Keg Carbonation Problem

[BrewNow]

Hello HBT,

My first pull from the keg in the evening has a perfect level of carbonation. After the first pull, the carbonation in the glass dissipates tremendously. By the 3rd or 4th glass, there are almost no bubbles rising to the surface. A shake of the glass creates CO2 bubbles from the surface. I normally push 30lbs of pressure into the beer for anywhere from 2-5 days, depending on style. The CO2 is always flushed out 3-4 times when I keg to make sure the batch doesn’t oxidize. Some things I’ve done to troubleshoot:
Purchased new dispense lines – 10 feet for each keg.
Played around with the dispensing pressure after initial carbonation – held at 10-12 lbs – ended up too explosive in the glass. Reduced to 3-4 lbs, no improvement.
Purchased CO2 distributor (3 valves for 3 kegs) so now I don’t have to mess around with shifting the CO2 line between kegs.

Any other hints or things I need to consider?

 

[JonK331]

First O2 causes oxidation, not CO2, so there's no worry there. Also, in my experience the first pour should have more head than what is optimally desirable and the 2nd, 3rd etc. should be about perfect. So if the first pour is right and the 2nd, 3rd are a bit flat, your beer is slightly under carbonated.

 

[Seven]

Carbing at 30-PSI for several days can lead to unexpected results if you're not careful.

What temperature is your beer when carbonating?

Have you tried using the set and forget method by just leaving it at 12-PSI for a couple of weeks at 40-degrees F. ?

 

[Brewnoob1]

I'm thinking over carbonation if you're going 30psi for 2-5 days. I have done 30psi for about 12-24hrs once or twice and that led to about perfect carbonation for me. Kegs were about 40-45 degrees as well. I'm thinking anything over a day or 2 at the very most at 30psi would be overcarbed.

 

[BrewNow]

My keg fridge is a stable 42F. I have tried to set and forget it at the pressure according to the kegerators.com chart (12lbs at 42 would be the sweet spot for 2.2->2.6 volumes) with no real improvement. I think what I am after may not be possible. That real explosive carbonation suited for a saison style. I get it the first pull but then need to wait for the next night for a similar carbonation level.

I think next go-around I'll set to 30lbs, shake it, and then test out after just 24 hours. Maybe weird things are happening.

 

[Seven]

Saisons are normally very highly carbonated, aren't they? If I remember correctly, the book Brew Like a Monk said something about Belgians/Saisons not being very well suited to kegging because of the difficulty in achieving the correct carbonation levels for these style of beers. But I don't have my book with me at the moment so I may be completely wrong about this.

 

[Bobby_M]

You have 10 feet of line now but what is the inside diameter? If dispensing at 12psi is firehosing out then you're either horribly overcarbed, the lines are 1/4" ID, or both. There is no reason you can't get to a 3.5 volumes Saison in a keg but you also have to balance the line for it and keep everything cold.