Beer that is both flat and carbonated

[LordofMisrule]

So I kegged a Red Ale two weeks ago into a plastic pressure keg and after adding Sugar, there's certainly pressure within the keg, which is good!

The bad news is that, once the beer comes out into the glass, although it has a creamy head it's flat underneath! Does anyone know how I could solve this?

 

[day_trippr]

Describe your dispensing setup...

Cheers!

 

[doug293cz]

Sounds like you may be losing a large portion of the carbonation into the head. This can be aggravated by not having the beer cold enough before pouring (CO2 escapes from warm beer much faster than cold beer.) Another possibility is "junk" on the surface of the glass that will cause bubbles to form more rapidly than on a clean surface (this is known as heterogeneous nucleation.) If bubbles form faster, they escape the beer faster. And, your beer could actually be under carbonated. Combined with the other two effects, this would really make your beer seem flat, while still creating a good head.

Brew on

 

[LordofMisrule]

Hi daytrippr.

It's a plastic keg, just a bog standard or 'value' model, threads sealed with plumbers' tape.

 

[day_trippr]

So, you're simply pouring the beer out of the keg?

 

[LordofMisrule]

Hi Doug

Thanks for the advice! The beer comes screaming out of the keg (no small exaggeration), but I suspect you may be right about the temperature, i'll try sticking in the freezer for half an hour

 

[LordofMisrule]

Hi Daytrippr

Im afraid I am., is there something else I should be doing?

 

[day_trippr]

Sorry, I thought by plastic pressure keg you were referring to a plastic Sanke style keg.
I'm gathering what you're using is somewhat similar to the Party Pig which dispenses directly into a glass.

In any case, chilling the keg is a good start...

Cheers!