I've recently purchased a kegerator and have hooked up my favorite beer, Boddingtons. I've got beer gas (25% CO2 75% Nitrogen) running through a nitrogen regulator into the keg at 30PSI. I've got a stout tap on it. When I poor the beer it does not come out like it does at the bar with the cascade effect. It simply sits as if it was flat. There is no head and the beer is dull. I've tried the pressure from 10PSI up to 45PSI with no difference in the pour. I did originally hook it up with CO2, regular tap to see if I could use that set up. After that did not work I hooked it up properly. What am I doing wrong to not get the cascading effect/head on the beer?
You probably over charged the keg with co2 when you ran straight gas. Applying 40 to 100 psi of g gas didn't help either. It will be very difficult to recover this keg. Once the vols go off it is tricky to get balance again. Try 38 degrees 33 psi 25/75 and 6 feet of 3/16 Id bev line. That will work if it doesn't your temp is off. Cheers.
I think the temp is causing me issues. I've had it set at 32 degrees. I'm going to bring it up to 38 starting today. Could running to low of a temp cause the issue described above?
A couple of suggestions: Ignore the air temp in your kegerator. It will change depending on when it's running/off or where you measure. Instead, invest in a quality thermometer, calibrate it, then measure actual beer temp. Without this number you will continue to struggle. It will probably take a day+ to move temp only a couple of degrees . . . but measure, don't guess. Changing pressures takes even longer to stabilize. If reducing pressure you must vent (usually a couple of times) then reapply the correct psi . . . expect a little bit of trail and error (and time). If increasing pressure you probably need days to achieve the higher setting. Just expect nothing to react quickly. I don't deal with beer gas, but the math is not difficult. Because CO2 easily dissolves in beer (water) and N2 does not, you are interested in the ratio of the gases. In your case the carbon dioxide is 25%. In billandsuz example above; 33psi x .25 would yield a CO2 partial pressure of 8.25psi. This is what is dissolved in the beer. Enter your keg carb chart with this figure and your actual beer temp and you have your carb level . . . that is after everything has stabilized. In practice, you determine the desired carb level and work the problem backwards. Expect to be hostage to how accurate your supplier mixes the gas.
Awesome post! I've got a solid thermometer so that I will use. Its stirred up a whole slew of new questions: 1) The keg has been sitting at 30 PSI for 24HRS untouched. Should I do anything else other than let it sit to help the pressure stabilize. (release pressure, let keg rest, and start over) Does the following make sense. Going forward I'm going to let the keg temp (beer temp) rise to 38 degrees. I'm not going to touch the pressure and let it settle at 30PSI. With in a few days I should have boddingtons that represents what I want
It depends. Quoting billandsuz "Once the vols go off it is tricky to get balance again." First of all you don't know your beer temp. The 32 is nothing more than a number on a dial . . . could be off several degrees and yes that matters. Now here's where the fun part starts: IF your beer is stabilized at 32F/30psi (and that's a big IF) and your gas is exactly 25%, your carb level is 2.43 volumes, which is actually high. But as you increase temp the dissolved CO2 in the beer will expand, causing your headspace pressure to rise. Will the increased pressure match your desired carb level? Who knows, because you have multiple unknown variables interacting with each other. You might need to vent or maybe add pressure, impossible to know when starting from an unknown position. My guess is you are not stabilized at 32/30/25 . . . because if you were the 2.43 volumes should give a respectable pour. But you have a new reg/faucet which influences this (two more variables, heretofore untested). Regs are notorious for being off . . nitro faucets have more parts and more dynamics. At this point you aren't sure they are working correctly. I know you're after advice and not theory, but no easy way around this. My thoughts are to set the parameters listed by billandsuz and give a 4 or 5 days . . . then do some pouring/tastings.
You may want to vent the keg a few times just to make sure you have the residual pressure purged. Vent - shake it a bit - vent again. Repeat over a day or so during the warming proces. Applied pressure and temperature should track together, so as temp drops so should the pressure to prevent over carbing. To get the beer temp, use a calibrated thermometer and room temp glass. Pour a pint into the glass, immediately chug or pour off. Pour a second pint into the same glass and measure the temp of the beer without touching the sides or bottom of the glass.
a while back we had installed a three way blender at a site, 75/25 for lager, 60/40 for ale and 25/75 for Guinness. the Guinness keg was accidentally placed on the 75/25 instead of the 25/75. I can tell you from experience that it was virtually impossible to degas those kegs. not a proud moment. the 8.25 psi calculation is appreciated. that corresponds well with the lower vols required. Nitro beers have relatively low vols. this seems counter to how the keg is set up and poured. 33 psi is at the high end of the recommended pressure, but it helps to have more careful resistance than usual with these beers, 6 feet of 3/16" will get a vigorous pour needed to break out CO2. a little less or more will make it difficult to control. and the pour is typically straight down the middle, twice, with Nitro beers. if the vols get too high the diffuser plate just makes a beer milkshake that can take a long time to settle out. it just sits there, for a long time. incidentally, this is also why it is a bad idea to try and force a regular keg of ale into a nitro pour. the 2.5, 2.7 vols etc that most craft brewers are charging their ales with is just too high for a nitro set-up. and very few people, professional barkeeps included, know to degas to establish lower vols. the 33 psi is needed to push the beer, with the N gas, through the restrictor plate. not enough pressure and the CO2 gas won't do its thing. Nitro beers on tap require planning and are not nearly as forgiving as other beers. The next keg, that one will be great. In the meantime, be sure you know your beer temps well. 38 is the target. Cheers.
