air in beer line

[kerant]

My first keg; set at 25 for a week then dropped to 7 for a week. Pulled a glass and all foam. Bled it and dropped to 5. Noticed air in beer line; my line is 5ft long. Is this my problem and should i just tighten clamps again. Thought they where plenty tight before.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Oftentimes air in the beer out line is caused by an inbalance in the pressures. You want your serving pressure to equal the pressure required to maintain the desired volumes of carbonation. Try slowly increasing the pressure of gas until you stop seeing CO2 come out of solution in the beer lines. Many of us keep our kegerator/keezers at ~10-12 psi for most beers.

Longer lines cause resistance to slow the pours so that CO2 does not come out of solution while pouring into your glass.

 

[day_trippr]

My first keg; set at 25 for a week[...]

What was the beer temperature during that period? If it was cold, that combination is about 90% of your totally-overcarbed problem.

And if that's the case, the short beer lines are the other 10%. But fixing that is not going to help until that keg calms down. Which would mean disconnecting the CO2 and burping the keg head space over the next day or more to get the carb level down to something reasonable for the beer temperature...

Cheers!

 

[kerant]

What was the beer temperature during that period? If it was cold, that combination is about 90% of your totally-overcarbed problem.

And if that's the case, the short beer lines are the other 10%. But fixing that is not going to help until that keg calms down. Which would mean disconnecting the CO2 and burping the keg head space over the next day or more to get the carb level down to something reasonable for the beer temperature...

Cheers!

Beer was at 36f. Disconnected keg and am burping it. I've read beer line should be 6ft; mine is 5ft - is this a problem I need to fix. Just thought it's only 1 foot...

 

[2thGuy]

Also make sure the short dip tube is on the gas in side and the long dip tube is on the liquid out side. Then make sure everything is tight.

 

[PhillyMike]

Beer was at 36f. Disconnected keg and am burping it. I've read beer line should be 6ft; mine is 5ft - is this a problem I need to fix. Just thought it's only 1 foot...

How long was the beer sitting on the 25 psi?

The 5 ft line isn't a problem as long as the pressure is set right. I'd suggest shutting off the gas, off gassing the keg, turning the gas pressure to about 8 psi and let it equilibrate for a few days. Then try a pour. Make adjustments as necessary. If it is over pressurized, it may take a few bleedings to get everything right.

 

[kerant]

It was at 25psi for 1 week. I disconnected gas yesterday and bled a few times; was going to set it back on today- that will be 24 hrs. I will set it at 8psi as you say. One other question being I'm a newb at this- should the beer line and tap be above the keg height ?

 

[DrunkleJon]

Yeah you probably overcarbed. Keep bleeding with no pressure on it for a while and I highly reccomend the set and forget method. Set the pressure to your serving pressure, which should equal how many volumes of carbonation you want at storage temperature, and let sit for 2 weeks. Yes it takes a little longer, but is far easier to get it carbed and you will not have gas coming out of solution. Maybe I am just lazy. A week is not worth the hassle to me.

With commercial kegs, the fix I use is just upping the serving pressure until after a pour I stop seeing bubbles forming.