Diagnosing over carbonation problem in keg

[laxation]

Hoping you can help me out with this... if I just list all my symptoms/relevant points, can you figure out what I'm doing wrong?

• For my first ever keg, I started out with a 6.6% beer, left it at 12 PSI for a week and it poured really well.
• All kegs I have carbonated this way.
• The C02 tank is in the fridge. Dunno if this means anything for what PSI it is set at...
• I have 2x 3m beer lines, 5mm. One might be about 2.8m, which does pour worse.
• Added another keg and went on holiday for a week. Came back, and beers poured OK.
• Got sick, didn't drink a beer for a week and the beers were both pouring a lot of head when I got back to it.
• I accidentally had the C02 at about 30 PSI for 10 seconds or so before the pour went bad. Dunno if that's long enough to do anything...
• Maybe about the time I added a third keg (roughly a month after the first), the beers went very foamy.
• One keg is empty now, but the other two still aren't pouring that well.
• I have all beers hooked up via a 4 way reg thingo from keg king.
• I purged the kegs in the last few days to try to reduce carbonation and turned PSI down to about 5 or so. Beers poured very very slowly, but less head.
• Turned the PSI back up to 10 and it poured actually quite similarl to with 5 PSI.
• I have a fan in my keezer, but the temp has been varying a little bit as I try to get the right setting on the old thing.
• I noticed a lot of air space in my lines last night, which look to contribute a lot to foam.
• I have a ledge in the keezer which raises two kegs up (none are sitting there right now). Do I need longer line here because it is closer to the tap?

I don't know if this is all useless info or if there's anything you can make from this... but I'd love some help!

I think I need a longer line and will be trying some longer this weekend. Any tips for trying new lines to see what works? (Without connecting it, chopping it, trying repeatedly...)

 

[mtb]

Any chance you've kegged one of your beers too early? Although at cold temps it'd be a slow process, continued fermentation in one of your kegs would cause all kegs connected to the same manifold to over-pressurise. It would explain why the issue only started occurring after you connected a second keg.

 

[laxation]

I don't think so... I'll check my notes when I get home, but pretty sure everything was around 1.007 when kegged - and I check to see if it's steady over 24hrs.

Would it cause much of an issue if it went from like 1.007 to 1.006 or something? That's all I could imagine the leftover fermentation would be, if there was anything.

 

[mtb]

Couldn't imagine it would cause that big of a problem, no. Maybe if you were kegging 5 points early, but not one or two

 

[2cranky]

did you purge the 30psi out straight away or did it get a few days to absorb?

 

[Grott]

What temp is your unit set at as I'm wondering if 12psi set for 3 weeks plus could be overcarbonating your kegs.
When you accidently put 30 psi in the kegs did your release the pressure from the kegs? It wasn't for long but if you didn't release the pressure some would be absorbed.

 

[laxation]

did you purge the 30psi out straight away or did it get a few days to absorb?

No I didn't even think to do it. It has sat in there forever.

What temp is your unit set at as I'm wondering if 12psi set for 3 weeks plus could be overcarbonating your kegs.
When you accidently put 30 psi in the kegs did your release the pressure from the kegs? It wasn't for long but if you didn't release the pressure some would be absorbed.

The keezer has varied between -2 and 8 as I try to get the right setting. It's very fiddly... Last night it was sitting at ~1.
I had thought 12 PSI was regular serving pressure. But then I did see a chart the other day that suggested 10 PSI (http://www.mikesoltys.com/2012/09/17/determining-proper-hose-length-for-your-kegerator/)
What PSI would you suggest for the next keg?

 

[Grott]

You need to get the temp or your unit fairly consistent as if you carbonated at 12psi for most of the time at say -2, and then the kegs go up to 4/5 degrees then co2 will come out of solution and you'll have pouring problems.
From what you said at the start, temp variation could well be the reason for good pours then bad pours.
Get the temp right and 10psi should be ok, check the chart etc.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

+1 to what Grott said. The solubility of CO2 is temperature dependent

 

[Gloveski]

+2 for what Grott says , helped me out to no end with kegging

 

[Pnutapper]

Does your 4 way reg thingo have check valves in the outlets?

 

[laxation]

Yes - it's this one
http://kegking.com.au/co2-cylinders/4-output-4-way-gas-line-manifold-splitter-with-check-valves-883.html

 

[laxation]

You need to get the temp or your unit fairly consistent as if you carbonated at 12psi for most of the time at say -2, and then the kegs go up to 4/5 degrees then co2 will come out of solution and you'll have pouring problems.
From what you said at the start, temp variation could well be the reason for good pours then bad pours.
Get the temp right and 10psi should be ok, check the chart etc.

I've figured out my thermostat so will be able to keep the keezer the right temp

If I just get it the same temp, will everything fix itself over time or is there something else I should do?

 

[Pnutapper]

The point that you made that concerned me the most was that you have breaks in your riser lines.

Usually, if beer breaks up in the line, it will be one of two things.

• Not enough gas pressure. (I know - it seems counter intuitive)
• Dodgy keg fitting or disconnect / coupler

Does the gauge on your reg return all the way to zero when you completely de - pressurise?
Have you had a good look at your connections?

 

[laxation]

• Not enough gas pressure. (I know - it seems counter intuitive

Probably this... i've been screwing around with the gas and lowered it quite a lot to see if that made a difference (it didn't)

It's back up to 10 PSI now so will see if that has fixed the problem.

 

[btrots87]

No I didn't even think to do it. It has sat in there forever.

This could be the problem. If you didn't release the gas out of the kegs after lowering the reg back to 12psi then the kegs would have stayed at 30psi and the excess CO2 would have absorbed into the beer.

The temperature variation would also be having an effect as Grott said. Sounds like there could be a few factors contributing.

 

[Grott]

I've figured out my thermostat so will be able to keep the keezer the right temp

If I just get it the same temp, will everything fix itself over time or is there something else I should do?

Once temp has steadied, release gas from kegs and set your dispensing pressure, should be good after 24 hours if keg temperature variation was the problem as thought.

 

[laxation]

Once temp has steadied, release gas from kegs and set your dispensing pressure, should be good after 24 hours if keg temperature variation was the problem as thought.

This got it, thanks heaps for saving my beer!!

The freezer is sitting nicely at 1-2 degrees and after releasing all the old gas (shaking kegs around too after releasing) it pours a treat

 

[TheWiggman]

+1 to what Grott said. The solubility of CO2 is temperature dependent

Solubility yes, but I don't believe CO2 will come out of solution depending on temp - only that is has trouble going back in. The warmer it is the more easily it will come out of solution, but requires either agitation (serving/shaking) or pressure difference (like emptying the head space). Pouring warm will thus cause frothing. Coupled with overcarb: dramas.