kegged pale ale too much head

[lagerlad]

hi everyone,got a pale ale on tap just now same set up that has worked for last 3 brews when i first tapped it a fortnight ago struggled to get a good head now 2 weeks later all i am getting is head(please refrain from puns at this point haha) only difference i can think of is the beer has been sitting conditioning for about 3 months,there is also a lack of carbonation in the beer,I use a crusader keg system and have never vented one before so if anyone reckons that venting is the answer advice on how to do it appreciated cheers lagerlad

 

[DoctorMick]

Lots of head but lack of carbonation makes me think the temp of the beer is high, how are you controlling the temp?

 

[lagerlad]

its in the kegerator m8 kept at 3 to 4 degrees its cold enough i think

 

[Fil]

I have to agree with Drmick above, is your beerline running past anything warm on its way to the tap perhaps?

my understanding is that any significant change in state can stimulate the catastrophic loss of all dissolved gas in a beer, the major 2 culprits are indeed a significant change in temperature, or pressure. The keg fridge should take care of #1 tho pouring into a clean and cold glass could be the solution if your pouring into warm glasses??

whats the serving pressure? and how are you reducing the keg pressure down to a nominal 1-2psi at the tap point?

another often overlooked cause can be a too turbulant flow in the beerline, any kinks or creases in the beerline, and even JG fittings not fully pushed home can be the root, If you cut your beerline with scissors or snips that squeezed the beerline before slicing through you may have concave tube ends due to the deforming, if so this can create neucleation points of turbulance in the beerflow, best to cut beerline with a sharp blade and keep its cut face square ..

Also when was the last time your beer tap nozzels were cleaned? if ignored for a few brews you may have a bottleneck of unwanted gunk/microlife

 

[lagerlad]

hi fil cheers for the reply will check all connections and see if it makes any odds make sure they are all pushed home then next move will be to change tap as it has been changed as i have a spare which i fully strip and clean everytime i change a keg i change the tap also,never thought of that........i am serving at about 12 psi with 6 foot lines all contained in kegerator will let you know how i get on....turned off co2 last night so try a beer asap see if it changes anything with not getting more co2 in cheers lagerlad

 

[terrym]

My bet would be on straightforward loss of carbonation as the beer passes through the dispensing tap. On one side of the tap you have CO2 saturated beer under pressure (in your case 12psig) which passes through a constriction (the tap itself) to atmosphere (the glass) and as it does so some CO2 gas violently leaves the beer to establish a new CO2-liquid equilibrium causing significant foaming. It is even possible the beer is actually at a pressure less than atmospheric at the point at which it passes through the tap constriction itself only to recover pressure by the time it leaves the tap body and this will mean even more gas is lost, since there simply isn't enough time for it to get re-absorbed. If the head pressure is less the foaming will be less (since there is less dissolved CO2 to leave solution), although I am not sure about the resultant carbonation level in the beer.
Conversely if you open a bottle (which may also be under the equivalent of 12psig) and there is no agitation by squeezing through a constriction as for a kegged beer, the CO2 comes out of solution more slowly if the beer remains in the bottle, and this process is only hastened by agitation e.g by pouring or by shaking the bottle. In both cases the beer will be more carbonated than the kegged equivalent, at least until the equilibrium has been reached.

 

[Fil]

afaik 3/8" and 5/16" beerline has almost no restriction qualities over the short lengths used by homebrewers, so if your using this post keg, when the beer hits the tap after 6ft or so of beerline it will be at virtually the same pressure as in the keg and on your reg dial.

the 3/16" microline will reduce pressure along its length at a rate of circa 1 to 2psi per foot length which can be employed as a simple diy anti-fobbing solution so is a good choice post keg,

If your already using this i will get my coat and shurrup

 

[lagerlad]

yeah fil i am on the 3/16 beer line 6 foot length always been fine on previous kegs gonna mess about with this when i get home today may change the tap if nothing obvious on the lines,terry cheers for the more detailed reason for what may be going on so it looks like a wee bit trial and error or foamy beer !!!!!!still drinkable cheers lagerlad

 

[Dads_Ale]

I had something similar earlier in the year. The tap either would not dispense at all or I had a pint of foam. I replaced the tap and this solved the problem. I did take the 'faulty' tap apart but could not see anything obvious wrong, perhaps just a bit of crud or something in the wrong place.

 

[Drunkula]

Get a flow controller.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beer-flo...776880?hash=item2849ad2930:g:JlUAAOSwZqZZ7JXK

 

[lagerlad]

problem solved by changing tap all good now like dads ale i totally stripped tap that was on and could not find any problem,my taps are fitted with flow controllers so i can mess with that if needed,think this is the second time tho that first 5 pints or so from keg are dodgy then it all comes good,still newish to kegging so learning as i go,cheers everyone for help lagerlad