Too Much Head!

[barrg0]

<_< <_< Hi Fellow Brewers
After a number of successful brews with my 19l keg I have upgraded to a 50l keg recently but not without a rather worrying problem.
After chilling the keg in my newly adapted fridge, I connected the gas through the beer line hoping to get a faster carbonation. I set the pressure at 200kpa and left it connected for 3 days (I read somewhere that the 50 l kegs take 3-4 days to carbonate) I then reduced the pressure to 70kpa before dipensing and all I get is FOAM!! On my previous 19l kegs I would set it at the same pressure but then remove the gas to allow it to absorb, and then reconnect it the next day to keep it at 200kpa then all was good.
Q. How much pressure should I carbonate at and for how long, and should I leave the gas connected all the time or do it the same way I did the 19l kegs?
Also I believe the length of beer line is important too. I currently have about a metre of line. Is this enough or do I need more? It works fine on the 19l keg but perhaps I need longer for the 50l keg.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards

barwee

 

[Barley Belly]

Too much head????

You can never get too much head...........oops.........this is a beer forum :icon_offtopic:

Sorry

 

[buttersd70]

barwee..
I think you have 2 main issues. Incorrect carbonation, and too short line length.

Firstly, the line length...1m is sfa. If the line is too short, the pressure at the tap will be too high. I find at 70kpa, about 2m (from memory) to be about right....there is a balancing spreadsheet which will tell you specifically ....hmm, cant find the link....anyone know where crozogs' xls is?

Secondly is the level of carbonation. I would have thought that 3 days at 200 on a cold keg would overcarb it.....vent the excess as described at the bottom of the balancing article here

You can certainly carb a keg with higher pressure for shorter time and then reduce down to serving, but it takes a bit of trial and error to get it right....and if you add the variable of incorrect line length for the serving pressure into the mix, it will take ages to work out the correct timeframe for this.

When tweaking line lengths, my thought is that if you are having trouble getting it right, over an extended period, to connect it to a keg that has been carbed using the 'let it sit' method. If the keg is carbed at serving pressure, and left for a week to 10 days, then it eliminates the variable of over/under carbing on the keg, allowing the line length to be adjusted more accurately....even if using a different carb method normaly, doing this at least once allows you to get one thing out of the way at a time...firstly, you get the line length right (knowing that the carb itself will be right, so any problems are line related), then you can carbonate subsequent kegs with whatever method you choose (knowing that the line length is right, so any problems must be carb related.)

2c

 

[bonj]

<_< <_< Hi Fellow Brewers
After a number of successful brews with my 19l keg I have upgraded to a 50l keg recently but not without a rather worrying problem.
After chilling the keg in my newly adapted fridge, I connected the gas through the beer line hoping to get a faster carbonation. I set the pressure at 200kpa and left it connected for 3 days (I read somewhere that the 50 l kegs take 3-4 days to carbonate) I then reduced the pressure to 70kpa before dipensing and all I get is FOAM!! On my previous 19l kegs I would set it at the same pressure but then remove the gas to allow it to absorb, and then reconnect it the next day to keep it at 200kpa then all was good.
Q. How much pressure should I carbonate at and for how long, and should I leave the gas connected all the time or do it the same way I did the 19l kegs?
Also I believe the length of beer line is important too. I currently have about a metre of line. Is this enough or do I need more? It works fine on the 19l keg but perhaps I need longer for the 50l keg.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards

barwee

Barwee,

The simplest method is of course to leave your keg connected at serving pressure and it will be carbonated in about a week to a week and a half. That said, who has the time to wait that long after you've already waited for it to ferment? The method you're using is a little hit and miss. Do you know what temperature your beer is while carbonating? The temperature really affects your carbonation as it absorbs more co2 the colder it is. Another method is called the "Ross Method" here on AHB. Basically it involves turning the pressure up and rocking the keg to absorb the co2. You can find excellent instructions here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=10667
I personally err on the side of caution and slightly undercarb my beer by this method and let it reach equilibrium in a couple more days at serving pressure. I find the beer is perfectly drinkable straight away, and you protect yourself from over carbing.

If your beer is overcarbed now, your only remedy is to release the pressure multiple times a day for a few days and wait for the pressure to subside. You can speed it up by shaking the keg, but it is a little messy, so use a cloth over the release valve.

Have a read of the following wiki articles about balancing a draught system: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=24 and http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=19

Apologies if you have already read those. Just trying to cover all the bases. I hope you get it sorted out. Kegging can be a fine art, and when you change one of the variables, you will probably need to adjust your method.

edit: spelling

 

[buttersd70]

I personally err on the side of caution and slightly undercarb my beer by this method and let it reach equilibrium in a couple more days at serving pressure. I find the beer is perfectly drinkable straight away, and you protect yourself from over carbing.

Absolutely agree...under is way better than over. Under is easy to fix. As Bonj said, in a couple of days, undercarbed will fix itself.

 

[reviled]

Ive found after force carbing at 300kpa usnig the Ross method, then waiting 24 hours, venting down to serving pressure, test pouring, then bringing back up to 200kpa for another 24 hours gives me a pretty good carbonation level...

Im new to kegging, and am still playing around with it all, but im getting there.. Its definatelty a fine art to get it perfect allright!

 

[barrg0]

Thanks for all your tips guys. I'll try them out and see how I go.

Cheers

barwee