Over or Undercarbed beer

[Broncoholic]

Hello all, I'm new to the forum. I've been on here quite a bit to get some information and you guys do give the best information! Lots of smart peeps on here.

OK, so I just recently went to a keg system. The 2 keg system from Costco. I did put Perlick 630SS faucets on it.

My first keg got clogged with hops that I used to dry hop the big mouth bubbler! What a pain, but, the second keg seemed to be overcarbed (or so I think it is). Just recently put on 10' 3/16" beer lines to fix it and that didn't seem to work. I've tried all kinds of pressures too.

No I have 2 kegs going again, 1 IPA and 1 Arrogant Bastard Clone, and set the psi to 12psi. Temp is at ~35 beer temp. Arrogant Bastard seems undercarbed but the IPA seems overcarbed. When I drop the serving PSI to about 5psi, The pours seem to be ok. I've attached pictures of the beer right after I pour it. FYI, it doesn't matter if it's the first or 5th glass.

I just need to know what I'm chasing - over or under carbed. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[porterpounder]

Your beer lines are too big. Should be about 6-8 ft of 3/16 line or if over 10-12 ft with some inc head pressure (like from basement up to kitchen) 1/4" line.

 

[Broncoholic]

Your beer lines are too big. Should be about 6-8 ft of 3/16 line or if over 10-12 ft with some inc head pressure (like from basement up to kitchen) 1/4" line.

Sorry, fixed it. They are 3/16" By the way, I am in Denver. The local beer shop told me I should try 10 foot lines. My buddy does 8' lines.

 

[brewcat]

I'd drop the psi to 8-10.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]12psi. Temp is at ~35[...]

According to our favorite carbonation table, that combination will reach equilibrium at 2.75 volumes of CO2.
A bit on the high side for IPAs - you might consider 10 psi next keg.

10' 3/16" beer lines

Maintaining a ~ 2.5 volume beer at 35°F requires 10 psi.
So, you want to tune your dispensing system to handle (at least) 10 psi.
The only beer line length calculator worth using says at that pressure the minimum 3/16" ID line length is ~8.3 feet, so your 10 footers should be fine (indeed, I wouldn't go any shorter).

And the same calculator says you'd need 12 footers to handle 14 psi.
Which leads to the conclusion: if you were looking for a prototypically carbed IPA, your keg is over-carbed, and your lines are too short to handle it.

The easiest solution is to shut off the gas completely, and burp the keg every time you think about it over a day or so. Then dial the gas down to 10 psi, hook it back up to the keg, and once it reaches the new equilibrium you'll probably be in good shape with the pours...

Cheers!

 

[imasickboy]

This. ^^^

It's the answer for every keg carb or system balancing question.

 

[Broncoholic]

According to our favorite carbonation table, that combination will reach equilibrium at 2.75 volumes of CO2.
A bit on the high side for IPAs - you might consider 10 psi next keg.



Maintaining a ~ 2.5 volume beer at 35°F requires 10 psi.
So, you want to tune your dispensing system to handle (at least) 10 psi.
The only beer line length calculator worth using says at that pressure the minimum 3/16" ID line length is ~8.3 feet, so your 10 footers should be fine (indeed, I wouldn't go any shorter).

And the same calculator says you'd need 12 footers to handle 14 psi.
Which leads to the conclusion: if you were looking for a prototypically carbed IPA, your keg is over-carbed, and your lines are too short to handle it.

The easiest solution is to shut off the gas completely, and burp the keg every time you think about it over a day or so. Then dial the gas down to 10 psi, hook it back up to the keg, and once it reaches the new equilibrium you'll probably be in good shape with the pours...

Cheers!

Thank you all for the input. I'll try 10psi, but if you read that page, it says to add 0.5 psi for every 1000 feet of elevation. I'm in Dener, ~5800 feet at my house. That's why I went to 12psi. Right now I have a cream ale I decided to try to naturally carb up. Another week at least. I'll let you know what the 10 psi does and the natural carb does.