Carbonation Problem

[Pballantoni]

I haven’t brewed in a few years, but got back to it. I have a 5 gallon batch in my kegerator that was “force carbed” under 30 psi for about 24 hours before turning down to serving pressure. It’s been holding at 12 psi or so for a week.

Brown ale temp is around 37° I recently changed out the lines because the old ones were quite gross after being dormant for a few years.

I’ve read a ton of forums/posts/etc. about this and I can’t seem to figure out my fix.

Beer is coming out foamy and flat. It seems like none of co2 went in and is just hanging in the headspace. Even after purging and putting back to serving pressure, still same issue with the foam.

The new lines are actually about a foot longer than the old lines, but I had the similar problems with the old lines. I had read that longer lines helps, but it’s doing the opposite!

Any thoughts given all of that? Thanks in advance.

 

[Pballantoni]

Haven’t brewed in a few years. Did a honey brown ale about a month ago. Dropped it to around 37° in my kegerator and force carbed at 30-35 psi for 24 hours, then dropped to serving pressure around 12-15 psi.

All foam. No carbonation. No leaks. Brand new beer lines, about a foot longer than the old ones (which I had read helps with foamy pours).

I’ve purged the headspace and put in just enough pressure to get beer out of the tap, but same issue - foam and no carb.

Did I over carb? If so, how to do fix that? I’ve had this problem before and I’ve tried MANY different ways to force carb. Only once or twice did it work out ok (but still not great). I always seem to end up with flat and foamy beer!

Very frustrated. Thanks in advance.

 

[razzman]

I'd say you have over carbed it. To fix it, either use a spunding valve on the gas post and allow it to come down in pressure or leave the relief valve open and allow it to degas that way.
With regards to an ideal way to carbonate a keg, I use to do the rock n roll method. That way you can't overcarbonate the keg.
Set the reg pressure to your desired serving pressure (I use 12 psi) connect the gas line and roll the keg on the floor with your foot, backwards and forwards (takes about 15-20 mins) When you can't hear anymore gas going into the beer it will be carbonated to the set pressure. Let it sit for an hour or so then serve.

 

[mac_1103]

Here's a quick fix that some people say works well. I've also seen some youtube videos demonstrating the method.

 

[doug293cz]

I usually do 30 psi for 36 hrs @ ~37°F, and then drop to serving/storage pressure. 12 psi @ 37°F will give you 2.6 volumes of carb, and 15 psi will give you 2.9 volumes. These are a little high for a brown ale (unless you like a lot of carbonation.) I'd suggest you drop the pressure to 10 - 11 psi (2.4 - 2.5 volumes.) But in any case, it doesn't seem likely that you are severely overcarbed.

If you are getting foam when you pour, you do have significant carbonation. But, a lot of the carbonation is dissipated in order to form the foam. It's very common for the beer to seem flat after a foamy pour.

What is your beer line length and inside diameter? That extra foot you added may not be enough to tame the foam.

Brew on

 

[day_trippr]

• Is this a "cornelius" style keg?
• Does the foamy pour include "spitting" or is it just smooth foam?
• If you check the beer line after the pour do you see foam all the way back to the keg?

Cheers?

 

[mac_1103]

A foot longer than too short can still be too short. Use a calculator.

 

[seatazzz]

Sounds overcarbed to me. There's good posts over on the Bottling/Kegging forum, but what has worked for me in the past is: turn off the gas to the keg. Release the pressure via the prv on the keg, sloooooowly. You don't want foam coming out of the prv. Let it sit, with the gas still off, at least 30 minutes. Then release the pressure again, sloowly. Keep doing this until you can pour without foam. There are trickier, faster ways to do this, but this method works for me. Just make sure you don't turn the co2 valve back on again until you have a decent pour without several inches of foam. And 12psi is a bit much (in my opinion), I would try about 8-10psi. Saves co2.

 

[Bobby_M]

The line is "longer" but what is the inside diameter?

 

[Pballantoni]

I'd say you have over carbed it. To fix it, either use a spunding valve on the gas post and allow it to come down in pressure or leave the relief valve open and allow it to degas that way.
With regards to an ideal way to carbonate a keg, I use to do the rock n roll method. That way you can't overcarbonate the keg.
Set the reg pressure to your desired serving pressure (I use 12 psi) connect the gas line and roll the keg on the floor with your foot, backwards and forwards (takes about 15-20 mins) When you can't hear anymore gas going into the beer it will be carbonated to the set pressure. Let it sit for an hour or so then serve.

I’ve tried that method and it usually has led to under carbonated before….tried 30 psi for 3 minutes, tried 12 psi for 15 minutes. I might go the full 20 next time! Thank you!!

 

[Pballantoni]

Here's a quick fix that some people say works well. I've also seen some youtube videos demonstrating the method.

Thank you!

 

[Pballantoni]

T

A foot longer than too short can still be too short. Use a calculator.

Thank you!

 

[Pballantoni]

• Is this a "cornelius" style keg?
• Does the foamy pour include "spitting" or is it just smooth foam?
• If you check the beer line after the pour do you see foam all the way back to the keg?

Cheers?

Ball lock Cornelius keg with relief valve.

Smooth and fast foamy pour, with no foam in line. I DID have foam in the line last week but I purged the keg all the way and brought the pressure just under serving pressure to get a steady stream into the line.

 

[day_trippr]

If in the past you were able to dispense beers that were carbonated to your liking, based on the above response I agree the most likely scenario is this keg of beer is carbonated to a level above the ability of the dispensing system to tame it. Keep lowering the carbonation through whatever means you prefer until it pours "right".

Cheers!

 

[Pballantoni]

The line is "longer" but what is the inside diameter?

3/16” it looked a little smaller than the line I used to have but stupidly didn’t think to measure the old line before I tossed it…just read that the most common ID was 3/16”

 

[Pballantoni]

I usually do 30 psi for 36 hrs @ ~37°F, and then drop to serving/storage pressure. 12 psi @ 37°F will give you 2.6 volumes of carb, and 15 psi will give you 2.9 volumes. These are a little high for a brown ale (unless you like a lot of carbonation.) I'd suggest you drop the pressure to 10 - 11 psi (2.4 - 2.5 volumes.) But in any case, it doesn't seem likely that you are severely overcarbed.

If you are getting foam when you pour, you do have significant carbonation. But, a lot of the carbonation is dissipated in order to form the foam. It's very common for the beer to seem flat after a foamy pour.

What is your beer line length and inside diameter? That extra foot you added may not be enough to tame the foam.

Brew on

Thanks for the insight. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the volumes of carb measurements. Looks like I’ll be doing more measurements!!!

The line has an ID of 3/16” and is 5 feet in length. The old lines were 3.5-4 feet (I have a two tap system).

 

[mac_1103]

The line has an ID of 3/16” and is 5 feet in length.

You need 10 feet at 12 PSI. Or you need to turn the pressure down to 6 PSI. Depending on how much carbonation you want of course. If you want really short lines, get some 3 or 4 mm EvaBarrier tubing.