Kegged beer pours with a head but seems only slightly carbed

I've got an American Amber ale in the keg, did a set and forget of 13PSI @ 44F, for a volume of 2.4. Beersmith style guides says 2.3-2.8 for the style. I've had the beer at this level for about two weeks. I lower to 3PSI for pouring since I only have a 5 foot picnic tap; anything higher and I shoot foam out.

When I pour a glass I get a nice head. But the beer itself seems to be a bit weak on the carb level. I'm trying to determine if that means that I haven't been keeping the PSI at 13 constantly (I did leave it at 3PSI for a couple of days until I learned that I need to keep it at the target pressure unless I'm serving), or if it means that I personally would like a beer at 2.5 or 2.6 volumes.

Thoughts?

Considering you cranked down the psi to 3, i'd give it more time. For me, set it and forget it, takes 3 weeks to FULLY carb.

Also why are you getting foam pours? I use a picnic tap (5ft line) all the time with no problems at all. Remember if you turn down your psi for any length of time co2 is going to break out and cause foaming.

I have had several "bad" liquid connectors on those picnic taps. There was flashing from the molding process partially blocking the exit hole. Drove me crazy! I tried lower pressure, Higher pressure, slow pour, fast pour. Nothing worked, switched to a new liquid disconnect, problem solved.
I was able to fix the "bad" disconnects by removeing the screw part on the top, removing all the springs and "stuff" and running a small drill in the exit hole. Worked great after that.

wildwest450 said:

Considering you cranked down the psi to 3, i'd give it more time. For me, set it and forget it, takes 3 weeks to FULLY carb.

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OK, sounds like since I had it turned down for a bit, I let plenty of carb out, so I'll keep it up at 13 for another week or two and check then.

wildwest450 said:

Also why are you getting foam pours? I use a picnic tap (5ft line) all the time with no problems at all. Remember if you turn down your psi for any length of time co2 is going to break out and cause foaming.

Click to expand...

Not quite sure why I get foam with the 5ft; inexperience? This is my first brew and first kegging so still learning. When I open the tap, I get a lot of foam in the line, so I assumed the pressure was too high. I haven;t let it flow for a bit to see if it settles and that;s just initial foam in the line. I can try a pint pour tonight at 13PSI and see what happens.

ne0t0ky0 said:

OK, sounds like since I had it turned down for a bit, I let plenty of carb out, so I'll keep it up at 13 for another week or two and check then.



Not quite sure why I get foam with the 5ft; inexperience? This is my first brew and first kegging so still learning. When I open the tap, I get a lot of foam in the line, so I assumed the pressure was too high. I haven;t let it flow for a bit to see if it settles and that;s just initial foam in the line. I can try a pint pour tonight at 13PSI and see what happens.

Click to expand...

Don't forget to crack the tap open as fast as possible and tilt that glass.
I'm sure it will be good, be patient.

Tried a pour at 13 PSI, man that comes out fast (probably 2 or 3 second pour; tops). I got 2/3 beer and 1/3 head with a little spill over onto the floor. Came out the same as my lower PSI pours once the head settled down. I'd say at this point, I just need to RDWHAHB and enjoy my slightly undercarbed homebrew, wait a week and see how it is then.

I did see this thread about the dip tube flow gate which looked mighty interesting:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/cure-your-short-hose-troubles-100151/

Honestly, I've found that one guy's setup just doesn't always work for the next guy, even when all variables are the same (ID of tubing, line length, CO2 psi, etc).
There are some truths, and then there's mysteries that make one guy have problems.

In your situation, increasing the resistance is better than constantly changing psi to pour. Instead of long lines, get the epoxy mixers for your dip tube, and you can make 2 feet of tap pour like a dream.

I just got my mixers for the dip tubes; used a screw driver to push it out, sanitized them, and put two into the diptube. I left the PSI at 13 and ... it *does* pour like a dream!



I highly recommend this to everyone.