Kegging Cant Get It Right

[loechels450]

right heres the deal iv waisted to kegs now. i have followed all the insturctions on kegging two different types of carbonation my hose lengths are 2m by 5mm but i cant get it right all i get is a frothy head and no beer begining to wonder if its all worth it. any help would be great cause i just dont no were to go next.
thanks

 

[DU99]

what other equipment do you have connected..tap and regulator..gas pressure your running..bit more info

 

[Tim F]

Yeah what type of taps? 2m Doesn't sound like a huge length, my system came out of the calculator as needing 4m and even then I think I need a bit more. Did you run your numbers through a balancing calc? What pressure are your kegs at? What temperature are you storing at?

 

[loechels450]

http://www.mybeershop.com.au/index.php?mai...;products_id=65
this is the exact kit i have. iv tried carbonating at 300 kpa for 48 hours then the next one using shaking meathod then poring at 100 kpa but cant get it right

 

[fcmcg]

http://www.mybeershop.com.au/index.php?mai...;products_id=65
this is the exact kit i have. iv tried carbonating at 300 kpa for 48 hours then the next one using shaking meathod then poring at 100 kpa but cant get it right

Hey bloke..please don't give up...
After your 300 kpa , you prob have to drop your reg right back , disconnect gas , purge some gas and let her sit for a bit before re-connecting ...
As for the shake method , as long as you have your reg set to the same pressure for the shake ( 100 kpa ) as the pour , you should be Okay..again , you will have to let it sit for a bit before you do your first pour...and sometimes for me , the first one or two can be a bit frothy..hang in there though ..there is plenty of us who keg at home and it is extremely do able...
Cheers
Ferg

 

[adryargument]

I have the same equipment and had the same problems.

However my Tusuco died and i received a more accurate micromatic regulator. Sitting on 70-80kpa with 2.5m of tubing and shes working wonderful.
Once you find the 'happy place' on your regulator you will be fine! Just takes a bit of practice to work it out.
I would suggest setting your kegs at 70kpa for a week with a flat keg, test them everyday. If by day 8-9 they are overly carbedf, then you need to lower your kpa. Force carbing is quite delicate if you are just starting out!

More tubing = less foaming + higher carbonation = ales & lagers.
Less tubing = more foaming + less carbonation required = stouts etc.

 

[stux]

And you don't "waste" a keg when you over-carbonate it.

Just shake it, pull the PRV and repeat a few times over the hours and you'll let the excess carbonation out

300kpa for 48 hrs will probbaly result in a waaaay over-carbonated beer

If you can't get it right, just set your reg to 80kpa or so, and leave it to carbonate... it might take a week or so, but you'll get it right, and then you can leave it at 80kpa to pour too.

 

[loechels450]

And you don't "waste" a keg when you over-carbonate it.

Just shake it, pull the PRV and repeat a few times over the hours and you'll let the excess carbonation out

300kpa for 48 hrs will probbaly result in a waaaay over-carbonated beer

If you can't get it right, just set your reg to 80kpa or so, and leave it to carbonate... it might take a week or so, but you'll get it right, and then you can leave it at 80kpa to pour too.

righto just what i needed a bit more info stay tuned i will let u no how i go thanks heaps everyone

 

[ChrisECarpenter]

I've spent a lot of time trying to balance a highly carbonated sparkling wine (it's a long story) and I would suggest the sure-fire way is to start under the carbonation level you want, and avoid force carbonation.
Every time I've tried to speed up the process, I'v ended up with a keg that froths and froths.

SO, I would start at 70kpa and leave the keg connected for 1 week.
You might be amazed at how high the carbonation level actually is when none of it is lost in pouring.

What temperature are you serving your beer at? If you don't know - now is the time to find out - theres a big difference between carbonating and serving at 2 degrees and 5 degrees.

Don't dispair - wait the week - it'll be worth it when you get it right.
Chris

right heres the deal iv waisted to kegs now. i have followed all the insturctions on kegging two different types of carbonation my hose lengths are 2m by 5mm but i cant get it right all i get is a frothy head and no beer begining to wonder if its all worth it. any help would be great cause i just dont no were to go next.
thanks

 

[michael_aussie]

right heres the deal iv waisted to kegs now. i have followed all the insturctions on kegging two different types of carbonation my hose lengths are 2m by 5mm but i cant get it right all i get is a frothy head and no beer begining to wonder if its all worth it. any help would be great cause i just dont no were to go next.
thanks

hang in there mate. ... you'll get it right .. just give it time.

like others have said... start under-carbonated.. and work up if you are concerned about too much gas.

I don't think you need to wait a week....
drink beer now!!

My suggestion is .. if you are over carbonated ...... burp all the gas out of your keg......
turn the flow contract value all the way off.

try pouring ... even if you only dribble the beer out, surely you can pour a beer.

 

[kelbygreen]

I pour at about 80kpa @ 3deg I have never overcarbed with force carbing as I tend to do it a little undercarbed and then let it carb its self for 2 days after attached to the beer out. Or another method is do the rocking method but at serving pressure and connected to the beer out you may have to rock it 3 times in 15-20min just rock till bubbles stop leave few mins and repeat few times again still best to leave on gas for 2 days after but you cant overcarb unless your regs set to high

 

[McFeast]

righto just what i needed a bit more info stay tuned i will let u no how i go thanks heaps everyone

Mate, i've got the same gear from the same place. I got 5mm liquid line from Andale and old mate told me for the fridge at 5mm i'd need a minimum 3m. I am sure 2.5 would be ok too. but as others have said, pour at 70kPa.
what i'd try is when you first connect the keg, set it to 70 straight up, and see if your beer pours ok. do this prior to carbonation.
I dont know what sort of beer you're making but pouring at 100kPa is sure to shoot straight to the bottom of your glass and piss you off.

i just put another brew in the keg tonight. I do the roll method @300kPa. watch it drop during the shake usually I have to do it twice at 200kPa second time round... I am sure you're waiting a while to attempt to pour afterwards, and you are turning the co2 bottle off before you start the vigorous sideways role, right?

anyway, take advantage of the pressure release valve. i dont have one, and i still manage to get the pressure down with a few hits on the gas post and drinking in 15mins if keen

 

[TedAu]

I got my kegging gear from the same place earlier this year. I don't think the reg is that fantastic, but it does an okay job.

I'm only six kegs into brewing and still struggle to get it right first time. I try to do the "ross method", but can never seem to get it just right.

Whatever mistake I made, I've found a few days at serving pressure seems to sort it all out. (I pop the valve once if I've over carbed it.)

I just force carbed my first wheat beer an hour ago, and it's pouring okay, a little more head would be nice, but it's close enough that I'll leave it to sort itself over the next few days.

 

[kelbygreen]

with force carbing it will make it drinkable it wont make it perfect you will never get a perfect head it pours fine and nice carb but 1 min later the heads gone. after you force carb connect gas to beer out for 2 days and it will hold a head alot better.

 

[NickB]

If you haven't seen it, have a read of this article on balancing a kegging system

Very useful information and calculators there.

Cheers

 

[mfeighan]

i definitely agree with the force carb and leave for a few days method. just force carbing leaves you with little to 0 head after a min in the glass. cant you just be patient and after about a week at serving pressure you have perfect head and good carbonation without stuffing around with the regulator