Kegging carbonation issue

[pingeyeg]

I just installed a dual tower into my kegerator and poured my first beer, but all I got was foam. Last night, I did the same thing with a picnic tap, which came out fine. Also, I have had 20 psi running to both kegs for 3 days, but they appear to have zero carbonation (no bubbles in the brew). Can you guys help me out in understanding why this is?

The beer lines are 3/16" and appear to be about 5' from keg to tower.

 

[Echoloc8]

20 PSI for 3 days (presuming these are chilled kegs) is significantly overcarbonated. Most homebrew beer at homebrew keg & line scales is properly carbed when in equilibrium at ~40 degrees F to 10-12 PSI.

Overcarbed beer pours loads and loads of foam, and when the foam settles -- it's FLAT, because all the CO2 was in the foam. This sounds like your situation.

To get rid of your beer's excess CO2, turn off the gas to the keg, keep it cold, and every 8 to 12 hours burp the excess CO2 from the keg with the pressure release valve. Do this for 2 days. Then put it back on 10-12 PSI (call it 10 to be safe) and see if it pours better. If it's still overcarbed, burp every 8-12 hrs for another day or two. You'll get there.

-Rich

 

[pingeyeg]

Hmmm, I'm slightly shocked of this, but then again, I'm a newby to kegging. The reason I'm shocked is because of a YouTube video from Northern Brewer saying to carb your keg at 20 psi for 2 to 3 days and then lowering the serving pressure to 10 to 12 psi. I guess they're wrong...?

 

[MonsterBrew]

I wouldn't be so sure that overcarbing is the problem. It is definitely a possibility, but if you carbed at 20psi for 3 days only, I would imagine the beer isn't too far off. I typically cool my kegs, then crank it to around 35 psi for 36 -52 hours, occasionally bleeding back to 10 psi, and pulling a sample. This method takes practice, but leads me to believe you haven't terribly over carbed it. I would say there are several things you can try.

1. 5 feet of dispense line may not be enough, at least not for serving at 10 psi.
2. Were you sure to open the tap ALL the way when you poured? Partially opening will cause it to foam extensively.
3. Try backing the pressure off to 5 -8 psi, make sure you bleed the keg, then test pour again. The slower it pours the better.
If you are still pouring straight foam with a wide open tap at 6 psi, then yes. its over carbed.

Good luck and cheers!

 

[Echoloc8]

Any time you put your beer on pressure over its target PSI, you risk overcarbonation. The method Monsterbrew outlines will tell you if you're overcarbed, but I'm pretty sure you are.

Read and understand, for Bobby_M is wise:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/keg-force-carbing-methods-illustrated-73328/

Almost everyone speed-carbs from time to time. Most of the time it even works (it has for me). But the "set it and forget it" method outlined above never overcarbs--it can't.

-Rich

 

[Echoloc8]

The reason I'm shocked is because of a YouTube video from Northern Brewer saying to carb your keg at 20 psi for 2 to 3 days and then lowering the serving pressure to 10 to 12 psi. I guess they're wrong...?

They're not wrong per se, but there's the possibility of things going wrong with this method: there may have been jostling of the keg, there may be a bit of mis-calibration of the kegerator's temperature, or your regulator's pressure.

Any time keg pressure is over serving pressure for a significant duration, there's the possibility of overcarbing. If you just set the PSI to serving pressure, it will take longer, but you can't overcarb.

-Rich

 

[BansheeRider]

Force carbing at 30 psi for 24-36 hours, purge, then set and forget (10-12 psi) has worked for me. I will have carbed beer in 4-7 days using this method with no foaming issues with 5' lines.