Foam :(

[thanme]

Gents,

So I finally got all my bits together and picked up my kegs this evening, put it all together, turned the gas on at around 10psi and can't seem to pour anything but head. I tried adjusting the pressure, but it didn't seem to change a lot. It either looked as though it poured too fast, or it was just head. Any tips/tricks/obvious things I've over looked? Not really sure what I can tell you about my setup. I have a kegmate style kegerator bought from Pinnacle Wholesalers, using the regulator, font and beer line that came with that, then I bought my QD's, gas lines and JG line separator to gas 2 cornys. Please help

 

[Adamt]

How did you carbonate your beer?

 

[thanme]

Oh. The beer is from U-Brew-It, so they did it for me there.

 

[dj1984]

i would try pouring a couple of beers the tap might be a bit hot or your beer is over carbed

 

[MHB]

Its probably over gassed, appears to be the answer to 90% of keg problems, if you think the carbonation is right, check the O-ring under the dip tube, you could be getting some gas bypass.

Crud in the poppet valve or the line can sometimes cause trouble.

MHB

 

[buttersd70]

Either the carbonation is off, or the system is out of balance (or both).

Let it sit for an hour, then check the line. If there are bubbles behind the tap, and against the keg post, then the line is too long for the pressure, and it's losing its carbonation in the line itself. Short remedy is to increase pressure....better remedy is to trim the line.

If there are no bubbles behind the tap or at the keg post, than the opposite is the problem (which, as MHB said, is the most likely). Either the line is too short for the pressure, or the keg is overcarbonated.
First thing is to check the line length is correct, balancing the system. If it still pours heady with the line length balanced for the pressure, then the beer is overcarbonated. take off the gas and vent the pressure over the course of the next day or two to degass the beer. Once it starts pouring ok, put it back on the gas.

More details including a (brilliant) balancing chart here

 

[Cocko]

Oh. The beer is from U-Brew-It, so they did it for me there.

Hey NME,

So you have carbonated beer and you put it in keg/s ??

I am confused at what you are dealing with here, you went to 'you brew it' and they sent you home with carbonated beer??

So was that beer in bottles and you poured them into a keg? OR was that beer in a plastic container and you poured that in to the keg? Or did they put it in kegs and then you put that keg into your system?

Hope we can help....

 

[bakkerman]

http://www.ubrewit.com.au/process/

They supply the beer in a keg or even cans... nice

 

[Jakechan]

It sounds to me like you have a keg of uncarbonated beer. If so you will have to carbonate the beer before you attempt to drink it/extract it from said keg.

Have a read of this

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=10667

Cheers,
Jake

EDIT: Actually, pay no notice to the above, just finished nightshift, I could be way off the mark and dont really have a lot of experience in the matter. I wouldnt be surprised though if they didnt carbonate the kegs, just sent them out flat, but then would that actually result in the faming problem?

 

[thanme]

Thanks for all the replies guys!
That balancing chart seems really handy.
I'll have a play with it and see how I go. I'm guessing over carbonation is the problem, given how many problems we had bottling what was left. But I'll keep an eye on the lines and see what I can see

Just a quick question though. If a keg is carbonated, can I theoretically pour beer without having it hooked up to the gas? But I guess this would drop the pressure of the keg, so the connected CO2 is maintain pressure in the keg while pouring?

 

[raven19]

Just a quick question though. If a keg is carbonated, can I theoretically pour beer without having it hooked up to the gas? But I guess this would drop the pressure of the keg, so the connected CO2 is maintain pressure in the keg while pouring?

Yes & Yes - as you pour beers, the gas presure will drop slightly, hence why you can leave the gas on with your regulator set on your desired pressure.

 

[pint of lager]

For the very new kegger, to pour your very first beer once the keg is carbonated.

Remove gas disconnect from keg.

Release gas pressure relief valve so there is no pressure in the keg.

Turn gas pressure back to zero.

Rehook the gas disconnect and gas back to keg.

Open beer tap, nothing comes out as there is no pushing pressure.

Slowly bring gas pressure up untill beer is coming out of tap. The pressure shown on your gauge (the lower value pressure gauge) is your pushing or pouring pressure. Keep pouring your first beer and turn beer tap off. It may be hazy for the first pint or two and then clears up.

Never ever try and turn tap half on, it is always full on or fully off.

Make sure you have approx 2m of beer line, this is a good starting off point for kegging. Many neatness freaks shorten this length way too much.

As MHB said, 90% of new kegging problems are overcarbonation. The beer pours very heady and flattish. The new brewer assumes that being flat, it needs more carbonation and then makes the problem worse by carbonating even more.

Force carbonation will compound the problem. Experienced keggers will get forced carbonation right. New keggers have too many variables and get forced carbonation wrong.

 

[Weizguy]

Great post POL. Where have you been?

Another thing I can think of, is that you should check the connections. It is possible (I know) to connect the "gas in" line to the "Out" post and vice versa. Then the gas bubbles through the bottom of the keg, stirring up sediment, and then only comes out when it has foamed up to the top of the post being used as the outlet.
Please check this first, just in case. Could be an easy fix.

Les

 

[phonos]

Something that hasn't been mentioned is temperature - What temperature is you keg? If its too high this can cause too much foam if the pressur eis also too high.

 

[thanme]

Thanks everyone.
Got it sorted One thing is for sure, I've done a lot of learning with all this! And now I have a bunch of tips for next time if it doesn't go smoothly. Thanks again! I'll get photos of my setup and add it to the setup thread over the weekend

 

[buttersd70]

Thanks everyone.
Got it sorted One thing is for sure, I've done a lot of learning with all this! And now I have a bunch of tips for next time if it doesn't go smoothly. Thanks again! I'll get photos of my setup and add it to the setup thread over the weekend

So what ended up being the problem, NME? If you post what it was, and how you corrected it, it will help others with the same issue that find this thread.

 

[Bribie G]

So what ended up being the problem, NME? If you post what it was, and how you corrected it, it will help others with the same issue that find this thread.

:icon_offtopic: Glad you're alive Butters, for a while this morning we thought you might have been that 30-something guy found dead in the driveway in North Elizabeth. Don't do that to us again.

 

[buttersd70]

:icon_offtopic: Glad you're alive Butters, for a while this morning we thought you might have been that 30-something guy found dead in the driveway in North Elizabeth. Don't do that to us again.

What, another one? Thats 2 in a week.....man, I gotta move...

 

[thanme]

I took Pint Of Larger's advice and all went well