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Author Topic: Overcarbonated.  (Read 932 times)

Offline krclower

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Overcarbonated.
« on: April 15, 2021, 10:55:59 am »
I've got one of my beers in a corny that has become overcarbonated.  Yeah, oops.

Is there a simple method of purging that, and returning the foam back to delicious drinkable beer, other than disconnecting the CO2 and letting it sit?????

Offline denny

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Re: Overcarbonated.
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2021, 11:16:44 am »
I've got one of my beers in a corny that has become overcarbonated.  Yeah, oops.

Is there a simple method of purging that, and returning the foam back to delicious drinkable beer, other than disconnecting the CO2 and letting it sit?????

Release the pressure repeatedly.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline tommymorris

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Re: Overcarbonated.
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2021, 11:21:35 am »
I've got one of my beers in a corny that has become overcarbonated.  Yeah, oops.

Is there a simple method of purging that, and returning the foam back to delicious drinkable beer, other than disconnecting the CO2 and letting it sit?????
The only way I know is take the keg out of the fridge, disconnect the gas, and pull the pressure relief tab every few hours. If you have a spunding valve and pressure gauge you could set it to a pressure value that matches the room temp and volumes of CO2 you want to get down to (using a chart like linked below). That might get you in the right ball park without constantly having to pull the tab.

https://www.kegerators.com/articles/carbonation-table-pressure-chart/

Offline goose

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Re: Overcarbonated.
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2021, 08:05:20 am »
I agree that taking the keg out of the refrigerator/keezer and relieving the pressure repeated will work.

There is also something else you can do after removing the keg from the keezer.  Relieve all the pressure on the keg and tap on the side of it with a rubber mallet.  You don't have to hit it very hard but the vibrations from tapping on the keg will bring some of the CO2 out of solution.  Think of what happens when you drop a can of beer and they try to open it without letting it sit for a while.  We used to do this to the bright tanks at the brewery I worked at when we accidentally overcarbonated the beer.  You may have to do this two or three times before you get the carbonation down to an acceptable level.  Just make sure to purge the pressure each time to prevent any gushing when relieving the pressure.  If you are concerned about foam coming out of the relief valve, attach a  connector to the gas-in  in side of the keg with a hose on the end of it going into a bucket.  If you didn't overfill the keg, you should only get CO2 to come out and no beer.  If you did overfill, just take a glass or two of beer out of the keg before tapping on it.
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Offline denny

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Re: Overcarbonated.
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2021, 08:31:49 am »
I agree that taking the keg out of the refrigerator/keezer and relieving the pressure repeated will work.

There is also something else you can do after removing the keg from the keezer.  Relieve all the pressure on the keg and tap on the side of it with a rubber mallet.  You don't have to hit it very hard but the vibrations from tapping on the keg will bring some of the CO2 out of solution.  Think of what happens when you drop a can of beer and they try to open it without letting it sit for a while.  We used to do this to the bright tanks at the brewery I worked at when we accidentally overcarbonated the beer.  You may have to do this two or three times before you get the carbonation down to an acceptable level.  Just make sure to purge the pressure each time to prevent any gushing when relieving the pressure.  If you are concerned about foam coming out of the relief valve, attach a  connector to the gas-in  in side of the keg with a hose on the end of it going into a bucket.  If you didn't overfill the keg, you should only get CO2 to come out and no beer.  If you did overfill, just take a glass or two of beer out of the keg before tapping on it.

Great idea, Goose!  I've never heard that one before.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell