Good Foam Head BUT No Bubbles Coming Out Of Beer

[JorgeGautier]

I kegged my brew for the first time (forced carbonated) and noticed the beer has a
good head and good taste BUT no bubbles coming out of it and I kind of miss a bit of carbonation in the taste. I’m assuming the foam head is product of the shaking, but does the solution absorbed the CO2?
Here is the processed I followed to force carbonate:
Friday: Passed the beer to the keg and let it cool at 38F overnight
Saturday: Shacked the keg for 1:30 min at 30 psi
Sunday: Released some pressure from the keg and set at 11 psi and 40F and pour a pint

is this an issue or am I overreacting a bit?

Thanks in advance

 

[Yooper]

What happens is that c02 can get "knocked" out of the beer on the way to the glass, creating a big foamy head but little bubbles in the beer itself.

My guess is that first, the beer isn't fully carbonated yet, and secondly that the pouring/serving lines are very short and that is not providing enough resistance to pour the beer and keep the c02 into solution.

I'm not one to shake my keg (hate foamy beer with sediment in it) but I do know from experience that short serving lines will make a ton of foam with little carbonation in the actual beer itself. If you make sure you lines are at least 8 feet line and cool when you pour (warm lines will also increase foaming).

 

[JDGator]

i would guess it's not equalized yet either.

I have the most success kegging following this steps:

1. keg beer, purge heads space, and place in kegerator
2. set pressure to 35PSI and leave for 36hrs
3. relieve pressure and set reg to 10-12 PSI (this will depend of your setup)
4. wait 1-2 days for perfect beer.

after the 36hrs at 35PSI the beer is starting to carb, but there is very little head. i usually drink a few samples this way and leave it for a day or so.

I keg all my beer and now that i follow this, i seem to be able to repeat this without over carbing and in 3-4 days or so i have great beer on tap.

 

[JorgeGautier]

Thanks a lot Yooper, I do have a short serving line so I'll try to change it and see if that helps. I'm also thinking of giving it a few days at 11 psi to see if the beer absorbs more gas.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks a lot Yooper, I do have a short serving line so I'll try to change it and see if that helps. I'm also thinking of giving it a few days at 11 psi to see if the beer absorbs more gas.

Yes, it will equalize if you keep it at one pressure for the next week or so.

 

[MikeInMKE]

I've experienced the same thing with forced carbonation. The CO2 is "on" the beer, rather than "in" the beer.

It's a shotgun-marriage. Without the threat of force, the two separate. Give it a week or two, and the relationship between the beer and the CO2 improve drastically.

 

[JorgeGautier]

So how big is the role of the serving line here?

 

[day_trippr]

Line length and diameter are hugely important - and getting either wrong is the root inspiration of half the threads here...

So, <-------------------------- that big ------------------------------>

Cheers!