still can't the hang of

[johnc86]

....carbonating my corny kegs :? .

I like the convenience of them and having beer 'on tap' is of course, brilliant.

The thing is that I never get the carbonation to the point where I get a nice frothy head on my pint. The beer is carbonated, but the head is made up of larger bubbles, not a creamy froth like iv seen from other peoples corny poured beer. also, the head only lasts untill the glass is half way drank. I am getting another couple of kits on which will be the last before moving onto extract or partial mash. I really want to get this right....

Any advice?

 

[Moley]

A bit more information might be useful.

What sort of beer, how long has it been in the keg and what sort of pressures are you using?

I'm still a newcomer to Cornelii but have been getting the opposite problem, glasses full of froth even when I think I've released enough pressure. I'm getting the hang of them but still need more practice, a lousy job but someone's got to do it.

 

[johnc86]

Iv have not yet got it quite right with any style of beer.

The most recent is an EDME stout. Lovely pint but the carbonation and head was not quite right. It poured with a fairly nice head, after half a pint it was just a bit of surface froth.

With ales the head is just sort of loose. The beer is carbonated but not how I want it to be. Its fizzy but I want to be smoother. I want a rich frothy creamy head full of smaller tight bubbles. The beer in my corny's has so far been carbonated more like you would expect a soeft drink to be.

The stout was better, it had a nice frothy head, I just think it was not carbonated enough to maintain it. I pressured it and left it to absorb this time rather than shaking the keg back and forth. Its tricky :? .

 

[tubby_shaw]

I don't like saying this but,
If your glass is free from grease or detergent,
It's probably the beer :?
What are you using to make up the kits?, sugar, beer kit enhancer or extra malt extract ?
It is the polypeptides in the beer clinging to the outside of tiny CO2 bubbles that form the head, and as these polypeptides are derived from the malt, the more malt that is used the more likely hood of a good head forming :)
So a kit made with BKE should have better head retention than one made with sugar and one made up with extra malt extract should be better still :thumb:

 

[highwayman]

John...it does take time. :whistle: ..I have been trying to force Carbonate my Belgium Lager and it's just not working..Its froth or nothing....However, the Exmoor Clone which is an ale is carbonated..more like a lager ..and I did'nt want it to be ..and I have been using Corni's for 18 months :lol: :lol:

 

[Mephistopholes]

Lol. this thread has once and for all made my mind up on the corny investment issue.

 

[Sean_Mc]

I used to follow the American youtube videos and carb up to 60psi and shake like sh...ugar, which gives a nice pint of froth :?

I now carb to 20psi gently shake and leave for a week, maybe giving it an odd shake when passing, serve at 5-6psi. :grin:

What also helps is a couple of feet of 3/16th pipe reduced from 3/8ths, also storing them in the cooler helps the Co2 absorb into the beer

 

[johnc86]

I don't like saying this but,
If your glass is free from grease or detergent,
It's probably the beer :?
What are you using to make up the kits?, sugar, beer kit enhancer or extra malt extract ?
It is the polypeptides in the beer clinging to the outside of tiny CO2 bubbles that form the head, and as these polypeptides are derived from the malt, the more malt that is used the more likely hood of a good head forming :)
So a kit made with BKE should have better head retention than one made with sugar and one made up with extra malt extract should be better still :thumb:

I always use either DME or Geordie beer enhancer, which I believe is a mixture of DME and more suitible brewing sugar's. so the problem can't lie here :?

 

[johnc86]

What also helps is a couple of feet of 3/16th pipe reduced from 3/8ths

I must be brain dead today, I can't compute that mate .

Sounds interesting though. Could you elaborate?

Cheers for all the answers. I will keep trying. Iv seen photos of other forum members perfect pints with creamy frothy heads poured from thyre corny's. So I know it can be done ! Unless you lot are taking photos of pints you buy in the pub and passing them off for a laugh :rofl: .

I'm toying with the idea of carbonating with sugar in the corny to get it right and then just using the c02 tank to push it out.

Mephistopholes, what are you doing now, bottling? Or using a plastic keg? Even without getting the gas 100% right a corny is still brilliant imo. Cant beat having proper draught beer at home :drink: .

 

[tubby_shaw]

What also helps is a couple of feet of 3/16th pipe reduced from 3/8ths

I must be brain dead today, I can't compute that mate .

Sounds interesting though. Could you elaborate?

The above image shows my picnic tap, it has 5/8 beer line coming out of the disconnect into a reducer which takes it down to 3/16 beer line for a few feet then back into another reducer which takes it back up to 5/8 into the tap.

 

[Sean_Mc]

Pretty much the same as TS

The tubing you get from Norm is 3/8th and reduce it with a couple of THESE and a few feet of THIS

Must get around to sorting that middle tap of mine :hmm:

 

[Leglesstwot]

Think i'll stick to bottles & the odd pressure barrel full. This sounds to much like hard work