lots of head and still not happy

The ins and outs of putting your beer into kegs.

lots of head and still not happy

Postby sidman » Thursday Sep 06, 2007 10:40 pm

every pint of beer i pull from the keg has half a pint of head on it ,nice carbonation of the beer itself but big head that dies down to normal after 1 minute or so,pouring pressure about 70 kpa ,i have noticed that if i pour a beer then go back for another one half an hour later the beer line is empty it seems to go back into the keg ,have a beer gun and about 2 metres of line , is this normal ,any help greatly appreciated.
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Postby rwh » Friday Sep 07, 2007 9:58 am

How'd you carbonate it? My bet is you carbed it at a higher pressure than you're currently pouring at. That means that the partial pressure of CO2 is higher in your beer than in the headspace of the keg, which means it will bubble out over time, which is why your beer line is filling with gas, and the beer will slowly lose carbonation.

Either that, or your beer gun and line are outside the fridge...

edit: confused temperature and pressure
Last edited by rwh on Friday Sep 07, 2007 12:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby drsmurto » Friday Sep 07, 2007 12:15 pm

My beer line is outside my fridge and i too had that problem. I turned the pouring pressure right down to 50kPa and find that makes a difference. Altho a foamy pour all the time might suggest you have overcarbed? My beer doesnt go back into the keg tho so dont know whats happening there.
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Postby sidman » Friday Sep 07, 2007 7:51 pm

carbed at 280 kpa for 48 hours on chilled beer ,pour at 70kpa is this my problem,gun and line inside fridge ,any help please
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Postby regan » Saturday Sep 08, 2007 9:31 am

i dont know about anyone else but with my approx 2m of line i would be getting half a glass of foam at 70kpa also. knock it back to 50 and try again, then 40... and so on.

if that doesnt work (and it ends up taking too long to get a drink) mabie revise your pouring technique. angle glass, pour down the side of the glass to near full turn glass upright and top up and keep the tap either on or off, no half ways.
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Postby rwh » Sunday Sep 09, 2007 12:47 pm

Sounds like 280kpa for 48 hours has overcarbonated your beer. You have two options to resolve:

1. Just keep pouring beer. Your beer will slowly lose carbonation at your pouring pressure of 70kpa, and will eventually pour properly.
2. Disconnect it from the gas line, and burp all the pressure out of the keg periodically (say every 30 minutes), until the beer loses enough carbonation to pour properly.

Option two is faster, but more hassle. You'll know that the beer has equalised with the pouring pressure once you no longer get gas in the beer line.

I just carbonate my beer over a few days (normally takes 3-4) at my pouring pressure, which is 50-70kpa depending on style. This extra time in the fridge allows it to clear up a bit too.
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Postby Hip Hops » Saturday Dec 22, 2007 9:38 am

rwh wrote:Sounds like 280kpa for 48 hours has overcarbonated your beer. You have two options to resolve:

1. Just keep pouring beer. Your beer will slowly lose carbonation at your pouring pressure of 70kpa, and will eventually pour properly.
2. Disconnect it from the gas line, and burp all the pressure out of the keg periodically (say every 30 minutes), until the beer loses enough carbonation to pour properly.

Option two is faster, but more hassle. You'll know that the beer has equalised with the pouring pressure once you no longer get gas in the beer line.

I just carbonate my beer over a few days (normally takes 3-4) at my pouring pressure, which is 50-70kpa depending on style. This extra time in the fridge allows it to clear up a bit too.


Hey RWH, is this your standard method of carbonating all your kegs?
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Postby rwh » Saturday Dec 22, 2007 2:20 pm

Hip Hops wrote:Hey RWH, is this your standard method of carbonating all your kegs?

Yep.
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Postby Hip Hops » Saturday Dec 22, 2007 3:13 pm

OK, thanks mate :wink: - i'll give that method a crack
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Re: lots of head and still not happy

Postby Lance » Monday Feb 04, 2008 2:15 pm

I carbonate for only 24h @ 300kpa for all beers. I once carbonated for a day and a half at that pressure and i ended up over carbonating. I just removed the gas line, released the head pressure in the keg and continued to do this few a few hours. The beer ended up pouring better after that.

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Re: lots of head and still not happy

Postby Paul » Monday Feb 04, 2008 5:15 pm

To carbonate a keg I rack the warm beer into the keg then hook up the gas.

Put the reg at 300kpa and rock it 100 times and then put the beer into the fridge.

Once the beers cold it should still be slightly under carbed but good to drink. After a day or 2 at pouring pressure it will have come up to the right carbonation.

Ive found doing it this way you cant over carbonate your beer.
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Re: lots of head and still not happy

Postby Timmsy » Wednesday Feb 06, 2008 8:53 am

i normally carb at pouring pressure and say after 4 or 5 days its ready to drink nicely. while im waiting for that im drinking bottled beer yum yum yum
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