5 replies to this topic

[Winkydowbrewing]

I have a stout which has been on my nitro line and just kicked, this was 5/10 gallons and was pouring perfectly. I put the second corny on the line and I am getting tons of foam from the pour. Ive done most of the obvious troubleshooting:Tried emptying 4 pints or so in the event the keg just got shaken up, waited a few days and same thingClean the faucet in the event it was cloggedBurp the keg again and again (not sure how long this can potentially take)Shut the reg right off on the nitro tankAll other variables are the same (hoses, connects, length of hose etc) so I cant see anything causing turbulence that wouldnt have been there before.Both of the stout kegs were force carbed at 12psi, this one was under that pressure longer, but the temp of the freezer has not been changed at all. The only other thing I can contemplate is something in the dip tube of this keg, which seems unlikely because I am pretty consistent with my cleaning regiment.What do you guys think, anything else obvious I might be over looking?

[stellarbrew]

I have a stout which has been on my nitro line and just kicked, this was 5/10 gallons and was pouring perfectly. I put the second corny on the line and I am getting tons of foam from the pour. Ive done most of the obvious troubleshooting:Tried emptying 4 pints or so in the event the keg just got shaken up, waited a few days and same thingClean the faucet in the event it was cloggedBurp the keg again and again (not sure how long this can potentially take)Shut the reg right off on the nitro tankAll other variables are the same (hoses, connects, length of hose etc) so I cant see anything causing turbulence that wouldnt have been there before.Both of the stout kegs were force carbed at 12psi, this one was under that pressure longer, but the temp of the freezer has not been changed at all. The only other thing I can contemplate is something in the dip tube of this keg, which seems unlikely because I am pretty consistent with my cleaning regiment.What do you guys think, anything else obvious I might be over looking?

The only thing that occurs to me is that the poppet valve could have a restriction or is not fully depressed. Try taking the disconnect off the liquid post and then push it back on firmly until it clicks to make sure the poppet valve is fully depressed.

[Winkydowbrewing]

Reseated the ball valve, ensured it snapped right down into place and still a lot of foam. I purged the keg again in hopes that that it somehow got overcarbed (dont know how, but its hope). Just baffling why the last one was fine and this one was not. If worse comes to worse, Ill let the keg rest with no CO2, pull the dip tube right out and check it...and hope I dont make a mess.

[chuck_d]

Forced carbed at 12 PSI doesn't tell me anything really. Is that 12 PSI at 70*F? 42*F? 36*F? But... as you say, this keg was under that pressure longer, which I'm guessing means you over carbonated the beer. You don't want anymore than 1.4 volumes of CO2 in a beer that's going to be pushed through a restrictor plate. Really, you don't want more than 1.2 volumes of CO2.

[Winkydowbrewing]

Thanks Chuck! I forgot to mention my temp which is about 45 deg F. So based off your information, the beer is definitely overcarbed to be put through the restrictor plate. I will just bleed the extra pressure off and see how it turns out.

[chuck_d]

Thanks Chuck! I forgot to mention my temp which is about 45 deg F. So based off your information, the beer is definitely overcarbed to be put through the restrictor plate. I will just bleed the extra pressure off and see how it turns out.

No doubt. We just had an extra lecture session on Saturday all about draft beer, and that came up which is why the numbers are still stuck in my head. Looking at the 45*F chart it looks like on pure CO2 you'd get just under 2.4 volumes. It might be a pain in arse to bleed off all that CO2, so maybe for this keg you wanna just serve it on a normal faucet?Not sure if you've seen it yet, but the Draught Beer Quality Manual is the schnitz.https://draughtquality.org/I did some quick searching and apparently that figure isn't given there, I'll mention that to some folks I know who I think help maintain that book/site.A couple other notes from that lecture that are relevant...Beer gas stratifies, so you should go rock the tank every so often, otherwise you end up getting only N2 at first with the CO2 filling up the space in the bottom. No real word on what's the right frequency, but I'd guess you're fine doing it every few days.Because you want such a low CO2 level in nitrogenated beers that are being pushed through a restrictor plate you generally never want to hook it up to pure CO2 and rather carbonate/nitrogenate with your mixed gas right from the bright tank (or secondary or primary or whatever your beer comes from into your keg).

Edited by chuck_d, 11 October 2009 - 05:28 PM.