Foamy Keg beer

I can't get my beer colder than 46 F in my keg, I have the PSI set to 15 and let it sit for an entire week. Than I turn the co2 down to 2-3 psi and serve but the beer always comes out foamy, than comes out flat about halfway through the keg. I have an 8 ft house from the keg to my tap and I just can't seem to figure it out. I have tried using less psi (still foamy than get flat very quickly), or leaving the keg outside (which resulted in frozen beer). At my old house we had a 12 foot line going from the basement to the kitchen and this seemed to work fine even with the keg at 53 F, and the pouring pressure at 5/6 psi. I tried to mimic this by standing on a chair and pouring the beer not really working.
any help or tips would be great.

 

No advice?

 

I use 10ft of line coiled up in my fridge. Also helps to chill the glass in the freezer. I roll my kegs around for 30 mins at 50psi then drop it down to 7-12 over night and drink it the next day. I prefer my ales a little warmer around 40-50F. Another thing you can try that has worked for me in the past when I had short lines was to insert something into the dip tube. I forget exactly what it's called but go to Home Depot or ace hardware and look at the glue. Specifically glue that needs to be mixed. Like epoxy. Look for a package with two different tubes of glue going into one chamber and mixing before it comes out. The part you want is the twirly plastic part that forces the glue to mix. I've been told its probably not food safe but I've drained 50 gallons using this method and never had any bad tastes or problems with it.

 

So you do the quick carbonation method and just use a really long hose, I'll have to try that, than i can drink it alot sooner too hopefully with less foam

 

What diameter is your hose? I have 7ft of 3/16" and can easily run at 12psi with no foam at 40 degrees. My picnic taps are 6ft of 3/16" and they have no problem outside on a hot day.

 

um not sure but it bits my standard picnic tap, so maybe its somewhere in that range
and its 8.5 ft long

 

I had some trouble at first getting mine to force carb right also..mine poured similar to what your describing. You will have to play with it some until you find what works for you. One week might not be long enough either.

What I have found that works for me is turning the psi up to 25-30 and rocking the keg on it's side for 5-10 minutes or until it doesn't sound like the beer is taking in anymore co2. Then I let it sit a few hours then purge the pressure out and set it at 12-15 psi and leave it alone for a week. Then turn the pressure down and serve.

Good luck

 

Yah it's always worked for me. I always ignored the people who religiously slow carb for two weeks and scold or dictate to others that that's the only way to do it. Some people can't fathom the fact that I don't conform to old wives tales or "the standard". Depending on the size of my beer I ferment for 7-10 days then keg. I was filtering it for a while before kegging but since I work on the road all week I'm only home on the weekends now so it lasts long enough to clear on its own.

 

Ok I only have it at 15 maybe 14psi and I leave it for a week already and its foamy, so does the shaking help infuse the co2 into the liquid?

 

hum... are the hoses and tap staying cold? Often the first glass will be foamy and then the line will be cooler and the beer will flow. Make sure you pour with the tap ALL the way open too.

Or you might have over carbed it. My chart I have shows that it is 2.5 vols for 46F at a PSI of 15. That shouldn't be over carbed so bad that you only get foam though. Over carbing can also make the beer taste flat too. As you pour it all the co2 escapes and then you end up with flat beer. There is a great thread if you search for "over carbed flat beer". There are so many variables. Is the gauge accurate is another thing I sometimes wonder. I got a new better regulator the factory one that came with my kegerator was terrible.

 

I found good advice on this thread from Malfet. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/lots-head-flat-beer-first-force-carbonation-307318/

I suggest you follow this advice he gave and see what happens. Cheers