I'm Getting Too Much Head

[captaincleanoff]

I'm getting way too much head (on the beer).

Got a Cascade Pale pouring, but I'm getting about a quarter beer and the rest head. What are the main causes/fixes?

 

[Adamt]

Over-carbonation it would be.

Causes (and solutions):

-You over-primed the bottles (check your priming rates, or use carbonation drops or something)

-You bottled too early (Ensure your hydrometer is calibrated, use it, and if in doubt leave it another week in primary as long as the temperature is below 20C)

-Infection (Ensure your sanitation practices are up to scratch)


If it smells/tastes funky it is likely an infection. If it has only recently been bottled be very careful as the bottles may spontaneously explode (and set off a chain reaction with nearby bottles) if they become too over-carbonated; only solution for that is unfortunately (or fortunately if you are thirsty) disposing of the beer.

 

[haysie]

-Infection (Ensure your sanitation practices are up to scratch)


Sounds like a gusher (bug)

 

[chovain]

I'm getting way too much head (on the beer).

Got a Cascade Pale pouring, but I'm getting about a quarter beer and the rest head. What are the main causes/fixes?

Are we talking bottles or kegs?

 

[newguy]

You didn't say whether you keg or bottle. If you bottle, Adamt's suggestions are spot on. If you keg, you have 4 major things to balance in order to give you the perfect pour.

1. Beer line's ID. I use 3/16" ID, which is roughly 4.8mm. Anything larger than this will cause the beer to foam in the line.
2. Beer line's length. A beer line will "drop" x psi/kpa per unit length. This total pressure drop must equal your regulator's pressure setting.*
3. (related to #2)* Tap height above the keg. The higher the tap above the keg, the more pressure you will need to push the beer out of the keg. This pressure must be added to the beer line drop.
4. Carbonation pressure on the keg. Ideally, your keg carbonation pressure should equal your dispense pressure.

There's a good set of keg line balancing examples & formulae here.

 

[captaincleanoff]

its kegged. It actually took about 7 days to ferment, I'm fairly sure it had finished.. But it does taste a little weird too..

 

[Sammus]

You didn't say whether you keg or bottle. If you bottle, Adamt's suggestions are spot on. If you keg, you have 4 major things to balance in order to give you the perfect pour.

1. Beer line's ID. I use 3/16" ID, which is roughly 4.8mm. Anything larger than this will cause the beer to foam in the line.
2. Beer line's length. A beer line will "drop" x psi/kpa per unit length. This total pressure drop must equal your regulator's pressure setting.*
3. (related to #2)* Tap height above the keg. The higher the tap above the keg, the more pressure you will need to push the beer out of the keg. This pressure must be added to the beer line drop.
4. Carbonation pressure on the keg. Ideally, your keg carbonation pressure should equal your dispense pressure.

There's a good set of keg line balancing examples & formulae here.

1) I use 6mm ID and dont have this problem
2&3) If the reg pressure equals the pressure drop, then u wont get anything out the other end, u want the reg pressure slightly higher

 

[MHB]

Those keg balancing equations amuse the hell out of me.

When ever I have had a play with them I find that they all say to measure from the middle of the keg -right?

Put the equation into a spreadsheet and run full - middle -empty calculations.

The pressure difference between a full and empty keg (about 7 kPa) is usually bigger than for the rest of the factors.

P= ρ.g.h ρ Rho (density), g 9.81 m/s, h hight of the keg

Resolved empirically

Serving Pressure = a pouring speed of 10 seconds / litre

The other variable being temperature, without a fan in the fridge there can be and usually is a 3-5 C difference between the top and bottom of a keg - as a keg gets emptied the temperature of the beer changes - as does the uptake of CO2, at the same serving pressure.

Kegs can in fact become more gassy as they empty

Take all the variables and the easy way to balance a system is
1 Half fill the keg with water
2 Set the reg to 35 kPa (5psi in the old money)
3 Time a 1 Litre pour (use a watch; dont count under your breath)
4 Adjust the pressure accordingly
5 Fine tune the temperature and pressure over the next couple of weeks make very small adjustments and give it a couple of days between adjustment and testing to equilibrate.
6 Lock the reg and feel free to kill anyone who tampers with it.

MHB

 

[Simon W]

Top post MHB!
Thats the sort of thing that clears a bit of the fog for me(kegging virgin) and gets me inspired to start kegging!

 

[DJR]

Too much head

Lucky you

 

[newguy]

1) I use 6mm ID and dont have this problem

6mm = approx 1/4". Interesting. Everyone I know who tried 1/4" line has always ended up with foaming problems. About how much line do you have?

2&3) If the reg pressure equals the pressure drop, then u wont get anything out the other end, u want the reg pressure slightly higher

:lol: Yup, you're right. No one wants to suck the beer out directly out of the tap. Well, maybe. B)

 

[KGB]

Read the wiki on "balancing a keg system" or something like that. Gold.