ChrisHansen
Active Member
Right on, thank you very much for this info, I'll try 10 ft of hose that way I don't have to play with the regulator much.
Hey Bobby.....or any other kegging experts out there,
A couple of questions/concerns. I have been kegging for about 7 kegs worth now and am noticing a consistent pattern. Here's what I do....I rack to keg, purge the O2 out, put it under 30 lbs. to seal the lid, turn off the CO2, and pop it in the keezer for a full day to chill. The next day I turn the Co2 back up to 30 lbs. for 24-30 hrs and then purge, set it at 11 lbs. and wait about 1 1/2 wks and it's good to go. I leave the pressure at 11 lbs. for my serving pressure as well.
Here's what is happening with EVERY keg....Everything is great to start, great carbonation, a proper head on the beer, and absolutely no issues to start. However, as the volume in the kegs begin to fall with consumption, I start to gradually have more and more foaming issues. When they get down to maybe 2 gallons (+ or -), I get 50% foam/50% beer and it gets progressively worse until the keg kicks and I replace.
I have a coffin keezer and it is well insulated with it's own individual temperature probe that controls the power to two Inductor fans (one for drawing cold air into the coffin and one to exhause back out). I am able to maintain an acceptable temperature differential between the coffin and the keezer, so I am certain it's not due to CO2 coming out of solution due to warm beer lines. I ordered my system through keg connections and it came with 5 ft. beer lines. I realize that many people recommend significantly longer lines (10 ft.) to offer more resistance and slow the flow down, but wouldn't I be experiencing foaming issues all of the time if it were a flow rate issue?
Any advice would be great.....from anyone for that matter. I'm just getting a little frustrated that every keg goes so smoothly with carbonation at first, but gradually declines with foaming issues as the beer volume decreases.
Help!
+1I have a deep seated peeve with the concept of dropping down to serving pressures. The argument that 5 foot lines are ideal, and oh, as long as you drop the pressure is flawed
Perhaps this question has already been answered, but something is nagging at me. If I carb at a certain level, then lower the pressure for serving, wouldn't the carbonation/co2 volume eventually drop to match the serving pressure? And if so, how much of a difference would one be able to notice? Would it really make a difference? I've only force-carbed a couple of cornies at this point, and admittedly I'm just a hack at this point. So far it's been hit-or-miss until I get to the right carb level.
@ Brewer3401 "Maintenance pressure" helps me to understand this much better. Thank you. So my suspicions were correct about equillibrating pressures.
@ Bobby M Is there a happy medium or suggested way to handle this? My understanding is that if I dispense at the higher/maintenance pressure, I'll get more foam. Is this a situation where longer dispensing lines prevent foaming? Or am I way off?
Ok, made a noob mistake here. I used priming sugar AND carbed my beer by shaking it with the CO2 pressure. Dumb, i know. So, now i have over carbed beer. I pulled it oof CO2 and released the pressure off the keg over the last day. Question is.....what do i do next? Do i let it sit?
Thanks
Hey guys,
I am attempting my first "patient" method. I've always done shake and bake before and it's worked alright. It has been 1 week since I set my Keg to 13 PSI at 45deg, but I am hardly carbonated.
My question is, should I have the gas connected to the line out (black beverage out)? I have never done this, even on the shake and bake method, and thought that it was a no no for the 2 week method as well. I read on this guide to connect to the black beverage out.
http://www.homebrew.com/articles/article12018101.shtml
Any guidance would help.
I connected to the gas in line and in two weeks it was perfect. I am not sure why they would tell you to connect to the beverage out. The Co2 dissolves in to the beer so I dont see how that would help. Although I am pretty new to kegging also.
Although in theory bubbling Co2 up through the column of beer will accelerate the absorption rate due to the increased gas to beer surface area, the increase of area is very minimal and the contact time might as well be zero. The only way it would help is if you diffused the gas with a .5 micron stone. Also, the goofy thing about that link is that they want you to add 60psi through the diptube and then shake the hell out of the keg. The benefit of the increase surface area by bubbling through is worth about .00001% of the absorption rate increase when contrasted to the shaking process.
My beer is at 38 degrees but my CO2 tank is at room temperature. I purged my keg this evening after setting it 30 PSI (did not leave gas line connected, I know better now) and then set the pressure to 18 PSI. The desired pressure is 12 PSI according to the chart but I am trying to compensate for the temperature difference between the gas at room temperature and the beer at 38 degrees. I have placed the keg and tank into the fridge so they both will be at 38 degrees.
Was I correct in compensating up to 18 PSI for any deficiencies caused by the drop in temperature?
Someone else can correct me if I am wrong but there is no need t
to compensate for the fact that your co2 tank is either room temp or on the fridge. The dial when turned to a certain psi is correct, the reading that changes is how much is left in the tank.
I use the set it and forget it method. I dial to between 10 and 12, let it sit for 2 weeks and it is perfect.
Someone else can correct me if I am wrong but there is no need t
to compensate for the fact that your co2 tank is either room temp or on the fridge. The dial when turned to a certain psi is correct, the reading that changes is how much is left in the tank.
I use the set it and forget it method. I dial to between 10 and 12, let it sit for 2 weeks and it is perfect.
What is everyone's opinion of diffusion stones to speed up this process?
After reading a few threads about it, some people think it does nothing, and others love it.
Enter your email address to join: