carbonation suggestions for kegging?

[Dycokac]

I'm new to kegging (first of the year). I have 2, custom built splitter, pretty much dispensing at 12-15ish PSI. I have 2 on tap right now and when i fill a glass i get a good head, but no residual bubbles out of the glass and it's kind of flat.

Doesn't bother me much because I'm a sipper and alot of times my beer goes flat on me anyway, but I'd like to have something others would be impressed with.

I am using 5 foot beverage lines from the kegs to my taps which are all inside the fridge, and i have about 4 foot of CO2 line from the bottle to the splitter and then about 3 feet for each line from the splitter to the kegs.

My current kegs have been at this 12-15PSI constantly for about a month and a half.

Any ideas on what's happening?

 

[quixotic]

Have you tried force carbing at around 30psi for 3 days?

 

[Dominator6]

The force carb is what I would start with. My beer was flat and I had it at 25-30 PSI for about 3 days and actually overcarbonated it. The head was a little flat but the beer was a little much on the CO2. But if you check it daily w/the 30 psi and do a quick taste test you should be good. 12-15 PSI is a little higher than I would use w/only 5ft line but if it's working and you like the head that you're getting then leave it.

 

[GeoXP]

What is the temperature of your kegerator/keezer? Carbonation is the result of two factors, pressure and temperature. You might be too warm...
Or, you may have a bad poppet or lid causing a slight leak.

 

[shafferpilot]

I was thinking a temp issue too. If the keg is nice and cold, the beer will cascade bubbles while it warms up slowly in the glass. I've also noticed that the glasses I keep in the freezer tend to result in beer that looks flat, but it still has good CO2 bite. The room temp glasses give me better bubbles.

 

[Dycokac]

What is the temperature of your kegerator/keezer? Carbonation is the result of two factors, pressure and temperature. You might be too warm...
Or, you may have a bad poppet or lid causing a slight leak.

I'm seing no indication of a leak in the system at all. I have a 10lb tank since january and its still showing as pressurized.

my temp is about 45 F.

maybe my pressure is to high and i'm blowing all the carbination when I pour it.

 

[GeoXP]

I'm seing no indication of a leak in the system at all. I have a 10lb tank since january and its still showing as pressurized.

my temp is about 45 F.

maybe my pressure is to high and i'm blowing all the carbination when I pour it.

\


I'd say you're a bit warm. You're getting good head at pour due to the pressure, but then your beer is gassing out quickly because it cannot keep the CO2 in the beer very well at that temperature. I balance out pretty well at about 10psi at 38 degrees with 5ft of standard beer line.

 

[BierMuncher]

Foamy head and no CO2 in the liquid usually means you're pushing the beer too hard and knocking CO2 out. Similar to aggressively pouring out of a bottle.

Try dropping the serving pressure to around 7-8, release the excess pressure in the keg and draw a glass.

5 feet seems kind of short for 12 PSI of pressure. The length of the liquid tube contributes to the resistance and without sufficient resistance the beer will "gush".

 

[Dycokac]

I'll try lowering the temp and back off some more on the pressure.

I thought I read here that 5 feet was okay for 12-14psi serving pressure but I had a heck of a time decideing on a temperature.

8 forger what ID my beerline is.

 

[GeoXP]

I'll try lowering the temp and back off some more on the pressure.

I thought I read here that 5 feet was okay for 12-14psi serving pressure but I had a heck of a time decideing on a temperature.

8 forger what ID my beerline is.

Standard beerline will drop pressure at roughly 2psi per foot. I've seen higher numbers posted, and like you I actually tried using them, but settled in on the numbers posted above.

 

[BierMuncher]

8 forger what ID my beerline is.

That's important. Hopefully it's 3/16ths and not 1/4.

 

[Dycokac]

That's important. Hopefully it's 3/16ths and not 1/4.

well it might be 1/4... I'll have to get a ruler on it i guess.

After carnking the pressure down to where my guage says about 10, I don't get a dump into the glass any more, and after 5 minutes i'm still see'n bubbles in the glass

Before I cranked it down, I'd pop the handle back and feel the pressure pop and dump into the glass so I'm sure I just had it too high. Still going to lower the fridge temp some more, to around 40 or so, maybe high 30s and see where that leaves me.