Stout Not Carbing In Keg

[jzamora3]

Hi guys,

I kegged my deception cream stout 14 days ago and I'm still not getting much carbonation/head. It pours with good velocity from the faucet and a small head forms but falls really quickly. The head that does form is maybe 1/4 inch. I filled a keg from my local brewery (I have a two tap tower kegerator) and using the same psi, that beer had a nice frothy head but came out with significantly less velocity.

For my Stout, I used the "set and forget method." I set my regulator to 11 psi, fridge temp in about 47. I'm using 3/16 hose and it's about 5 feet long.

Any idea what's going on here? Or am I just not being patient enough?

Thanks for the help and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[GPP33]

I've found using the set it and forget it method works much better when I set the temp to about 35 and pressure to 20psi and then raise it back up to serving temp when I'm ready to serve. I haven't had much luck leaving it at serving temp and serving pressure. If your keg is super full it'll add time as well due to decreased surface area. I try to lean my kegs over a bit to get extra surface area too.

 

[kh54s10]

Are you confusing head depth with carbonation? I have had some beers that develop a thick head and others that have a very little head.

 

[zachattack]

I've found using the set it and forget it method works much better when I set the temp to about 35 and pressure to 20psi and then raise it back up to serving temp when I'm ready to serve.

This sounds like the opposite of set and forget

 

[jzamora3]

Are you confusing head depth with carbonation? I have had some beers that develop a thick head and others that have a very little head.

Maybe. This is my first time kegging a stout so maybe my expectations are different.

So when I've kegged before, my beers have had a thin layer of foam across the surface of the beer. With my Stout, the head dissipates and the "layer of foam" goes away too. I see small and light bubbles releasing to the top. The foam is reduced to a small ring around the outer edge of the glass. So to me it looks more like a fresly poured Dr.Pepper than a freshly poured fine ale.

So maybe it's just my recipe? I followed NCBeernuts' recipe for deception cream stout to a tee.

 

[kh54s10]

Maybe up the pressure a couple pounds for a few days.

 

[jzamora3]

Maybe up the pressure a couple pounds for a few days.

Would I up the psi and then bring it down to about 9 or 10 for serving?

 

[Yooper]

Would I up the psi and then bring it down to about 9 or 10 for serving?

No! I think the issue is that the serving line is too short. The lack of restriction from a short serving line causes some turbulence in the beer, "knocking" the c02 out of suspension and creating a nice head but with seemingly little carbonation in the beer.

If you lengthen your serving lines to 10-12' feet of 3/16" line you'll be able to carb and serve most beers quite well at 10-12 psi. At 47 degrees, though, I'd probably go longer than 12' even, and turn up the psi to 13-14 psi.

 

[jzamora3]

I built my own kegerator using the two tap tower setup from Kegco and used the lines they supplied. Kit came with 5ft lines. Wouldn't you think they would include the correct components to in their kit?

What about my keg that I got filled from the brewery? It came carbed and ready to go. Using the same length line this one pours a nice frothy deep head. It's an IPA if that helps.

 

[kh54s10]

No! I think the issue is that the serving line is too short. The lack of restriction from a short serving line causes some turbulence in the beer, "knocking" the c02 out of suspension and creating a nice head but with seemingly little carbonation in the beer.

If you lengthen your serving lines to 10-12' feet of 3/16" line you'll be able to carb and serve most beers quite well at 10-12 psi. At 47 degrees, though, I'd probably go longer than 12' even, and turn up the psi to 13-14 psi.

I thought of this also but was thinking of picnic taps. They almost always come with short beer lines. Mine worked well with the short length until I got my Perlicks. I didn't know if the short lines would make more or less foam than a longer line.

 

[jzamora3]

If it helps the discussion, I habe 63O Perlick faucets.

 

[Moose_MI]

I had a milk stout that did this very same thing. It was 5 days at 30psi before I got head. The bad news was that while I finally had a nice head the mouthfeel was screwed up because it was to fizzy. Over a couple weeks at 12psi the creaminess cake back and still had head.
I think the issue with head retention on this beer had nothing to do with carbonation and everything to do with mash ph and/or my water profile. I hope to figure it out next time I do this beer

 

[RM-MN]

Maybe. This is my first time kegging a stout so maybe my expectations are different.

So when I've kegged before, my beers have had a thin layer of foam across the surface of the beer. With my Stout, the head dissipates and the "layer of foam" goes away too. I see small and light bubbles releasing to the top. The foam is reduced to a small ring around the outer edge of the glass. So to me it looks more like a fresly poured Dr.Pepper than a freshly poured fine ale.

So maybe it's just my recipe? I followed NCBeernuts' recipe for deception cream stout to a tee.

I bottle instead of kegging but most of my beers have 1/2 to 3/4 inch of head when I pour them. If yours don't develop a decent head, blame the glassware. Wash it well by hand because you may have some soap/detergent residue which will kill the heading. My stouts tend to have less head than pale ales too.

 

[Setsumi]

Are you confusing head depth with carbonation? I have had some beers that develop a thick head and others that have a very little head.

Maybe answer this question first. The question is, do you have good carbonation with little head... then you will probably not get the head better on this beer - check recipe. Low carb and low head... see Yooper's post

 

[kh54s10]

If it helps the discussion, I habe 63O Perlick faucets.

I am assuming that this is "I have 630 Perlick faucets." and not "I hate 630 Perlick faucets."

I don't know if it is a recipe thing, a soapy glass thing, carbonation thing but longer beer lines will be a help. The most often length advised is 10 feet. I don't know the ideal length but 5 feet is most likely too short.

 

[chickypad]

Also realize that at 11 psi and 47* you're looking at 2.0 volumes CO2. Even though some charts will say that's "to style" it will likely seem undercarbed compared to most commercial beers. Certainly your IPA from the brewery is likely carbed to a much higher level.

 

[jzamora3]

Yes, I have the 630s and love them.

I'll look into getting some longer liquid lines and hopefully that'll help.

I think I have decent carbonation with very little head. Hopefully with some extended time, it'll carb up a little more. I can see why the brewery IPA would be higher carbed and me comparing mine to that threw me off a bit.

Let's see about increasing line length. I'm a little dissoaoinred that Kegco would ship an order with subpar lines.

 

[GPP33]

My experience is that shorter lines are more likely to produce a glass of head, not a lack of head. If your beer is carbed ok then you have a lack of turbulence issue. Try not pouring it down the side of the glass or maybe slowly letting up on the tap handle to top it with a little foam.