Long distamce diagnosis needed

[erikrocks]

Hey folks. I'm a seasoned home brewer and kegger, but I'm at a loss. Here's the situation: I live 4 hours from my dad, but when we go visit, I always bring him a fresh keg of helles. Inset him up with a makeshift kegerator years ago, which simply consists of a keg inside his spare full sized fridge in the garage with a co2 tank running through the wall of the fridge and a picnic tap inside the fridge to dispense. This situation has worked now for a couple of years.

So that's the background. Recently, I brought him a keg of pilsner. I was already carbonated and tasted fine here at my house. When he hooked it up (I had already left by then), he told me it poured with a nice head, but was flat after a couple minutes in the glass. He reported its 40 degrees in the fridge, and he has the regulator set to 12 psi. The Co2 tank is not empty, and there is no leak in the keg, line, or regulator. He cranked to pressure to 30 for 5 days or so, and he still has the same problem ( this time, with a much faster pour). I also though maybe the beer line could be dirty, so I had hiring water through it and the tap. I also told him to rinse his cup thoroughly so there's no soap residue, but still no dice. What could I be missing here? Anyone have any ideas? I'm stumped!

 

[zachattack]

If it's overcarbed, or the pressure is too high while he's pouring, most of the carbonation can be knocked out (as foam) during the pour. This is almost certainly the case if he's pouring at 30 psi.

After 5 days at 30 psi, the keg is probably very overcarbonated. He needs to decarb and try again. How long was the keg chilling in the fridge before he tried pouring? If you carbed it, then drove it to him with it warm in the car, I'd think he'd need to chill it for a day or two to get everything back in equilibrium.