seriously over carbonated keg!!!!

[geoffski123]

Ok i have read several threads on how to fix this problem but none seem to be working. Of course i am new to kegging and tried to force carbonate my keg using these steps.

racked and chilled the beer to about 41 degrees, once it was chilled i hooked up my Co2 line to the liquid out and pressurized to 30psi, i placed the keg on its side and agitated it back and forth for 10min, i disconnected the gas line and and purged the kegs pressure, i then replaced the keg in the keggerator for about 2 hours with the Co2 set to serving pressure about 8 to 10psi, i let it sit overnight.

when i woke up i gave it a whirl and 99% foam. FML!!!!!
i disconnected the gas and left it unconnected and purged the headspace about every 2 hours for the whole day, the next morning which is today i purged the headspace once again. I hooked up the gas with a extremely low serving pressure about 4 to 6 psi still 99% foam. FML!!!!!

What the hell do i have to do to fix this. Please help me......

 

[geoffski123]

Forgot to mention i now have the keg out of the keggerator trying to warm it to about 70degrees and continue to purge and hopefully get a second chance with this brew. Just for SA its a american brown( NB Freeside Nut Ale ) if that helps......

 

[Raenon]

Keep doing what you're doing, it will eventually drop the carbonation level.
If you read the force carbing thread, you'll see descriptions of exactly the same thing with the quick method- sometimes it actually takes longer than set and forget when you overshoot your goal.

Warming will DEFINITELY allow you to kick out more of the CO2, but you may also end up with a little haze from temperature changes. It is unlikely to hurt anything other than appearance, however, so it's not a bad bet.

 

[Bobby_M]

Are your serving lines balanced?

 

[geoffski123]

Yeah i read the crap out of that. I should of been more patient but i was excited about kegging and overlooked the cons of force carbing. Well thanks for the input. Hopefully everything will work out.

 

[Houdini]

Here's a quick way to solve over-carbonation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk79UYGmAk8#t=5m47s

 

[Raenon]

Yeah i read the crap out of that. I should of been more patient but i was excited about kegging and overlooked the cons of force carbing. Well thanks for the input. Hopefully everything will work out.

Since there really isn't a simple way of measuring carbonation level (at least, not for the homebrewer), only predicting it with certain variables, and shaking throws it all out of whack... it's a big crap shoot.
I tend to go for somewhat undercarbing with just a couple of minutes of shaking at high pressure, then go to "set and forget" to simply shave off a bit of time. It seems to be the best combination of quick and predictable. I have a scottish strong ale that I'm drinking now that's just barely overcarbed for the style (assuming your expectation is like that of other malty beers, and not the near-still that some ales are served at in the UK). If the body was just a hair thinner, it'd probably be perfect.

Good luck with it!

 

[wailingguitar]

Another good reason to get carb stones for your kegs.

OP; bummer... that's a PITA, but if you keep venting the keg it will eventually get in line and you can redo it more gently

 

[geoffski123]

Are your serving lines balanced?

not really sure what you mean by balanced...

 

[coypoo]

not really sure what you mean by balanced...

How long is your beverage line? If it is really short you're going to get a lot of foam at normal serving pressures

 

[geoffski123]

How long is your beverage line? If it is really short you're going to get a lot of foam at normal serving pressures

My serving lines are about 3 feet and gas lines about 4 feet. I read on here that optimal length is about 5 feet however, if they are shorter than that all you have to do is decrease your serving psi. I really don't want to go out and buy more hose and disassemble everything and the problem still persist.

 

[geoffski123]

My beverage lines are 3 feet and my gas lines are 4 feet. I read on here that the optimal length should be at least 5 feet but not completely necessarily needed. If your lines are shorter just reduce your serving psi. If that's not the case then i will defiantly go get some longer lines however, i don't want to go buy new hose and disassemble my keggerator and the problem still persist.

 

[brian2can]

Did you take the post apart? I put the rubber oring the very small one where the popets are wrong and that caused my beer to foam. I realeased the pressure and fixed the rubber orings and worked great after gasing back up. Check that. It is supposed to go oring diptube popette ball-lock

 

[geoffski123]

Did you take the post apart? I put the rubber oring the very small one where the popets are wrong and that caused my beer to foam. I realeased the pressure and fixed the rubber orings and worked great after gasing back up. Check that.

I changed all the gaskets with a new ones. I pressure checked it before racking my beer. No leaks, everything is assembled properly but i give it a check just for S#&*s and Giggles...

 

[coypoo]

My beverage lines are 3 feet and my gas lines are 4 feet. I read on here that the optimal length should be at least 5 feet but not completely necessarily needed. If your lines are shorter just reduce your serving psi. If that's not the case then i will defiantly go get some longer lines however, i don't want to go buy new hose and disassemble my keggerator and the problem still persist.

You are correct in that with 3 ft of line you'll have to serve at much lower pressures than you carb at. The point of 'balancing' the draft system is to be able to serve and carbonate at the same temp so you don't have to change the pressure every time you want to pull a pint.

Hopefully this isn't the cause of your issue but something to keep in mind for the future. IMO, 7-8 ft is a good place to start as you can always shorten if needed.

 

[Brewnoob1]

3ft lines is probably your main problem. 30psi for 10 minutes shouldn't do much carbonation to a full 5 gallon keg at room temp. At least not THAT overcarbed. 10ft lines at 3/16 inner diameter is about golden for most people. I have my kegs in my kegerator at 40 degrees and 10ft lines. I serve at 12-14psi and it pours perfectly everytime. Even a bit slow so I COULD shorten if I wanted to...but I'll take a slower perfect pour in a second.

 

[rhamilton]

My little trick:

My system is dialed in to serve @ 12 PSI perfectly. When I hook up a new keg and my regulator rises above 12 PSI, I know the new keg is overcarbed and it's off-gassing, resulting in the upped pressure. So I pull the relief valve every time I open the fridge until it stabilizes back @ 12 PSI and equilibrium is reached. Depending on how much you've over-carbed, it can take some time. But the good news -- you can still pull pints off of the overcarbed keg! Before you pull a pint, pull the relief valve and lower the pressure. Immediately pour the pint as the keg repressurizes (you should be able to hear it) and you should get a prefect pint. If your system pressurizes too quickly, you may need to stop and dump pressure again to get the full pint but it works wonderfully in my setup.

 

[geoffski123]

3ft lines is probably your main problem. 30psi for 10 minutes shouldn't do much carbonation to a full 5 gallon keg at room temp. At least not THAT overcarbed. 10ft lines at 3/16 inner diameter is about golden for most people. I have my kegs in my kegerator at 40 degrees and 10ft lines. I serve at 12-14psi and it pours perfectly everytime. Even a bit slow so I COULD shorten if I wanted to...but I'll take a slower perfect pour in a second.

I forced at 31psi with the keg at about 41 degrees.

 

[coypoo]

I forced at 31psi with the keg at about 41 degrees.

Has it gotten any better?

 

[geoffski123]

Not really. Maybe a lil. It but not really noticeable. Im going to pick up longer lines this afternoon. Update will follow.

 

[coypoo]

Not really. Maybe a lil. It but not really noticeable. Im going to pick up longer lines this afternoon. Update will follow.

I bet you'll see an improvement right away. Make sure the keg is cold and your CO2 is set to your desired PSI so it can equilibrate during the day and hopefully be good to go tonight

 

[Yooper]

Not really. Maybe a lil. It but not really noticeable. Im going to pick up longer lines this afternoon. Update will follow.

If you're going to pick up longer lines, I'd suggest getting them really LONG. I started with 5' lines, then went to 8' lines, and finally ended up with 10' lines.

You can always cut them shorter, but you can't make them longer! The "worst" thing that can happen with 10' lines is it takes 3 seconds longer to pour a beer. But no 1/2 glasses of foam- ever!

 

[geoffski123]

Ok, i picked up 20 feet on 3/16 ID hose and put 10 feet on both taps. So far so good works like a charm just have to get the Co2 level back ip to where it needs to be. Its a lil flat right now but i have it chilled and sitting on 12 psi.