Foamy beer!!!!

[CADETS3]

ok guys, I'm in dire need of some help. I have had a dirty bastard clone kegged for 3 weeks this weekend and i am STILL having super foamy beer. i let the beer sit initially at about 35 F at 30 psi for a week and then relieved the gas before pouring....took all the procedures into mind. However, now being 3 weeks later, i am still getting really foamy beer. i have about 4 foot of beer line with 3 foot of gas line and the kegarator is sitting at 35F. i have raised the temperature a bit to see if that helps. what am i doing wrong?!?!?!?

 

[FastAndy]

Raising the temp will make it worse. CO2 comes out of solution in warm liquids. That's why it is easier to carb cold beer. What is the regulator set at for serving?

 

[day_trippr]

[...]what am i doing wrong?!?!?!?

So far, pretty much everything.

- 30 psi at 35°F for a week was either 5.5 days too long or 20 psi too high.

- four feet of beer line would be a headache even with a properly carbed beer.

- raising the temperature now only serves to cause more CO2 breakout, and bubbles beget bubbles (cascade effect).

If you're going to do a three week carb (ideal, actually, imo) use the proper pressure versus temperature to achieve your desired level of carbonation. Use the friendly carbonation table and you'll see for a middling carbonation level (2.5 volumes) at 35°F you'd set your regulator for 10-11 psi. Not 30.

For your beer line, get thee to the only beer line length calculator worth using, where you'll see that to dispense at 11 psi you'd want to use 9+ feet of 3/16" ID beer line. Not 4'.

And keep the temperature constant if you can. Fluctuating temperatures cause gas breakout in the beer line...

Cheers!

 

[chuckcomm]

The beer line is way too short from what I have read it should be around 10 feet long.

 

[FastAndy]

The beer line is way too short from what I have read it should be around 10 feet long.

Possibly. Your mileage may vary, its best to use a calculator and figure out what you actually need.

 

[schematix]

Yikes. You have MASSIVELY over carbonated your beer. That's the kind of pressure i use to quick carbonate and that's 48 hours max. There are tables out there for pressure vs volumes co2 vs temperature. I'd highly suggest you use one.

You can try to bleed some out by disconnecting the gas line then pulling the relieve valve. You'll need to repeat this a bunch of times.

You might be able to pour this beer if you chill it way down (30-35F), use a long line (20') and keep your push pressing pretty low (8-10psi)

BTW, 10-14 psi is pretty standard for pushing beer. It'll also carbonate most beer styles to a good range after a week or two. My SOP is 2 days at 30, then leave it around 14.

 

[CADETS3]

I've had the pressure at 8psi for the last week but it tastes as its not carbonated at all. I guess what I'm getting is that I need a much longer line.

 

[CADETS3]

Thank you, I'll give that a try. I have had the psi set at 8 for the last darn week! Let me be more thorough, after the high psi initial setting, I did relieve all the pressure. I have had it at around psi for nearly 2 weeks now.

 

[soccerguy83]

The only pressure you actually relieved was the head-space pressure, then the beer will equalize the CO2 b/t the beer and head-space. It would take multiple pressure releases to actually bring your pressures back down. Just because your reg is set at 8 for the last darn week doesn't mean that your beer is at 8psi.

 

[LLBeanJ]

I've had the pressure at 8psi for the last week but it tastes as its not carbonated at all.

The beer is flat because all of the carbonation is coming out of solution in the form of foam. As other have stated, you have at least two problems:

1) You overcarbed the beer by setting @ 30 PSI for a week. Two days max at this pressure is the rule if you're temp is in the 30s.

2) Even with a properly carbed beer, the serving line is too short. 10'-12' of 3/16" beer line is pretty typical. When changing out the beer line, make sure it's with 3/16" ID, as 1/4" is also commonly available, but it is not what you want and will not solve your problem.

You will need to decarb the beer. Turn off the gas, and pull the P-R valve several times over the course of 2 days or so. Since flat beer will not foam, if you go far enough you can get it to pour foam-free even with your short line, but you may not care for the low degree of carbonation that would be required to pour from it. By lengthening the line you will be able to get good pours with more carb.