Beer is super carbinated.

[detz]

My regulator is only set for around 11psi but I get about 2/3 head on my beer. How can I lower this, should I release all the co2 in the kegs, lower the regulator and it will fix itself?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

How long are your lines? Are they balanced to your system? Having lines that are too short is the most common problem causing foam.

 

[Yooper]

How long are your lines? Are they balanced to your system? Having lines that are too short is the most common problem causing foam.

Exactly. If you're at 11 psi and the fridge is about 38-40 degrees, that's a perfect pressure. But then you need longer lines so there is no foaming.

I don't like the idea of a "serving pressure", when you pull the pressure relief valve and reset to a lower psi, especially if you have more than one keg! The easy fix here is longer lines.

 

[jd3]

How long are yoiur serving lines?

 

[jd3]

ooooh ninja'd by tabbed browsing!

 

[detz]

Interesting, didn't know lines made a difference. They're pretty short, I would say 2 maybe 3 feet. This makes sense too since one is really bad and one is kinda bad....

 

[shortyjacobs]

2-3feet is WAY too short. Buy 10 feet of 3/16 for EACH tap, hook it up, and try again. If it pours too slow, hack off a foot. You can't splice tubing together, as the barbed coupling will cause even more foaming, so start long and shorten.

 

[detz]

What's the reason behind this? Just curious. This is the liquid line not the gas line right?

 

[Yooper]

What's the reason behind this? Just curious. This is the liquid line not the gas line right?

Yes. The reason is that when the beer is carbonated, the force causes foaming when the line is short.

To give an analogy, think of a garden hose. If you restrict the flow, it shoots out. We always do that, put our finger over the end to shoot the water forcefully at our kids................Oh, wait.

Anyway.......................sort of the same thing happens with the beer line. If you restrict the flow, the bubbles still come but come out forcefully as foam. Then, the beer is foaming but seems flatter because the co2 is "pushed" out as foam. A longer line reduces this effect. You'll get a slower pour, with less turbulence and a nicer carbonated beer with less foam.