just right, then TOOO much CO2? keg.

[coyote]

okay, a week or so ago I force carbed a nut brown at 30 psi for a few days and when I tapped it, it flowed perfectly.

next, I turned down the regulator to 10 or 12 psi and turned down the temperature another 6 degrees or so.

last night...all gushing foam, no beer.

is 6 degrees difference (COLDER) enough to cause that, or is there something I'm missing?

Thanks

 

[Bobby_M]

Well, first thing is, just because you turned the regulator down doesn't mean the pressure in the keg went down. You'd have to purge to do that. You basically had 20 or so PSI on a colder keg. You didn't mention the actual temp after the 6F drop though. Purge some pressure off that keg and try pouring again.

 

[sudbuster]

okay, a week or so ago I force carbed a nut brown at 30 psi for a few days and when I tapped it, it flowed perfectly.

next, I turned down the regulator to 10 or 12 psi and turned down the temperature another 6 degrees or so.

last night...all gushing foam, no beer.

is 6 degrees difference (COLDER) enough to cause that, or is there something I'm missing?

Thanks

hi! coyote,
try this out for some help and info... http://hbd.org/clubs/franklin/public_html/docs/balance.html

 

[coyote]

I appreciate the replies.

Bobby, one thing that freaks me out is I DID bleed some of the pressure off from the original 30 (don't know how much) and got a great pour! I then set the regulator (it IS old) at 10-12 and once pressured up to that, I disconnected the tank and let it sit that way for almost two weeks. I reconnected the tank (regulator still set at 10-12 psi) and the keg took a bit more CO2...

it GUSHED out of the party tap. (still working on getting a complete system set-up)

oh, and I probably had it set in the mid-30 degrees F. it didn't seem cold enough for drinking.

I'll check out that link OldFarmer. Thanks!

 

[david_42]

Yes, a change of 6 degrees can change your CO2 absorption 30-40%. Add to that you now have more of a temperature change from keg to tap, which promotes foaming.

 

[Bobby_M]

Make sure you've got a nice long run of 3/16" ID beverage tubing (6' long). Hold the faucet up as high as you can when you pour.

 

[coyote]

hadn't thought of holding the tap high. hose/tap is the 5 footer "no foam" party tap from B3

update...I bled the pressure off and poured me a HB. then, I pressured up to 10 psi (on my OLD regulator). it screamed out of the tap again. I did not hold the tap high, though.

I bled it off again and dialed in 6 psi (again, on my OLD regulator)...FOAM!

I'm thinking the regulator is waaaaay off? it's at LEAST 15-17 years old...probably older.

edit: forgot to add...turned the temp back up to 40°F, and tried holding the tap up high...no dice.

argggggggh...this is maddening!

 

[Bobby_M]

It is possible that your gauge is reading 10psi lower than the reg is putting out.

Try bleeding off all the pressure from the keg and just push the gas connector on for a half second to put a "puff" into the keg. Pour now. Foam?

 

[coyote]

Bobby,

I sort of tried your last suggestion...I connected the gas connection and turned on the tank valve for about a second or two...it was an improvement, but it still was more than half foam.

so, you think it's the regulator?

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this!

Thanks,

Don

 

[coyote]

okay, just did EXACTLY what you suggested, Bobby, and it DID pour correctly.

regulator?

 

[Bearcat Brewmeister]

You mentioned earlier that you got a great pour after you bled off some of the 30psi from the force carb. For how long did you get a great pour - just the next hour or so or longer term? The problem could be that you force caronated enough to get too much CO2 into the beer (let's for argument's sake say you got 20psi in there). With a full keg and little head space, bleeding off pressure will only release the 20psi head space which then gets replaced from the beer. But with a small head space, the beer doesn't have to give up much CO2 to fill the head space and get back to an equilibrium of say 19psi. For the time it takes to get back to equilibrium (30 minutes, 2 hours, who knows) there will be some time that the beer may flow ok, but once you are back to equilibrium, you have to purge again. If you are severely overcarbonated, you may have to repeat this cycle several times, where you will have a window of good pouring then foam again.

OldFarmer had a good link down there for line balancing, although the higher temperature that the beer line is exposed to can cause foaming (you mentioned cobra tap, so I assume your line is exposed to room temperature). I used the info at OldFarmer's link to create the spreadsheet at the link below that incorporates most beer styles, their appropriate carb level, and line length and psi settings to give a smooth pour.

Line Length Calculator

 

[coyote]

appreciate the reply, Bearcat.

after I initially bled off the 30 psi I put on there (according to my old regulator), I drew one beer then set the reg @ 12 psi for better than a week with no beers drawn (Sam Adams Oktoberfest in the meantime).

the very next beer was the all foam version.

re: cobra tap temp...I actually have it inside the freezer...I have to open the freezer to pour a foam

 

[malkore]

replace the low pressure gauge on the regulator, its a lot cheaper than a new regulator.
if you end up needing a new reg, you at least have a backup low pressure gauge fro hte future.

 

[Bobby_M]

It's more likely that it's a bad gauge as suggested above. The reg is just adjusting pressure alone a range, you stop when the gauge tells you a pressure you're happy with. If you pick up a new gauge, make sure it's low range like 0-30psi. I'm even thinking about getting a 0-15 to really dial in exact pressures in the 8-12 range.

You can attach this new one to a hose barb and run your current gas output to it just to verify that your stock gauge is way off or not. If both gauges read the same, you've got some other problem unrelated to the equipment.

 

[coyote]

I appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions!

Thank You!

(more work on "The System!")

 

[Bearcat Brewmeister]

Although the regulator may be bad, I still think it is possible that it is fine. Based on his description, my scenario above is very plausible. He could have force carbonated it too much and got it up to 20 psi. He got foam so he bled it to no headspace pressure and it poured a good beer at that time. Had he waited a few more hours and let the beer equalize, there is a good chance that his headspace would have refilled with CO2 out of solution and left him with beer that was only a pound or two down from where he started. Had he tested it at that point, he would have had foam again. Instead, he set it at 12 psi and let it sit a week, but the beer may have still been around 20 psi. The check valve in his shutoff would have set to prevent backflow, and he would have thought that he had 12 psi on the beer instead of the 20 psi or so that he could potentially have.

Point is, COMPLETELY purge the CO2 out of your keg (bleed it every few hours, or repeatedly bleed then shake to release more CO2 out of solution) and try again to carbonate it to a normal pressure (open check valve at 10 psi and listen to see if you can hear CO2 going into the keg). Cheaper to eliminate that as a problem than to go out and replace a regulator that is potentially working fine.

 

[coyote]

Good point, Bearcat!

I've already spent enough money on this hobby, if I don't HAVE to buy a new regulator, I certainly don't WANT to!