An interesting kegging / carbing question

[tig66208]

My draft setup is an old coke pre-mix cooler system: like a draft box, but refrigerated. The coils (5 of them) sit in about 12 gallons of water constantly chilled (and partially frozen) by coils. The kegs sit outside. I have this in my basement, which maintains a constant temp of around 60 degrees in the winter and 70 in the summer. The setup works great, except for...

I've noticed sometimes that I get a tremendous amount of head. I generally get a nearly full glass (which is about what is in the coil) fine, but then a lot of head with the last of the pour. I would normally attribute this to the fact that the beer is room temp and is chilling as it goes through the coil, and just isn't chilling fast enough. But....

I have noticed 2 things: this only happens with beers that I may have rushed a bit: i.e., tapped after 12-14 days force carbing (yes, I'm using the proper PSI per the charts and temperature). Those beers that I "set and forget" don't seem to have this issue, and if nothing else, seem a bit under-carbed.

I also notice that as soon as the warm beer begins to move into the coil, I get some air in the line.

Any thoughts? Is it just a bi-product of having the beer at room temp? Or am I being impatient and need to let it carb and age longer?

 

[Kayos]

I see threads like this all the time. There is something different that the brewer does to carb and they just don't know why there is so much foam at one time and none the next (or something like this). Then they start asking about serving line lengths, temps and pressures.

Whether it's shaking the keg, carbing in a week by overpressurizing then turning it down, adding some corn sugar.....whatever.

I think what you have is going to be tough to answer.....I am sure very few people are using your setup...BUT....you found a way to keg your beer and I commend you for that - bottles suck!

All that to say this.....set it to 12-14psi and forget it. You my need to carb lower than that due to higher temps, I am not sure I can answer that because of your setup.There will be some fluctuation on the carb levels because the beer in your lines is much colder than the beer in your keg. No biggie, just adjust accordingly. Always age 2-3 weeks on a steady gas pressure before you judge the carb levels. Your beer will thank you for it!

 

[Changeduser123]

We had the same set-up at my college bar. And everything you describe is part of this set-up. The only thing to do was learning how to serve the beer:

we would:
* open the tap and let the foam go.
* once it is beer going out, put the glass under the tap, tilted, and the tap touching the glass (I hope I am clear).
* fill up the glass, and once the tap dips in the beer, put the glass straight, still keeping the tap in the beer.

This would avoid foaming every time. But I agree, a lot of waste with the foam.

Just a thought regarding the previous reply: no, 12 /14 psi is not correct. The pressure should correspond to the 60 degrees of the basement, not the temperature of the ice cold water.