A Little Help With Kegging

[gavpk]

Hi all,
just started kegging, i read the wiki section on it, and tried the "ross method" all iget is full glass of froth.
any ideas? ive got the keg at 3oC and its been in for about a week

cheers :beer:

Gav

 

[bonj]

Gav,

A glass of froth can be cause by a number or things:

1. Your beer is overcarbonated.
2. Your beer-line is too short.
3. Your pouring pressure is too high.

If you have over-carbonated, you have to take the keg off the gas and relieve the pressure with the release valve. Shake the keg, let it settle for a minute, then slowly release the pressure again. You need to do this a number of times.

#2 and #3: Make sure you're at pouring pressure (~80KPa/12PSI). If you're at pouring pressure, then your beer-lines are not balanced. You need to have around 2 metres of beer line at that pressure at 3degC.

 

[gavpk]

Gav,

A glass of froth can be cause by a number or things:

1. Your beer is overcarbonated.
2. Your beer-line is too short.
3. Your pouring pressure is too high.

If you have over-carbonated, you have to take the keg off the gas and relieve the pressure with the release valve. Shake the keg, let it settle for a minute, then slowly release the pressure again. You need to do this a number of times.

#2 and #3: Make sure you're at pouring pressure (~80KPa/12PSI). If you're at pouring pressure, then your beer-lines are not balanced. You need to have around 2 metres of beer line at that pressure at 3degC.

thanks mate, i'll give it a go after work tonight, ive got more beer line coming in the mail, the one ive got now is only about 600mm long, also i think i may have over carbed it

cheers

 

[BOG]

Gav,

I did the same thing for the first 2 kegs and then WortGames sent me this table.

What I did to recover the beer was;

Pour the beer into a jug, that way the head will die down into beer over time.
Pull the ring on the release valve on the keg and blow out all the gas.
Drink a few of the beers from the jug, pull the ring, drink a few etc etc. Until it no longer burps after say 2 hours between drinks.
Note that you can still fill up the jug from the tap using the overgassed beer own gas (no gas bottle connected) while you wait as it may take more than one jug in time.

Set the serving pressure really low, as per the table and don't touch it again, ever.

Connect up and drink, the beer should be slightly flat now but will recover to the correct level over about 3 days. Adjust pressure as required for beer style. ie Wheat more, Porter less.

Easy.

And special thanks to WortGames for supplying the origional answer.



BOG

View attachment reckoner.pdf

 

[bear09]

Gav,

I did the same thing for the first 2 kegs and then WortGames sent me this table.

What I did to recover the beer was;

Pour the beer into a jug, that way the head will die down into beer over time.
Pull the ring on the release valve on the keg and blow out all the gas.
Drink a few of the beers from the jug, pull the ring, drink a few etc etc. Until it no longer burps after say 2 hours between drinks.
Note that you can still fill up the jug from the tap using the overgassed beer own gas (no gas bottle connected) while you wait as it may take more than one jug in time.

Set the serving pressure really low, as per the table and don't touch it again, ever.

Connect up and drink, the beer should be slightly flat now but will recover to the correct level over about 3 days. Adjust pressure as required for beer style. ie Wheat more, Porter less.

Easy.

And special thanks to WortGames for supplying the origional answer.
BOG

Kegs are so simple if you do it right from the start. Set the guage to 15psi and connect it to your keg - chilled is best. Leave it for 4 days. Attach line and pour. I have never had to adjust from 15psi. In four days it carbonates the keg and it is a good pressure for pouring - maybe a touch lower will help the froth.

Some people up the pressure to 40psi and then only leave the keg for 2 days or 1.5 days. I dont like the idea of this because if you are out by a few hours - your beer will be over carbed. Stick with 15 and 15 - you cant go wrong!!

 

[Ross]

Kegs are so simple if you do it right from the start. Set the guage to 15psi and connect it to your keg - chilled is best. Leave it for 4 days. Attach line and pour. I have never had to adjust from 15psi. In four days it carbonates the keg and it is a good pressure for pouring - maybe a touch lower will help the froth.

Some people up the pressure to 40psi and then only leave the keg for 2 days or 1.5 days. I dont like the idea of this because if you are out by a few hours - your beer will be over carbed. Stick with 15 and 15 - you cant go wrong!!

15 psi might be fine for lagers, but will over gas an ale - 10psi is a better figure for an ale, unless of course you like fizzy ales, in which case go for it

cheers Ross

 

[gavpk]

i cant get this to work, half thinking about just going back to bottles, ive had the keg at 12 psi for about 5 days and i still get a glass full of froth if i pour some into a bucket (like a few glass's) then pour a glass i get half/half and it tastes flat with no bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass.
dunno?????????

cheers :beer:

Gav

 

[dewbot]

have you lengthened your beer line? 600mm is too short

 

[gavpk]

have you lengthened your beer line? 600mm is too short

yep, beer line is now 3 metres,

 

[NRB]

Did you de-gas the keg in order to rule out overcarbonation? If it was overcarbonation causing it before, it's causing it again!

 

[gavpk]

Did you de-gas the keg in order to rule out overcarbonation? If it was overcarbonation causing it before, it's causing it again!

yep as per bonj's advice, if it is still overcarbed and im getting half/half why is there no bubbles rising, i have a brew in the fermenter that i have to empty this weekend, so not sure whether to keg it or not, ive wasted half a keg so far root'n about trying to get this working

 

[Kingy]

i wasted a whole keg trying to get my rig setup, now it has 3 metre lines and i just hook up to 90kpa it still comes out whith to much head in my skinny glasses but my pint glasses pour perfect.

i think its finding a balance between fizzyness and pouring pressure. If u want gassier beer u up the psi/kpa but then u have to lenghten the line a bit.

 

[gavpk]

i think its finding a balance between fizzyness and pouring pressure. If u want gassier beer u up the psi/kpa but then u have to lenghten the line a bit.

makes sense, thanks for the reply

Gav

 

[bonj]

Another thing to watch is the fridge temperature. My chest freezer fluctuates between 1 and 5 degrees (probe loose), but when I tested the liquid temperature it was 5.2degC. I expected it to be around 3degC. As a result, I've upped the pressure on my system to 13PSI, and the line bubbles have all but gone. Haven't tested a pour yet, as I have a cold, and can't taste anything. No point drinking it if I can't taste it.

 

[gavpk]

Another thing to watch is the fridge temperature. My chest freezer fluctuates between 1 and 5 degrees (probe loose), but when I tested the liquid temperature it was 5.2degC. I expected it to be around 3degC. As a result, I've upped the pressure on my system to 13PSI, and the line bubbles have all but gone. Haven't tested a pour yet, as I have a cold, and can't taste anything. No point drinking it if I can't taste it.

yeah i wasnt sure about that, ive got the fridge set at 3degC with a temp controller, i cant see the beer being far from that at the tap

 

[Eugene]

I feel for all who want to give up after wasting a keg of beer trying to get the pour right, so many different methods that others use but I seemed to struggle with.

My first two attempts at force carb wasted two kegs, I just got flat glasses of bubbles.

Next came the hook it up at 40kpa at 4 deg c as per HBS instructions, leave for a week, guess what, flat beer, after three weeks, flat beer, no bubbles, no head, but at least I could pour a beer and get a full glass, not just bubbles.

then I went back to bottles for a few brews, which really give me the shits withMany hundreds of dollars worth of kegging gear and gas bottles doing nothing.

Method three. (to suit 19-20lt cornies)

after racking etc, beer ready to go, mix 180 grams of dextrose with a cup of boiling water, stir until disolved, rack your beer into your keg, with the lid ready to be fitted, and I mean read to fit, in the hole and ready to lock on, gently pour in the water / dextrose mix, it may foam, depending upon how gentle you were, it may not, (dont just pour straight dextrose in or you will have a gusher), secure the lid, give it a good shake, check for leaks, burp if you like, but not really required, now place somewhere it somewhere where it will be around 20-22 deg c for at least one week, better off with two though.

now place keg in fridge and let it cool to 3-4deg c (usually 2 days or so), now turn off your gas at the bottle, back out the reg, hook the gas fitting onto the gas post and see what you have, it should be 100-105 kpa at 3-4 deg C, higher temp will mean higher pressure and less gas in beer, lower temp less pressure etc.

Hook up the liquid line (about 2-2.5 meters long) and serve a perfect carbed beer, the only variation you will get will be the temp of your fridge, and how much dextrose you used at the start.

when at 22 deg c after one week, there is 305kpa in the keg, when cold this drops to 100-105, I set my reg to match this and pour away, three kegs so far and all perfect, crystal clear, gassed beer.

I will never try to force carb again, nor the sit and leave method, this is the same method used to gas battles at home which has worked forever, just get your temp right, line length right and enjoy.

I am happy to hear all comments, but its the only method I have found works for me.

 

[BenH]

hook it up at 40kpa at 4 deg c as per HBS instructions

40kpa is a pretty low pressure. No matter how long you left it at that pressure, you'd still end up with a low carbed beer (and you may consider it 'flat' if you're looking for something with a lot of sparkle).

If you're adding 180g dextrose, you'll be getting a fairly highly carbonated beer (over 2.8 volumes). To get a similarly carbonated beer by force carb, you'd need to be using something like 120kpa.

There are some calculators online, or in beer software, that can give you an exact pressure - give it another go!

 

[gavpk]

i was told 350kpa for two weeks, then 105kpa for a week, the bloke at the HBS swears by it, didnt seem to work for me.

 

[PostModern]

I should go metric for gas pressure, but being a kid in the 70's all I can remember are car tyre pumps calibrated in PSI... all this kPa stuff is confusing.

fwiw, I have a 2m beer line on my kegs. My pressure is set to 7-10psi depending on my mood mostly. I get a nice slow pour, plenty of head and a nice level of carbonation. I don't like it too fizzy. Anyway, it's nice to set and forget.

 

[gavpk]

I should go metric for gas pressure, but being a kid in the 70's all I can remember are car tyre pumps calibrated in PSI... all this kPa stuff is confusing.

fwiw, I have a 2m beer line on my kegs. My pressure is set to 7-10psi depending on my mood mostly. I get a nice slow pour, plenty of head and a nice level of carbonation. I don't like it too fizzy. Anyway, it's nice to set and forget.

so after filling your keg, you hook the gas up to 7-10 psi and leave it for how long?? or do you force carb?

Gav