1st time keg user….FOAM!

[Theoriginalrich]

I finally got around to kegging a beer, great. I washed it, sterilised it and did a closed transfer with no problems. I followed Brewfather’s force keg guidelines and after a week I had flat beer and foam.
I boosted the co2 to 30 psi, more foam. I’ve agitated the beer (youtube vids) even worse foam.
HELP
It should be said I’m using a flow control nukatap straight from the keg. I think I’m going to have to bring forward the kegerator project and get a new tap.
Any ideas?

 

[Big_Eight]

What temperature and pressure did you carbonate the beer at and how many volumes of CO2 were you shooting for? What's your serving temperature? How long is the beer line from the keg to the tap?

Normal force carbing usually takes around 2 weeks in my experience.

 

[LeeH]

You need to control 2 variables, pressure and temperature to achieve the correct volumes of co2 in the beer. Set them both and leave for a week. Any other way is generally guess work.

One control is the speed of the beer leaving the beer lines, which if warm will encourage the gas to leave the liquid. Another is the speed of the liquid but you already have a flow control tap.

At a guess you are not controlling the temp or you have been impatient and banged it up to 30PSI for a period.

Most beers benefit for a week in the keg so just wait.

 

[Theoriginalrich]

Brewfather guidelines were 1.1bar @10c for a week. I followed that but had foamy flat beer. Then cranked it to 30psi and reduced temp to 8c. The tap is connected directly to the keg via a ball lock connector but even with the FC almost closed it’s still foam.
It’s currently sitting @8c and 18 psi.
I was thinking about disconnecting the gas and letting the beer absorb the co2 but I didn’t know if that would be a waste of time.

 

[MickDundee]

I had a keg mounted tap shortly before going down the full kegerator route and I found I needed to let most of the pressure out before pouring and then put it up again after drinking. That was with a “normal” tap not FC though.

However, having said that “flat beer and foam” is a symptom of over carbonation. I’ve never had it happen to me, but from what I can gather from various social media posts is that yo need to keep burping the keg until it levels out at about 10-15PSI and then keep the gas at that level until you are ready to serve.

 

[Big_Eight]

I would've left it for another week. 30 psi is way to much especially when dropping temp. There are a lot of other factors which is why I asked so many questions in my first post. Line length, diameter of line, and if the line is staying around the same temp as the beer are all factors to avoiding getting just foam.

 

[Theoriginalrich]

@MickDundee excuse my ignorance but what do you mean burping?

 

[MickDundee]

@MickDundee excuse my ignorance but what do you mean burping?

release the pressure

 

[allotment_fox]

From my own learning on the job experience in kegging working through these problems are sometimes very trying. I moved on very quickly from a party tap for the same reason. then moved again from 3/8 to 3/16 beer line at about 6 feet. I try to leave my brew for a week to 10 days carbonating normally bitters & IPAs 10 - 15 PSI seems to work for me @10c -12c a bit cooler and higher PSI for larger but this took me a good 3-6 brews to get it right for my set up good luck & happy kegging

 

[Theoriginalrich]

release the pressure

Easy enough to do. Cheers.

 

[Theoriginalrich]

I have to admit this has reinforced the fact this brewing lark isn’t easy as people make it sound. But if I had researched just a little more I could have been drinking a nice cold carbonated beer right now.
It looks like I'm going to have to bring forward my own kegerator, I promise no thread. I was going to wait until my other keg was ready but I can see it happening rather sooner.
I’m off to BKT.
Cheers.

 

[roboto]

I use 2m of 3/16 line with a party tap, fridge is at 2'C, pressure approx 15psi. The occasional pint is foamy but if you rinse the glass to wet the surface, and pour carefully down the side it works for me.

For me the restriction of the 3/16 line was the gamebreaker.

 

[Justin Dean]

Use sugar not gas? Easy simple and cheaper

 

[borischarlton]

I have to admit this has reinforced the fact this brewing lark isn’t easy as people make it sound. But if I had researched just a little more I could have been drinking a nice cold carbonated beer right now.
It looks like I'm going to have to bring forward my own kegerator, I promise no thread. I was going to wait until my other keg was ready but I can see it happening rather sooner.
I’m off to BKT.
Cheers.

You can pour a perfectly good beer from your current set up, it's just learning how to do it. A kegerator won't help you if you dont learn about carbonation and dispense and you are going to become very frustrated.

I often use the analogy of a coke bottle, it's a closed vessel containing a carbonated drink, exactly the same as a keg. Now think about what makes that coke bottle spew when opened and relate that to your keg.
My guess is that your beer is over carbonated, so repeatedly, gently vent the PRV (undo the cap as such). Then leave the keg to stand so that the CO2 that has got all excited and jumped out of solution re dissolves.

Make sure that the keg is cold and add just enough CO2 head pressure to push the beer out. A cold, wet glass also helps.

 

[LeeH]

If you serve at a lower pressure then the science says your beer will get flatter. No reason not to serve at carbonating pressure.

 

[borischarlton]

If you serve at a lower pressure then the science says your beer will get flatter. No reason not to serve at carbonating pressure.

Yep, science is great, in practice he is trying to serve a pint directly from a keg and this method works. There is no reason why after your evening of serving beer the keg cant get topped up with CO2. Which is exactly what I do.

 

[Theoriginalrich]

From what I have read on here everyone makes it sound easy but in reality it’s another skill to learn.
At least I’m better informed now and can soon have a nicely poured beer rather than a keg of foam.
The kegs now set @10psi giving it a nice burp when I can. I’ll leave it another week and see what it’s like.

 

[Big_Eight]

From what I have read on here everyone makes it sound easy but in reality it’s another skill to learn.
At least I’m better informed now and can soon have a nicely poured beer rather than a keg of foam.
The kegs now set @10psi giving it a nice burp when I can. I’ll leave it another week and see what it’s like.

Yeah, it is definitely more involved than it's made out to be. You want to look at a carbonation chart and then look at what pressure and temperature you need to set the fridge/regulator to properly carbonate the keg to the desired volumes of CO2 you are shooting for based on the beer style.

There are methods to carb quicker but I've found just letting it sit at the pressure and temp you set for the volumes of CO2 you want works great and it won't carb past that at that temperature and pressure.

The warmer the beer generally the higher the psi needed to achieve a targeted CO2 volume so anytime you change temperature you need to look at the chart and adjust the regulator pressure to maintain whatever carbonation level you are looking for.

Cheers and good luck with your kegging adventure!

 

[phildo79]

I have the exact same set up as you, re flow control Nukatap directly on the liquid post. I have found that it is best to keep the flow open fully. For some reason, when you try to reduce the flow, it disturbs the beer more. Could be because it is so close to the post and doesn't have a line to help. The shape of the glass also plays a part. A rounded, stemmed tulip glass seems to be better than a tall, straight glass.

As for your carbing methods, they seem far from ideal. This is my method; chill the kegged beer for at least 12 hours. Then hook up the gas at 30 psi. Place the keg on the floor and roll back and forth for 5 mins. Reduce the psi to about 12 and put back in the fridge. You will have ok-ish beer for a few days until the beer is properly carbed. You could just hook it up at 12 psi and walk away, right from the beginning. But it will take longer to fully carb. Maybe 10 days. I am an impatient man, so this is why I burst carb the day after kegging.

 

[Theoriginalrich]

I’m loving all the advice I’m getting. I feel better equipped now going forward when I do my next keg.
Thanks folks.