Super Foamy Saison

[roger_tucker]

I kegged up a Saison a few weeks ago. I'm keeping my fridge on the warmer side around 54 degrees. I wanted the saison to be pretty highly carbonated so based on the warmer temp I calculated that I needed to be around 20 psi on the keg. Now when I draw a beer it is almost 100% foam. I have to repeatedly let it settle then pour again until I get a full glass. I've lowered the pressure a bit down to 17 psi at this point, but it doesn't seem to have helped at all. One other piece of information is that my CO2 tank getting close to empty. It's around 500 psi right now. Not sure if that makes a difference. Any guesses as to what is causing the foam and can it be fixed?

As a side note this Saison may be the beer that turns me into an alcoholic. Best beer I've made.

Cottage House Saison https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/cottage-house-saison-254684/

 

[hunter_le five]

Unless you have really long beer lines in your kegerator, you're probably going to have to turn it down further than that. How long are your beer lines?

Any reason you can't cool your fridge down even further and lower the pressure as well?

 

[roger_tucker]

I don't know I'm guessing my beer lines are 3' or so. Why would that make a difference? I can turn the temp down, but I like the Saison a little warmer. It's really the way it should be served. I looked at the charts and if I turn it down to 12 psi which is sort of typical serving pressure the beer would be under-carbonated at 54 degrees. In fact I had it there at one point and the beer was almost flat.

 

[Twinkeelfool]

The way it should be served is out of a champagne bottle

 

[hunter_le five]

I don't know I'm guessing my beer lines are 3' or so. Why would that make a difference? I can turn the temp down, but I like the Saison a little warmer. It's really the way it should be served. I looked at the charts and if I turn it down to 12 psi which is sort of typical serving pressure the beer would be under-carbonated at 54 degrees. In fact I had it there at one point and the beer was almost flat.

Draft systems must be balanced. Just as you balance temperature and pressure to achieve a certain carbonation level, you must also balance to the beer line length.

The higher the pressure being served at, the longer the beer lines need to be. That is why you are getting all the foam.

For example, my beers are generally carbed at ~12 psi and being served on 12' lines. I could probably get away with a slightly higher pressure, but at 20psi its would be a foamy mess.

Trying to serve @ 20psi on 3ft lines will never work, imho. You need much longer lines. Maybe ~18-20', not sure exactly.

And I understand about Saisons needing to be served warm. But warmer beer = more pressure needed to carb = much longer beer lines needed, so I usually just pour the beer cold and let it sit a few minutes before drinking.

 

[peterj]

I don't know I'm guessing my beer lines are 3' or so. Why would that make a difference? I can turn the temp down, but I like the Saison a little warmer. It's really the way it should be served. I looked at the charts and if I turn it down to 12 psi which is sort of typical serving pressure the beer would be under-carbonated at 54 degrees. In fact I had it there at one point and the beer was almost flat.

The longer your lines are the more slowly the pressure is equalized. Going from 20 psi to atmospheric pressure in 3' is going to cause the CO2 to rush out of solution and you get foam. Generally I think 10' is a pretty good line length for most beers served in the 10-15 psi range. 3' is probably not going to work for almost any beer unless you turn the pressure way down (like 2-5 psi) to serve.

Personally I would serve a saison colder than 54F, but if that's where you want it you need to get longer lines. Or you can turn the pressure way down, vent it, serve it, then turn it back up to keep the carbonation where you want it. Actually you should probably get longer lines regardless. I would go with 10'.

 

[roger_tucker]

Longer beer lines it is. I knew I would find the answer here. Thanks so much.

 

[peterj]

I just reread the last part of my post and I'm not saying that 10' at 20psi will work, because as hunter said you would still get foam with that. I'm saying 10' is a good standard length for most beers. But if you like your beer warmer then you will probably serve at a higher psi and so you would need longer lines. I think there's some calculators or charts out there that can help with beer temp, pressure, and line length. Good luck and enjoy the beer! I have a Ginger Lemongrass Saison in primary right now that'll be going into the keg next week!

 

[day_trippr]

Check out the only beer line length calculator worth using and follow its recommendation...

Cheers!