Carbonated 2 kegs @ 30PSI for 48hrs. One is fine, one is nothing but foam.

[BrewVerymore]

Hello everyone,

If you remember my post about carbonating a beer in 3 days, I went ahead and carbonated for 2 days at 30PSI. However, one of the kegs is nothing but foam and one of the kegs is a bit foam, but manageable if poured very slowly.

I'm wondering how might this have happened and also, what can I do to fix it in a day?

I have so far just set the pressure for both kegs to serving pressure (10psi) and every hour or so have just been pulling the pressure relieve valve on the keg that is foamy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[doug293cz]

How long are your beer lines, and what is the ID of the tubing. Many foam issues, that are not caused by over carbonation, are caused by lines that are too short, or too large in diameter (ID.) To be safe, you need 1 ft of 3/16" ID tubing for each psi of serving pressure.

Of course, you could be over carbonated. I never recommend more that 36 hrs at 30 psi (if the beer starts cold), in order to minimize the risk of over carbonation. If you are over carbonated, then what you are doing will eventually cure the over carb condition.

As far as the kegs behaving differently, was one of the kegs warmer than the other when you started the burst carb at 30 psi? If so, and the warmer keg is the one that pours better, then the temp difference is probably the reason. At equal pressures, a warmer keg will absorb CO2 slower than a colder keg, so will take longer to carbonate, and also longer to over carbonate.

Brew on

 

[BrewVerymore]

Thanks for the prompt reply. My sister lives in Renton up a giant hill from an IKEA near there.

Both kegs were carbed in the same temp-controlled freezer.
First I used a party tap with about 3ft of line and had said results from each keg. Then I used a bit of a longer tube, about 4 ft of 3/16ID tube w/ a normal tap setup that I have. Maybe I should go buy a longer tube. This was just a rush job in order to get beer ready for a party, so hopefully I never have to do it this way again .

Curious though. If I leave the kegs at 10PSI, do I still have to walk by and relieve the valve or will just leaving it at 10PSI be ok? One post I read, a guy said leaving it at 10PSI after it's over carbbed will eventually fix it, but it doesn't make sense to me how that's possible.

Thx for the help!

 

[aeviaanah]

He is probably referring to 10 psi at keg, not regulator

 

[BrewVerymore]

He is probably referring to 10 psi at keg, not regulator

Sorry I'm a bit confused. I have a regulator on my co2 tank that I can adjust the PSI going to the keg, but the coupler on the keg doesn't have anything that reads the pressure. Can you explain what it means to set the keg to 10psi?

 

[TungstenBeer]

How full are those kegs? I find if I'm too close to the "gas in" tube that I can and will get a ton of foam by force carb'ing like you do.

 

[RedlegEd]

Sorry I'm a bit confused. I have a regulator on my co2 tank that I can adjust the PSI going to the keg, but the coupler on the keg doesn't have anything that reads the pressure. Can you explain what it means to set the keg to 10psi?

Hi. I believe what @aeviaanah is saying, is to make sure you adjust the pressure in your keg to 10 psi. The way to do that is to remove the CO2 line from the keg, purge until you have no pressure, set your regulator to 10 psi, then reconnect the line to the keg. It should re-pressurize your keg to 10 psi. Since the beer is already carbonated, purging the CO2 from the keg will not flatten your beer, just relieve pressure from the headspace. Make sense? Ed

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks for the prompt reply. My sister lives in Renton up a giant hill from an IKEA near there.

Both kegs were carbed in the same temp-controlled freezer.
First I used a party tap with about 3ft of line and had said results from each keg. Then I used a bit of a longer tube, about 4 ft of 3/16ID tube w/ a normal tap setup that I have. Maybe I should go buy a longer tube. This was just a rush job in order to get beer ready for a party, so hopefully I never have to do it this way again .

Curious though. If I leave the kegs at 10PSI, do I still have to walk by and relieve the valve or will just leaving it at 10PSI be ok? One post I read, a guy said leaving it at 10PSI after it's over carbbed will eventually fix it, but it doesn't make sense to me how that's possible.

Thx for the help!

That's not far from where I live.

I'm running a couple of picnic taps now. One with 10 ft of line and one with 6 ft. I get significantly more foam from the 6 ft line.

You need to vent the kegs, since as the excess CO2 comes out of the beer, it will raise the headspace pressure above the regulator setting. As the headspace pressure rises, the rate at which CO2 comes out decreases, and eventually stops completely when the headspace pressure is in equilibrium with the carb level and temp. To de-carb faster, disconnect the gas line, and periodically vent the headspace. CO2 will come out faster into 0 psi headspace than 10 psi headspace. You need to keep checking the actual carb level if you do it this way, as it's possible to drop the carb level too much (which can't happen if you keep the headspace at 10 psi min.)

Brew on

 

[RevKev]

What is the ABV of each? Are they the same