Too Much Head

[mongrell]

First attempt at force carbonating in my first kegging system. I brought the keg down to about 40 degrees and bubbled in 20psi, rocked it. Waited a day and repeated, so all is good and cold and carbonated. I then stored it in a warmer area ~55 degrees attached the co2 at 20psi and dispence. It raced out and filled the glass with foam. So I dropped pressure down to 5psi, it comes out slow-ish but still builds a large head and leaves flat beer.

Is it temp?
Is it pressure?
I'm lost. Its a 7percent IPA if that helps.

 

[DeathBrewer]

let all the pressure off and pour a glass, then raise the pressure just a smidge. 2-3 psi will probably do it. if the beer is flat, it's not carbonated. if you just shook it up, that could be the problem too.

 

[mr x]

Is there CO2 coming out of solution in the lines? A little more info on your hardware might help.

 

[missing link]

check out www.micromatic.com There is a forum dedicated to the proper dispensing of beer.

Basically 38 degrees and 8-15 psi is ideal. Warmer than 38 and you'll get foam, lots of foam.

Linc

 

[abracadabra]

Here's a couple of things to try.

Drop the pressure down until the beer bearly flows and see if that helps.

Try raising the tap as high as possible to dispense.

Open the tap all the way don't try to slow the flow down by only opening the tap part way as this will make the problem worse.

How long is your hose? a longer hose might also help.

What is the inside diameter of your hose?
.
It's also possible that you have a leak somewhere. But in any case 20 PSI is way, way too high for dispensing.

Also do a search on this site or the web for a "balanced system"

 

[denimglen]

...Warmer than 38 and you'll get foam, lots of foam...

Sorry, I have to disagree with this.

My kegerator is set at 6C (43F), somtimes as high as 10C (50F). My beers pour fine.

Like said above, have a read about balanced systems. Pretty much boiled down it says that the longer the beer line is, the more restriction, the more pressure you can serve with. I've got quite a bit of line and serving at 17 - 18 psi is fine.