Still getting foam from picnic tap

[webbie99]

I tapped my first keg on wednesday using a picnic tap and 5ft of 3/16" beverage tubing. Regulator on 12 PSI and beer on gas for one week prior to tapping. I got alot of foam from the 5ft hose so I went to the lhbs and got 10 ft of hose and another picnic tap after reading through the search topics. Well I am still getting a lot of foam. Not quite as bad, but still more than I would expect. Any suggestions? I am not feathering the tap I crank it wide open every time.

Thanks.

Webbie

 

[WBC]

Shut off CO2. Pull your pressure relief on the keg. Set pressure on the regulator to 5 LBS, and draw a beer. Wait a while and see how this goes, the beer may be over carbonated.

Ref: http://www.northernbrewer.com/instructions/co2.htm

 

[Bobby_M]

There's a chance your gauge is off a bit. What you think is 12 might be 15psi. Drop it to 8 or 9 and purge like WBC said.

 

[Sea]

Is it deffinately 3/16" ID tubing? I had a similar problem and when I ordered FDA approved Food-grade 3/16" ID tubing, it worked fine with 6' of line.

 

[webbie99]

Definitely 3/16" tubing. I agree the regulator may be off. I got it from a friend and the gauge may be off. I will vent the pressure and try again.

 

[BierMuncher]

Sounds like your batch is simply over carb'd.

A serving (temporary ) fix would be to close gas, vent pressure and then get just enough gas into the keg to barely push the beer.

A better solution will be to close the gase, loosesn the lid on the keg overnight and allow it to degass. Close everything up the next morning and set the PSI to 5-6 and see how that goes.

 

[WBC]

Sounds like your batch is simply over carb'd.

A serving (temporary ) fix would be to close gas, vent pressure and then get just enough gas into the keg to barely push the beer.

A better solution will be to close the gase, loosesn the lid on the keg overnight and allow it to degass. Close everything up the next morning and set the PSI to 5-6 and see how that goes.

+1 just enough pressure to make the beer slowly go into a tilted glass. You may have to vent the keg every so often as even with the regulator at 5 LBS the pressure will build due to the excess carbination. Just vent before serving.

 

[webbie99]

I vented and set the regulator to 9 psi. Hopefully this will help. From everything I have read on here there has not been a problem setting @ 12 PSI for a week to carb and serve. When I get my tower and faucets set up what is the recommendation for pressure then? Thanks again for the responses. I am on what should be my 4th, but due to foam its more like 2 1/2.

 

[WBC]

I vented and set the regulator to 9 psi. Hopefully this will help. From everything I have read on here there has not been a problem setting @ 12 PSI for a week to carb and serve. When I get my tower and faucets set up what is the recommendation for pressure then? Thanks again for the responses. I am on what should be my 4th, but due to foam its more like 2 1/2.

This CO2 pressure totally depends on temperature. See the CO2 chart link I posted in this thread. Once you have too much CO2 in solution it must be blead off until the correct pressure is stabilized.

 

[webbie99]

I am holding steady at 37 degrees so I thought I was okay with 12 psi. Hopefully some of the over carbonation will bleed off. On the other hand though, there is definitely a thick pillowy head on my beers. hahha

 

[WBC]

I am holding steady at 37 degrees so I thought I was okay with 12 psi. Hopefully some of the over carbonation will bleed off. On the other hand though, there is definitely a thick pillowy head on my beers. hahha

Maybe I sense a wee bit tipsyness.

 

[webbie99]

Touche. maybe you do.