Stout faucet

[wegz15]

Hey I am getting all foam when I pour my stouts. I started with straight nitrogen and had almost no head. So I switch to co2 and now there is too much foam. Unhooked co2 and released all pressure from keg. Went down a day later and released pressure again. Now hpoked up to co2/nitrogen and set it to 30 psi. All foam again. Is my pressure too high?

 

[h22lude]

What length is your beer line?

If I remember correctly from the co2 chart, stouts should have very low psi.

 

[wegz15]

From what I've read beer line length doesn't matter with stouts. They are served with low co2 but pushed with a high psi. That is why beer gas (co2/nitrogen) is used, tonot over carbonate the beer.

 

[h22lude]

From what I've read beer line length doesn't matter with stouts. They are served with low co2 but pushed with a high psi. That is why beer gas (co2/nitrogen) is used, tonot over carbonate the beer.

I might be a little confused as I haven't kegged a stout but how do you serve at low and push at high? The serving psi is what you set the psi to when you are pouring beer from the tap.

The way I understand it is if you are using the set it and forget method, you would carb between 5 and 7 psi depending on your temp and you would serve at that same psi.

 

[wegz15]

When I said serve I meant carbonation level to style. The beer gas contains 25% co2 75% nitrogen so you can serve at 30 psi without over carbing

 

[KYB]

Carbonation should be about 1.4 volumes. Hook it to the nitrogen (or better yet 75%/25% CO2 blend) at 30psi at 38*F on a balanced system. May need to dial the pressure down to 25 or a little less depending on your system.

If you hooked it to straight CO2 it sounds like you overcarbed the beer.

 

[wegz15]

I currently have it on beer gas at about 30psi. I had it on co2 for a day at 30psi because I had no head. Then tried to let all the carbonation out that I could. Sat with nothing hooked up for about a week and I bled off the pressure. Hooked up beer gas today and still all foam. Too much pressure maybe?

 

[SaltyHog]

Same thing just happened to me. I put my first keg of stout directly on beer gas and got no foam so I hooked it up to co2 at 30psi and shook it, put it back on beer gas and got too much foam. I figured I must of over carbed it so I just let my pints settle a while longer before drinking and slowly carbed my next keg at 12psi @65f for a week. My second keg of stout is pulling perfectly.

Also, are you letting your pints settle? they usually need a minute or so after going through the diffuser.

 

[wegz15]

They settle fine but I don't want a whole glass of foam and wait 5 minutes for a half glass of beer

 

[SaltyHog]

I think if you bring the keg to room temperature it will knock the co2 out of the beer and into the head space. Then you could bleed it off and try it again. I'm no expert on kegging or co2 though so I can't be sure.

 

[wegz15]

I set the keg out last night, I'm at work all day today. I'll hook it back up tomorrow A.M. when I get home and see how it goes.

 

[Brewerforlife]

It need's to be on a blended gas of 75%N/25%CO2, just like Guinness.They carbonate the beer to about 1.4 volumes first, then pressurize kegs to about 35 psi at 38F with the
blended gas to nitro the beer before shipping out. There's probably enough resistance from the restrictor plate in the faucet to work with most line set-ups. You need the high percentage of nitro to get the small, creamy, and tight head that we could eat with a spoon, it comes from the nitro breaking out of solution as it come's through restrictor plate.This won't happen on straight co2 alone or even the beer gas blend of60%Co2/40%N. It's to much CO2 and not enough nitro, you would be overcarbed at the needed 30psi and lack the nitro to get proper effect. Straight nitro will give you no carbanation at all, so that won't work at all. At our pub I carb my stout in our uni-tanks at 6-8 psi/@45F for
about a week, this is after fermentaion,crash cooling and racking off yeast of course. Then I keg off uni-tank into 1/2 BBL kegs, and put them under 30-35psi head pressure of the 75%/25% nitro @ 38F for a week or so, and you should be good to go. hope this help's. Cheers!!!