First pint is not carbonated

[d_m_s_00]

I recently picked up 10 feet of 3/16 beer line, now I don’t have to purge / mess with the regulator every time I want a drink. I find that when I pour the first pint, it’s rather flat and every pint after that is great. I assume the beer in the line looses the carbonation (say I didn’t pour a pint for a week). Is this normal, does everyone just toss the first half pint that is stored in the line?

Fyi, the fridge is around 4-5C and co2 around 12-13 psi.

 

[Bobby_M]

10' of 3/16" line doesn't hold anywhere near a pint. It hold 1.66 ounces.

Does the first pour leave you with a ton of head?

 

[JesseRC]

i had another thread going with the same problem. Here's my theory since no one commented on it, but once you pour those few ounces of foam the whole pint taste flat. The beer type makes a difference. My Witbier had more of a head than my stout. If I got rid of the first 2 ounces then finished the pour it was great, if I continued the pour the whole pint tasted flat. Sometimes I pour the first 2 ounces, then wait for the foam to drop then finish pouring, it would turn out great. It also depends on your kegerator, I had quite a bit of temp diff from top of kegerator to bottom. I installed a computer fan with a 12v supply and increased my line to 10 ft. All is great now. No one ever answered my question as to where "does foam lead to more flat beer". To me, it just seemed like I could never get a good carbonated beer if I left those couple of ounces of foam in there. Maybe it was just in my head???? Some folks said just to pour out the first few ounces... but believe me I was very sad today when i found that I had kicked my keg of witbier. I dont even see how it could be gone, its only been 2 weeks at a couple a beers a day. Now I regret pouring out those few ounces...but hey I guess I could just buy more kegs and brew more....

 

[Parva]

I'm sure your reply

is spot on

but could you just

try breaking it down a little

as my eyes became tired

and I couldn't be bothered reading.

Thanks.

 

[JesseRC]

Keep the line length at 10 and verify you're Liquid Out line isn't getting too warm. Hope that didn't bother you too much..

 

[d_m_s_00]

I measured the temp at the top of the fridge (the line is coiled on top the corny) and it's about 10C vs. 4C at the bottom. I guess that could be the problem. It’s good to know how much beer is in the line, for some reason I thought it was like half a pint or so, it looks like so much more. For now I can handle pouring off a shot glasses of beer, but I’ll have to look into getting a fan… and If I get a fan that means I may as well get a tower to cool with it right? 'Legitimizing excuses for buying more gear'
Thanks guys

 

[JesseRC]

If you get a tower, you will have to find a way to keep the tower cool, but a simple computer fan running off of a 12v pwr supply (from old electronics) will cool the keezer (if that's what you have) evenly. In my keezer that has a 2x8 collar the temp diff was like 8-10 degrees. Its also outside under the patio, so that also might be contributing to my temp differential.