pouring a glass from keg: beer, foam, beer

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bmbigda

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2009
Messages
329
Reaction score
13
Location
Scituate, MA
Hey so I've got a keg of Black IPA. I keg conditioned it for a month then I forced carbed it (30 psi, shake, 30 psi, shake, 30 psi, purge, 10.5 psi)

It's set to the same pressure I've been using for other beers without any problems. That pressure is 10.5 psi, based on the Beersmith calculation and trial and error.

Here's the problem: When I go to pour a glass, I get the beer that was in the line first, then as soon as that's gone it goes to straight foam for a short time, then back to good flowing beer. This is causing a pour with 50-75% foam and it's annoing the piss out of me.

I can't figure out what's causing it because I carbed it no differently than any of the batches i've had no issues with in the past. It's not an obstructed dip tube because it eventually pours fine.

I was wondering if anyone could think of a cause?

Thanks!
 
You overcarbed the beer.

I know you don't think you did, but you did. That's the way mine pour when I overcarb. Solve by shutting off the gas to the keg for a while and venting some pressure once or twice or thre times.

Either that, or part of your line is getting too close to a heat source, (have a warming pad in your fridge to keep it from freezing?), and warming up part of the line.
 
You overcarbed the beer.

I know you don't think you did, but you did. That's the way mine pour when I overcarb. Solve by shutting off the gas to the keg for a while and venting some pressure once or twice or thre times.

Either that, or part of your line is getting too close to a heat source, (have a warming pad in your fridge to keep it from freezing?), and warming up part of the line.

You're right by saying it's possible that i overcarbed. I did keg condition, and hit it with 30 psi to seal the keg at first. Obviously some if not all of that co2 was dissolved over a period of a month.

However, I've overcarbed beer before and it just poured alka-seltzer like beer. No foam issues.

I'm going to kill the gas for a week and purge a couple times though - worst case I end up with foamy undercarbed beer. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
Yeah, one way to know you overcarbed, (or have a warm spot in your line), is to inspect the line carefully before you start pouring. See any little bubbles in it? That's CO2 that's come out of solution, and that's your foam source. Either a warm spot or overcarbing can cause this. The bubbles might be right by your QD if your line runs downwards from the keg....

I also have had the pure foam overcarb, but this was when I WAY overcarbed it.

I also have a problem with the keg that is directly above my heat source in my fridge, (mine is in the garage, so I need to heat it in the winter to prevent it from freezing solid). That keg pours foam in the middle of the first pint as well, but no bubbles in the line. My thought is that the bottom of the keg is getting slightly warmed, so that beer is slightyl warmed, and since the dip tube pulls from the bottom, I get a quick shot of warm beer before the cooler beer gets sucked up. Warm beer can't hold as much CO2, so again, foam.
 
yea i've got no heat source inside the freezer whatsoever.

I'm going to embark on the slow process of de-carbonating and see how that goes.
 
Aha! Don't shake you kegs!

I don't like doing it - and I'm fairly certain I can taste the difference. Unfortunately I let impatience get the best of me.

You seem to have taken a firm stance against shaking - can you link me to a thread that you've expressed your anti-shaking reasoning in? I'm assuming it's just because shake-carbing is impossible to measure.
 
AWW man i just did this as well. couldnt wait. taste great but damn cnt figurre out why other than overcarbing.
 
a quick test is to pour out the first ounce or two then pour, Does it still foam? If the beer in your lines warms, then that comes out and all is fine until the cold stuff hits it, then foam. Or is is actual foam spewing from the faucet?
 
Keg conditioning + Force (shake) carbing = Over carbonated beer.

Relieve the pressure in the keg.
Remove the lid.
Use a sanitized paddle to gently (and I mean GENTLY) agitate the beer until it just starts to froth.
Let it sit for 15 minutes until the froth dies down.
Repeat 3 or 4 times.
Replace the lid, purge and pressurize.
Pour a glass and test.

Knocking CO2 out of the beer is the only way to unwind what you did. You could just remove the lid and let it sit...but if the beers is cold it will take forever to give up its carbonation.
 
I have a keg of Blonde that's been in my kegerator for a couple of months, and I just recently hooked it back up to pressure, after having the tap occupied over this time.

The same thing that was happening previously is happening again. When I pull the faucet handle, the faucet literally shoots beer out at a high rate, and then slows down, producing a fairly good pour. A little on the foamy side, but nothing too bad. I've got three other kegs going, and they're not having the issue. Could it be something with the QD? I've tried offgassing it and letting it sit, to no avail.

The line length is 8ft, kegerator is at 42F and I'm running 12psi.
 
if the beer in the line has been sitting for a while (a day or more), you should pour and discard the first few ounces. This will remove the warm or flat beer from the line and allow for a clean pour. I do this every time and it works like a charm. If I don't, the first glass is half foam. Over carbing is possible, but I know mine aren't so I would just try this.
 
Back
Top