New kegerator pour/carbonation question

[underdog378]

Ok.....SWMBO says enough pulling my hair out and spending hours searching the forums, and to just post my own damn thread

I recently started kegging after a couple of batches of bottling. I've done 2 kegged batches.

My setup is a keezer set at 37 degrees, regulator set to 12psi. I started with picnic taps but got a set of Perlick 525ss' for christmas Here is my "dilemma":

The beer lines that I got with my christmas gift were only 3ft 3/16" beverage lines. Based on all my research, I should be in foam city at such short lengths at 12psi. But.....I'm not. A 12oz glass fills in about 4-5 seconds and leaves me with about 3/4"-1" head that dissipates after a few minutes to a thin layer. The beer is carbonated, but it just doesn't seem right, there aren't a lot of bubbles running up the glass, but it definitely tastes carbonated, but I can't tell if its actually at the volume that I'm set up at pressure/temp wise, I don't think I have enough experience to tell that yet. Based on all the threads about system balancing I've read, I should not be getting these results. Am I crazy for thinking something's wrong with my system because I'm not noticing something wrong when I think I should be? I didn't have any pour problems with the picnic taps either and they also had 3ft lines. Is it possible that my regulator is showing 12psi but is actually much lower? Is it possible that I'm OCD?

 

[lutherslagers]

First, are you happy with the result? If so I'd leave it be.

When balancing your PSI to hose length you also have to account for elevation, or how far below or above the taps your kegs are located. So if you haven't already do some research on the elevation and its affects on your balancing ratio.

And just checking, but did you clean your new hose lines and flush the cleaner with star san? Both dirty lines and left over cleaner will affect the head (and taste).

 

[Hammy71]

I don't think 12psi and 37F should give you a super bubbly beer. When I started home brewing and carbing, I too was disappointed in the lack of bubbles in my beers. But after a lot of commercial sampling :cross: I've decided that my expectations were off. Most of us were weened on American lagers. Over carbonated versions of lagers at that and most breweries use a higher CO2 level when bottlling. I'm assuming your brewing ales. They are not supposed to be carbonated like BMC. I agree with Luther. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[lutherslagers]

Hammy71 makes a good point on temperature. Have you experimented with taking the temp up and seeing if you have a difference in your head?

 

[underdog378]

Thanks guys, I just see people talking about having a minimum of 6-10ft of beer line otherwise you'll get a ton of foam, and yet at 3ft, I don't seem to have a big problem with a proper pour down the side of the glass, maybe occasionally a little bit larger head than normal, but I guess that's to be expected with only 3ft of hose. The taps are only about 8-10" from the top of the keg so they're not that much higher than the keg.

Hammy, I think you might be right about my expectations being off.

Luther, I didn't clean the new hoses, I was impatient and wanted to get my new faucets installed, lol. I realize I probably should've, before I tap my next batch coming up I'll be sure to clean the new lines.

 

[underdog378]

For future reference for anybody that comes across this thread while searching, I recently came across this site: http://www.draughtquality.org/ Which really goes in depth on balancing a system and all the other aspects of kegging and has been really helpful.