Questions about corny keg / dissolved psi / pouring psi

[calvin76]

Hi. I'm new to kegging and have a pilsner in a corny keg that slowly and peacefully absorbed 11 psi at 41 degrees F. If I pour at that 11psi, it's obviously too high, and I get a lot of foam.

My understanding is that I'm SUPPOSED to pour at a lower psi.

I'm guessing I do NOT just want to turn the regulator down, right? I need to disconnect gas from the keg, bleed the head pressure, reset the regulator to ~4 psi, then reattach, yes? Too many steps / too paranoid?

And after I do that, I presumably have beer with CO2 that was dissolved at 11psi, and only 4 psi of head pressure. Won't this eventually try to reach equilibrium, therefore taking gas out of the beer? Will my first pour always be foamy after a long wait? Any risk of it pushing back into the regulator? This assumes the gas stays connected between pours, which I'm fairly sure it does, yes?

And how about my pouring tap? I left it connected and wound up with 1/2-inch of beer in the bottom of the fridge from the plastic pin-lock adapter. Should I disconnect this when not pouring? Or does it just need to be tightened with some thread-seal tape?

Oh and one more thing... the slots on top of the pin-lock connectors that look like a flat head screwdriver fits in. What are those? I instinctively "tightened" them... or at least I think I did.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

Hi. I'm new to kegging and have a pilsner in a corny keg that slowly and peacefully absorbed 11 psi at 41 degrees F. If I pour at that 11psi, it's obviously too high, and I get a lot of foam.

Right there is where I have to stop you.

It's not "obviously too high" at 11 psi. That's proper. Mines at 12 psi, but that's where I like mine, since it's 40 degrees.

If you're getting foam at 11 psi at 41 degrees, which is the proper psi for the temperature, then it's simply that your lines are either too big around, or too short.

If you use 3/16" line, and 10 feet of it, you simply will not have foamy pours. You just wont'. So balance your system, and stop turning the regulator up and down, and it will be perfect.

 

[BigFloyd]

Right there is where I have to stop you.

It's not "obviously too high" at 11 psi. That's proper. Mines at 12 psi, but that's where I like mine, since it's 40 degrees.

If you're getting foam at 11 psi at 41 degrees, which is the proper psi for the temperature, then it's simply that your lines are either too big around, or too short.

If you use 3/16" line, and 10 feet of it, you simply will not have foamy pours. You just wont'. So balance your system, and stop turning the regulator up and down, and it will be perfect.

+100. Your issue is line length being too short. It's a common problem that is easily and cheaply fixable. Go ahead and get 12ft 3/16" lines. You can always trim them back a bit if you want (I'll bet you won't). Leave the psi at 11-12, temp at 38-40*F.

 

[calvin76]

thanks to both of you! I assume you mean the liquid line? currently it's 3/8 and measures 6 feet, 9 inches. I have the tube to make it 12, that's easy.

should I be removing that line between pours? and what about that slot on top of the pin-lock connectors?

thanks again.

 

[MannyZ]

Calvin, I believe the excel sheet found in this thread is what I used to help me calculate my optimum line length.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f84/beer-line-length-pressure-calculator-35369/

Once you have the correct length for your given variables, leave the line in place.

The slots in your pin lock couplers allow you to disassemble them for maintenance and cleaning. DO NOT unscrew them while they are hooked up to your system under pressure

 

[BigFloyd]

thanks to both of you! I assume you mean the liquid line? currently it's 3/8 and measures 6 feet, 9 inches. I have the tube to make it 12, that's easy.

should I be removing that line between pours? and what about that slot on top of the pin-lock connectors?

thanks again.

I'm afraid that 3/8" line will not work well for you at all. It needs to be 3/16".

 

[plumber_bob]

Another big factor is cleaning.
Without proper cleaning your problem will return.

I was just running water through my lines for the first several months. My beer started to get foamy, Little by little it got worse. Finally I changed the lines and it changed back to good pours instantly.

Now I thoroughly clean my lines and faucets after every keg. Probably will change out the lines every year, minimum.

pb

 

[rawlus]

Leaking on the bottom of the freezer is often not a quick disconnect issue but a post o-ring or poppet valve inside the post issue. You should be able to keep the keg connected to both liquid and gas until the keg kicks.

Use 3/16 line and start with 10' per tap... In most cases you can just stick with that and not bother with shortening the line, shortening the line will only increase the pour speed so if you are okay with the pour speed at 10' and don't have foaming issues beyond perhaps the first pour, then you should be okay.

You should try to pour at the same psi you carbonated at, anything else and you risk foaming issues or the opposite, flat beer.

Once your system is up and running, you should not need to touch your regulator hardly ever,unless you are switching styles dramatically and need a much lower or higher carb level.

 

[calvin76]

ah, three SIXTEENETHS! sorry, I misread and misspoke. my line is 3/16 (inside diameter), just by the foresight of the guy who sold it to me. I have already modified to 12', but was waiting to test.

thank you for the advice regarding the leak, the impact of cleaning, the Excel sheet, and the regulator. it really reduces the variables and my resultant anxiety. I'm not QUITE as able to RDWHAH as some other are yet, but at least the beer tastes good, and that's what matters, right?