Way to much head from my kegs...

[Driftwood]

Need some help here...

Got my two keg system setup inside a fridge, with only about 3 or 4 ft of tubing coming off each keg and a cobra tap (those little thumb tap dispensers) on each end.

My gauge on my regulator goes to like 200 psi, so its hard to read the exact pressure I'm at, it doesn't even have notches for less than 10 psi...

But anyway, the beers been in there over a week at about 10-15 psi (I hope). But when I dispense, I get about 90% head and once that settles, the beer tastes really flat. I turned up the pressure, thinking I just didn't have enough, but after doing a search here, I'm wondering if I'm not too high.

My new theory is the pressure is too high, so when the beer comes out, it comes out way too fast (which it does, I can get a pitcher of head in 5 seconds), all the gas comes out of solution making a **** load of head, and that leaves me with flat beer.

Would you guys agree?

 

[ScottT]

Disconnect the gas, vent the keg every time you walk by the fridge and try to draw a pint a couple times a day It should eventually settle down.

Now, let's talk about your regulator. If it's got a high pressure guage, it should also have a port for a low pressure guage that reads your out pressure, not just the tank pressure.

If you've got a true single guage regulator, the pressure guage, should drop to zero when you back out your adjustment all the way. If it does, just replace the guage with a zero to 30 dial guage. They're available online and probably at your local HBS. This will let you dial in the corect pressure to ballence out your keg system.

Ballencing out your system with only 4 feet of beer line means that you will need to dispense with only 6 to 9 pounds of pressure on the keg. This will give you carbonation levels of 1.5 to 2 volumes at normal fridge temps. That's fine for English or Scottish ales but other styles need more and will require a longer beer line.

 

[david_42]

Odd as this might sound, if you increase the length of the tubing (or use smaller tubing), the foaming should be less of a problem. This works because it reduces the flow rate without reducing the pressure in the tube.

From http://www.angelfire.com/ks2/beer/homekeg.html#restriction

Line Length and Restriction

The system restriction controls the flow rate of the beer from the faucet. Most of the restriction comes from the beer line. There is also restriction from gravity and from some draught equipment but it has little effect (less than 1 foot of length) on most short systems. (If your system has a lot of vertical rise or fall, gravity has .5 lb/ft of restriction) Using equal pressure and restriction gives a flow rate of 1 gal/min. This is usually too fast. The best way to determine the right length is to take the ideal pressure, add 5, divide by the line's restriction value per foot. If the beer pours too slow for you, shorten the line 6" at a time.

At a flow rate of 128oz/min, 3/16" tubing has a restriction of 2.19 lbs/foot. 1/4" tubing has a restriction of around .5 lbs/foot (it depends slightly if you are using vinyl tubing or barrier tubing).

Example:
System is 38 degrees.
Distributor recommends 12 psi at 38 deg for the beer you are serving.
Parts vendor says the line has 3 lb/ft of restriction.
12 psi plus 5 (to slow) = 17
17 divided by 3 (line restriction value) = 5 ft 8 in of line
System needs 5 ft 8 in of line at 12 psi
YES, IT IS THAT SIMPLE

 

[vtfan99]

Make sure your system is balanced. Kegman has a great page on how to do that here.