Wheat lager/Hefeweizen split batch...all foam?

[SteveHeff]

Brewed up 11 gallons of wort using 50% pilsner malt and 50% white wheat malt. Ended up with 1.047 sg wort. A friend likes hefe's and I enjoy my lagers so I decided to split a batch...first one I've ever done in 15 years of brewing. Both worts fermented down to 1.012 after 3 weeks. After force carbing (at 12 psi) both kegs and leaving for another 3 weeks, both myself and my friend have a ton of foam pouring out of the kegs. I purged the keg and set PSI to 2 psi and it's still pouring almost all head. My friend is reporting the same from his keg. Now, after sitting for 10 minutes, head dissipates and then we have beer. I don't usually ferment with wheat malt but I'm wondering if this is the cause of all the foam. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[day_trippr]

Degas a sample and do a gravity check.

Cheers!

 

[Bassman2003]

Sounds like a simple overcarb situation. The malt should not cause this. Serving without the gas on or as you have it at 2 PSI will lower the carbonation over time. You can be more aggressive and pull the PRV each day to move the CO2 out quicker but that will let more oxygen in as well.

Although I do not know your tap setup. Is 12 PSI at fridge temps usually ok? I can't imagine your were still fermenting after three weeks in the fermenter.

 

[mac_1103]

Is 12 PSI at fridge temps usually ok?

^this^

What is the length and diameter of your beer lines and what pressure do you usually serve at?

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I carb my wheat beers to 3 volumes using 15 psi at 36°F, and I dispense through 9 feet of EVABarrier 4mm ID line. No foam problems, but if I used the 5-1/2' line length like my less boisterous beers (carbed to 2.4 volumes) things would get messy quickly...

Cheers!

 

[SteveHeff]

After the beer has been in the keg for a month now, things have settled down a bit. My glassware may have been a large contributor to the all the foam. I used some smoother and wider glasses which seemed to make things a bit better. Next trip to the homebrew store will result in longer tubing for my picnic tap. The beer still holds a great head with neat lacing.

Also, I've had my current kegging system for 10 years or so and never had an issue with carbing to 12 psi before. The beer is currently at 10 psi without issue. Thanks all.