rather than boost carbing it at a higher pressure, try making the beer cold and shaking it at serving PSI. That will speed carbonation but it will never overcarb. It might take a couple days with a few shakes per day, but it will be right.

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Alright, thanks Bobby. Yesterday I left the kegs in the kegerator, but purged the air out of them twice before setting at 8 psi and leaving it there last night. I didn't get a chance to pull a pint due to the fact I had a lot of work to do last night, but I will see tonight.

I'll give you guys an update later on.

Thanks,
J

I figure I have waited 5 + weeks for the beer to make it to the keg, what's another 5-6 days while it conditions at serving pressure. I did the force carbing thing a few times - not a pure success, but needed to get the beer ready for guests etc.

kappclark said:

I figure I have waited 5 + weeks for the beer to make it to the keg, what's another 5-6 days while it conditions at serving pressure. I did the force carbing thing a few times - not a pure success, but needed to get the beer ready for guests etc.

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Yeah, well I think I found out what my problem is. I popped open one of the kegs and it wasn't frozen, so I assumed the other one wasn't either. IT IS, BAD! I poked it with a sanitized brewing spoon and I'd say 7" was solid ice that just pushed down into the alcoholic mixture of what I used to call beer on the bottom. I have both of my kegs out of the fridge now and once their thawed, I'll put them back in and reset to serving temp.

<------Frustrated with this damn danby.

Hah...ice will do that. I had a 1/2 keg of BMC that had about five gallons in it freeze up and start blowing gas. It was left outside at my hunt club and it got down into single digits. Put a hair dryer in the keg box for a half hour and we were back in business.

wilserbrewer said:

Hah...ice will do that. I had a 1/2 keg of BMC that had about five gallons in it freeze up and start blowing gas. It was left outside at my hunt club and it got down into single digits. Put a hair dryer in the keg box for a half hour and we were back in business.

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Yeah, that was the problem. I let the kegs sit out all day and now they're not frozen I adjusted the temp on my fridge set my psi to 12 and poured a foam free pint.

Man, I was really irritated with this crap. I think I may need to get a better thermometer or something. It seems that the air in my kegerator doesn't circulate very well and it's giving me cold spots. These cold spots seem keg freeze when the other doesn't.

Stress, it's what's for dinner.

J

flyweed said:

How long is your dispensing hose? and what is the I.D.? Also 12psi is too high to be serving at.....you should be down closer to 6-8psi.
Dan

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As I am new to keging I am lost on some aspects. The beer I currently have carbing the nice easy set forget slower way needs a psi of 18 to get to the volumes at the temp it is at (Ommegang Hennipen belgian Sasson 2.8 volumes). Am I supposed to dial back the psi for serving? I have 12 ft of 3/16 tubing. How do I know when it is fully carbed?

Am I supposed to dial back the psi for serving? I do, bout 4-6psi for me.

How do I know when it is fully carbed? Try it.

I have never done the shake, rattle and roll method. I heard once that a beer will only show its head once and that was enough for me to use the slow n low method. It is still carb'd in +/-4 days.

To the OP, try keeping your temp a little higher. You may be suprised by the new found complexity of your beer.

HalfPint said:

Yeah, well I think I found out what my problem is. I popped open one of the kegs and it wasn't frozen, so I assumed the other one wasn't either. IT IS, BAD! I poked it with a sanitized brewing spoon and I'd say 7" was solid ice that just pushed down into the alcoholic mixture of what I used to call beer on the bottom. I have both of my kegs out of the fridge now and once their thawed, I'll put them back in and reset to serving temp.

<------Frustrated with this damn danby.

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I feel your pain but I am so glad I did not get one. I was so close to buying a used Danby on craiglist until I searched around on here.

Tiako said:

I feel your pain but I am so glad I did not get one. I was so close to buying a used Danby on craiglist until I searched around on here.

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Yeah, it's kind of a piece of crap. I bought it brand new for $125 with a 1 year factory warranty, but it came with no tap or Co2 tank. I bought a two tap tower and a couple of cornies.

The fridge fits two cornies with a 5 lb Co2 tank inside. It was very easy to make and it's a quality fridge. Everything except for the temperature control seems to be good.

J

Soulrebel said:

Am I supposed to dial back the psi for serving? I do, bout 4-6psi for me.
.

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Won't the beer go flat if you leave it at a lower psi for serving. Well at least flatter than intended?

Soulrebel said:

Am I supposed to dial back the psi for serving? I do, bout 4-6psi for me.

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If the system is balanced you should be able to serve at your desired carb level. I carb and serve at 12psi depending on style of course and around +/- 41° with 10 ft 3/16 lines. No foaming at all.

springer said:

If the system is balanced you should be able to serve at your desired carb level. I carb and serve at 12psi depending on style of course and around +/- 41° with 10 ft 3/16 lines. No foaming at all.

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Do you have a keezer with shanks or do you have a tower?

I get foam on my first pour sometimes. I need to do some sort of cooling for my tower.

HalfPint said:

Do you have a keezer with shanks or do you have a tower?

I get foam on my first pour sometimes. I need to do some sort of cooling for my tower.

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I have a chest freezer kegerator with shanks and a Vissani commercial kegerator with a two tap tower . The Vissani will give a little more head on the first pour but not a huge amount I guess since only 4 or 5 inches of the hose is in the tower the rest (10 ft) is inside the kegerator.

springer said:

I have a chest freezer kegerator with shanks and a Vissani commercial kegerator with a two tap tower . The Vissani will give a little more head on the first pour but not a huge amount I guess since only 4 or 5 inches of the hose is in the tower the rest (10 ft) is inside the kegerator.

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What faucets do you use?

HalfPint said:

What faucets do you use?

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All six are perlick 525's ... And I really hate that some the P was engraved into the tap and some its just acid etched on... So now I have three on the keezer that match and on oddball

springer said:

All six are perlick 525's ... And I really hate that some the P was engraved into the tap and some its just acid etched on... So now I have three on the keezer that match and on oddball

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I'm getting some perlicks for Christmas. I'm stoked!

I use 2 of these in my dip tube and 5' of 3/16" hose. I serve at 12 psi @ 40 degs. Seems to work well for me.
yes I do remove the spiral part w/ needle nose pliers ...I forget who originally posted this method but I want to thank them!

Ryno said:

I've use 2 of these in my dip tube and 5' 3/16" hose. I serve at 12 psi @ 40 degs. Seems to work well for me.

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Pic didn't work.

Edit:

Does on mine lol.

mitch171 said:

Won't the beer go flat if you leave it at a lower psi for serving. Well at least flatter than intended?

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springer said:

If the system is balanced you should be able to serve at your desired carb level. I carb and serve at 12psi depending on style of course and around +/- 41° with 10 ft 3/16 lines. No foaming at all.

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Mitch171 yes, over time. I drink pretty fast and can always put it on the gas for a little if the carbonation starts to fade.

springer, I don't have the patience(skillz?) to balance my system. I messed with it for a bit, but everyone says get more tubing and I would rather manipulate the gas than clean a bunch of tubing.


Ryno looks like he may have the ticket though.

Ryno said:

I use 2 of these in my dip tube and 5' of 3/16" hose. I serve at 12 psi @ 40 degs. Seems to work well for me.
yes I do remove the spiral part w/ needle nose pliers ...I forget who originally posted this method but I want to thank them!

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I don't keg. YET but what does this do for your system?

I also put two of these in the diptubes. It increases the length the beer must travel by having it spiral up the tube. Two of them slows down 12psi beer quite a bit. I think I'm going to go down to one, or one and a half on my next keg.


Edit: Here is the link to the discussion on the paint stirrers:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/cure-your-short-hose-troubles-100151/

It can be a pain removing them to clean and soak in a Star san bucket. An air compressor will do the job! Dont use you hand to catch them on the way out without using a rag. Hurts like a *****! .....from what I've been told