Over Forced Carbination

[gyrfalcon]

I tried the forced carbonation technique where you turn up the regulator to 60PSI, and shake your 5gal corny keg... This seemed to over carbonate the beer and it's very foamy. Dispensing it is like dispensing foam.

The carbonation makes for a great head, but not for great pouring.

I tried to bleed off some of the pressure with the safety valve but I have some beer coming through that so I stopped.

Anyone else done this before? Is there a way to carbonate beer while dispensing it, or what's the best way to go about it?

If you recommend priming sugar I haven't had great luck with it and the dry yeast I use when I make beer.

 

[Iordz]

You did turn the pressure down to 8-10psi for serving, right? The way I carbonate my beer, I set the regulator to 10-15psi, depending on the beer style, and let the beer carbonate for a week. After the week has gone by I draw a pint and determine whether I should let it go for a couple more days or whether I can drink it now. You can turn the pressure down to les than 10psi and try pour a glass, hopefully the foaming will not be too severe if you are using a low pressure to dispense.

 

[gyrfalcon]

You did turn the pressure down to 8-10psi for serving, right? The way I carbonate my beer, I set the regulator to 10-15psi, depending on the beer style, and let the beer carbonate for a week. After the week has gone by I draw a pint and determine whether I should let it go for a couple more days or whether I can drink it now. You can turn the pressure down to les than 10psi and try pour a glass, hopefully the foaming will not be too severe if you are using a low pressure to dispense.

Well after 3 to 4 foamy beers... I was able to open up the release valve and complete de-pressurized the keg. One shake of the keg and it dispenses well for a few minutes but then builds up too much pressure.

I'm guessing I should leave the blowoff valve open for a while and let the beer de-carbonate a bit?

 

[c.n.budz]

close your gas line, bleed the pressure off the keg, turn the psi down to around 10 psi, open the gas line back up so the keg is sitting at 10 psi ten let it sit and kinda balance itself out overnight

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Yep, you need to keep de-pressurizing the headspace for a while until it reaches a moderate carbonation level again.

The crank-and-shake method is a very easy way to overcarb - it can be done somewhat effectively but it takes practice - you have to know how long to shake it for, and how vigorously to shake it. It's really appealing to newcomers because it means you can have carbonated beer almost immediately after chilling the keg, but it's also a risky suggestion because it's very easy to screw up and overcarb. But the set-and-forget method takes a long time. I usually split the difference - use the shake method, with the regulator at 30psi (60 is rather high), and shake it for about 3/4 as long as I estimate it would take to "fully" carbonate it. This usually involves laying the chilled keg on my lap and rocking it back and forth while I count to 60 or 70. Then the beer is somewhat close to fully carbed (and is at least drinkable), and will finish carbing with the set-and-forget method over the next couple days.

 

[FlyGuy]

Yes, I have done this. It is actually hard to de-pressurize an over-carbonated keg if it is very full (like yours). The problem is that you have such little headspace, there is almost no room for all the CO2 in solution to move into.

I suggest that you take it off ALL pressure, and try to vent out as much CO2 as possible ever time you think of it (say every few hours). It may take a couple-few days to get most of it out of the keg. You can also try agitating the keg, releasing pressure, agitating again, releasing pressure, etc., etc. if you don't want to wait. But as you have already seen, you run the risk of getting foam/beer in your pressure relief valve which could lead to other problems.

Best of luck!

 

[Bearcat Brewmeister]

I used to do the shake method but ran into the same problem - too hard to get it to exactly the right pressure. But I also really wanted the beer quick. I now use a carbonation stone. You can get beer carbonated in about 24 hours, even starting with warm beer. I put the beer in the fridge and let it cool for 4 hours, then start the CO2 at 4psi. You can hear the bubbles coming up through the beer. Every 2 hours, I turn it up 1psi (just so you can hear some bubbles starting again) and stop when I have reached the proper serving pressure for that style of beer. Ready to drink the next day every time.

 

[malkore]

i've seen guides for 30psi to rapid force carb beer...but 60psi? no wonder it over carb'd.

i say vent the excess, then try to carb again at a lower psi.

 

[BierMuncher]

i've seen guides for 30psi to rapid force carb beer...but 60psi? no wonder it over carb'd.

i say vent the excess, then try to carb again at a lower psi.

+1 on the 60PSI.

If it's still over carb'd, I'd bleed the pressure, unfasten the lid and set it side ways on the keg so the lid is essentially “off”. (assuming this keg is refrigerated)

Let it sit over night and then reseat the lid, put on about 5-PSI and draw a glass. Repeat the process if necessary. If it's too flat, set the PSI to 10-12 and forget about it.

I once actually removed the lid on an overcarb’d keg, took a sanitized mash paddle and gave the beer enough of a swirl to foam out some CO2 but not enough to aerate the beer. That worked very well.

No more shaking. If you’re in a hurry…set the PSI to 30 and let it sit for 60 hours. Then drop it to 10 and leave it alone.

 

[WortMonger]

I have never over-carbonated, but if I did.... one of these would work.

Like Ronco says, "Set it.....and forget it." I love this thing for natural carbonating, counter pressure transfers, and "if ever needed" de-carbonation. I would 2nd or 3rd the fact that 60 psi seems way too high. When I used to shake and carb I would chill the keg, and then crank up the regulator to 20 psi and shake the crap out of my keg. Then I would let it sit for 15 minutes or so and come back and shake it again, still hooked up to the CO2 bottle. Always seemed to get to around 12-15 psi, once I unhooked it after the second shaking and placed it in the kegerator to settle for an hour or longer. Then I just set the regulator to 5ish psi and serve. I like my new way much better, but everyone has "their" way. There is quite a bit on here about carbonating beer so you should get some more good reads with a search. Hope this helps.

Oh, and the pressure on the spunding valve in the picture is set to 30 psi because the beer is fermenting at 65*F. Just to clarify.