General Category > Kegging and Bottling
Keg System pressure
neemox:
Everything I have read says to push beer at around 12 psi out of my cornies, maybe a bit higher for commercial kegs. Problem is, from effectively 0 all the way to 15 psi, I get nothing but foam. It settles out eventually, and I have poured a half glass, but it is really getting frustrating.
I'm wondering if my regulator might be lying to me? I've noticed that after I've poured 3 or 4, the foaming goes down a lot and I'm able to pour a relatively decent beer. This makes me think that my regulator is over carbing my beer, but even if I have it set to a pressure low enough that beer almost doesn't flow and I purge the keg, I get foam coming out instead of beer.
I'm guessing this is one of those things that everyone else has learned and I haven't caught onto yet, so I'd love even the basic advice.
tschmidlin:
Here's what we need to know to help you:
What is the temperature of the beer?
How many volumes of CO2 do you want in your beer?
How long is the line from the keg to the tap?
What is the inner diameter of the line from the keg to the tap?
Is the beer cold all of the way from the keg to the tap?
Do you carbonate at the same temperature as you serve?
It could be caused by overcarbonation, but then it shouldn't go away after you've poured a few unless you have turned the gas off.
You can read about balancing your system here: http://www.draughtquality.org/
neemox:
Thanks Tom
The beer pours at 40°F, the keg line is 4 ft of 1/4"id hose, in the fridge entirely.
I force carb, and haven't ever looked at volumes of CO2 very accurately. I just rock the keg at 30 psi til it stops chirping (I chill the keg first) and then let it sit. I vent the excess pressure and then *try* to serve at 10 psi.
I'll check out that link right now and see what i can figure out.
As to the overcarbonation, I have had the gas low enough that it could essentially be off. I've had to deliver at pressures around 1 in order to not just blast beer/foam all over the place. Which now that I say it, makes me think that overcarbonation could be a very real issue.
Perhaps my problem is in carbonation, and not in the keg set-up.
morticaixavier:
--- Quote from: neemox on December 04, 2012, 11:06:54 am ---Thanks Tom
The beer pours at 40°F, the keg line is 4 ft of 1/4"id hose, in the fridge entirely.
I force carb, and haven't ever looked at volumes of CO2 very accurately. I just rock the keg at 30 psi til it stops chirping (I chill the keg first) and then let it sit. I vent the excess pressure and then *try* to serve at 10 psi.
I'll check out that link right now and see what i can figure out.
As to the overcarbonation, I have had the gas low enough that it could essentially be off. I've had to deliver at pressures around 1 in order to not just blast beer/foam all over the place. Which now that I say it, makes me think that overcarbonation could be a very real issue.
Perhaps my problem is in carbonation, and not in the keg set-up.
--- End quote ---
rock and roll carbing is great. I do it all the time. but do it at serving pressure. yes 30PSI will get you there faster but it will also get you WAY over your target faster. set at 10, rock for 10 minutes or until it stops refilling. I like to hold my keg by the top handle and the bottom foot with the gas post down gas attached (never had suck back) and shift back and forth on my feet until the gas entry slows way down. It's usually okay after that but it's gunky and cloudy till the next day and the carb is better once it settles anyway.
denny:
The dispense tubing sounds too short and too thin to get a good balance.
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