Ok so i have been naturally carbing 4 kegs for about 2 weeks now at room temp. I moved them from one room to another and the minute I tapped them without Co2 even hitting them, they were pouring nothing but foam. After the foam settled the beer barely seemed carbed. What should I do? I have a big party this saturday and need to make sure these beers pour right and are carbonated. I dont have access to refrigerate, should i force carb them for a few days or...? Please let me know HBT! I am very worried.
Foaming Issue! Help!
- Thread starter Garrett
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subliminalurge
Well-Known Member
OK... You have overcarbed beer that is too warm, and I'd bet donuts to dollars that you're trying to pour it out of a picnic tap on a short beer line.
And you're surprised that it's foamy?
First thing's first. Cool those kegs down. Put them in a fridge, put them in a garbage can full of ice, or whatever, just chill them. Warm beer will pour foamy, there's just no way around that.
Second. Replace your beer line with the proper length. Start with 10 feet (you probably have somewhere between 2 and 5) and then go up from there.
Do those two things and you'll be in good shape.
And you're surprised that it's foamy?
First thing's first. Cool those kegs down. Put them in a fridge, put them in a garbage can full of ice, or whatever, just chill them. Warm beer will pour foamy, there's just no way around that.
Second. Replace your beer line with the proper length. Start with 10 feet (you probably have somewhere between 2 and 5) and then go up from there.
Do those two things and you'll be in good shape.
mtbiker278
Well-Known Member
There's a couple other things I would do.
- Vent keg pressure. Since you naturally carbed the beer and it's warm you likely have something like 30psi+ of pressure on the keg. You'll need to vent the excess pressure and push the beer with 12psi of CO2
- Open tap completely. Whether using a pick-nick tap or faucet you should open them completely when pouring. Not doing so forces the beer through a small opening that causes foaming.
On a side note, don't worry about chilling the beer only to have it warm back up again. Your beer will be perfectly fine and can withstand several heat cycles. Just don't do it 20 times.
These and the above recommendations should fix your foam issues. If not report back and we'll try to help.
- Vent keg pressure. Since you naturally carbed the beer and it's warm you likely have something like 30psi+ of pressure on the keg. You'll need to vent the excess pressure and push the beer with 12psi of CO2
- Open tap completely. Whether using a pick-nick tap or faucet you should open them completely when pouring. Not doing so forces the beer through a small opening that causes foaming.
On a side note, don't worry about chilling the beer only to have it warm back up again. Your beer will be perfectly fine and can withstand several heat cycles. Just don't do it 20 times.
These and the above recommendations should fix your foam issues. If not report back and we'll try to help.
CanadianQuaffer
Well-Known Member
Sorry to butt in, but doesn't 10 feet of line seem excessive? Mine are 4.5' and I only have foam issues when the beer is room temperature. Once it's chilled fully in my fridge it's fine...in fact I wish I could get MORE foam, lol!
wow really?
okay, let me be more specific.....why not just turn down the CO2 to match the line length he already has. The line in my kegerator is a little over 3 feet and it's been serving beer fine for about a year at 12psi
mtbiker278
Well-Known Member
Depends on what carbonation he's trying to achieve. Turning down the pressure would work, but you sacrifice carbonation over time. He also probably doesn't have the head pressure a kegerator has going up through a tower/coffin.
Basically you want to have your line length at a distance that allows you to pour at the desired carbonation level at serving temperature without foaming issues. The factors that play into that are keg pressure, temperature, vertical rise, and total distance. Telling people to use 10' of beer line is a starting point, that can eventually be trimmed back. The likelyhood of someone having foaming issues with 10' of beer line with a properly carbed beer is almost zero. If they are having issues still they it's likely some other factor such as over carbing, too high of a serving pressure, not opening the faucet all the way, or too high of a temperature. Most people get those other parts right, which usually leave just the beer line length.
Basically you want to have your line length at a distance that allows you to pour at the desired carbonation level at serving temperature without foaming issues. The factors that play into that are keg pressure, temperature, vertical rise, and total distance. Telling people to use 10' of beer line is a starting point, that can eventually be trimmed back. The likelyhood of someone having foaming issues with 10' of beer line with a properly carbed beer is almost zero. If they are having issues still they it's likely some other factor such as over carbing, too high of a serving pressure, not opening the faucet all the way, or too high of a temperature. Most people get those other parts right, which usually leave just the beer line length.
so when you force carbonate a keg you have to keep the pressure up?
I just filled my 1st corny keg and have it sitting with 30lbs of air on it. My plan was to turn in back down to 12 when i'm ready to serve it. If i'm understanding you right, that won't work.
I just filled my 1st corny keg and have it sitting with 30lbs of air on it. My plan was to turn in back down to 12 when i'm ready to serve it. If i'm understanding you right, that won't work.
JuanMoore
Getting the banned back together
You may be getting some terms confused. Force carbonation is carbing using CO2 from an external source, and there are many ways to do this. The set and forget method is to use a chart like this one, set the pressure to get the desired carb level, and then wait two weeks. Burst carbing is a bunch of faster methods, which often involve using higher pressures and/or shaking the keg. At 30 psi, I'm guessing you're using a burst carb method.
The beer will always reach carbonation equilibrium with the serving pressure, so it needs to be set using the chart I linked above. Some people try to carb to a level that requires say 10 psi, but then serve it at only 5 psi to reduce foaming issues. While this will reduce the foam, the beer will also lose carbonation, eventually to the level that corresponds to 5 psi on the chart.
I hope you haven't had the keg at 30 psi for long, because unless it's at room temp it will be overcarbed in just a few days. Usually they're set at 30 psi for 36-48 hrs, and then down to serving pressure when using burst carb methods.
Start a venting regimen: disconnect the gas line, pull the pressure relief valve if your keg has one, otherwise press down the In poppet (hopefully you didn't fill the keg above the bottom of the gas dip tube
) and exhaust all the CO2 in the head space. Repeat frequently until the keg pours nicely.If you wanted to really make this happen in a hurry, connect a beer QD to you CO2 line, connect it to the Out post, and blast some CO2 down through the beer dip tube with the pressure relief locked open (if you have one) or stick an unconnected gas QD on the In post. The bubbles coming up from the bottom of the unpressurized keg will provide lots of nucleation sites that will cause dissolved CO2 to burst out of solution...
Cheers!
mtbiker278
Well-Known Member
Watch out for massive amount of foam to shoot out the vent valve though. Have a towel ready if you do this!
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Garrett
Well-Known Member
Venting worked great! Party went off without a hitch, besides some bad pourers not knowing how to pour beer properly. haha. Got 4 empty kegs now. Thanks for you help HBT. Dont know what I would do without you guys!
