Trouble Force Carbonating

You are losing your carbonation as you're dispensing. That's what's making all the foam.

Are you trying to dispense at 40 PSI? How long is your beer line and what's its inner diameter? What's the temperature of the beer?

Also, read this...
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/1312/Summerzym95-Kegging_How-To.pdf

 

your psi is way too high. I think most people would say you could do the same process you are doing with it set to 20-25 psi, for 1 day. Purge a little, then set to what your rate should be. Check out this PDF, look at page 6 to figure out how much co2 should be in your beer, then look at pg 7 to know what settings you should be at to get the right amount of carbonation (temp vs psi).

 

Without a doubt, don't try force carbonating until your beer has been chilled. The warmer it is, the more foam you're going to get.

 

That's not true actually. Though it is easier to carbonate chilled beer. Beer at room temp can be carbonated at room temp. Beer will carbonate faster if it is cold, and can hold more CO2 when it is cold. That's true with all fluids, and if you look at the chart on pg 7 of the PDF I linked above it demonstrates that pretty clearly. The trouble some people get into is if you carbonate at a colder temp then warm up the beer, CO2 will want to come out because it can't hold as much CO2 as a colder fluid. So it foams up. This is why many times the first half glass from a keg line is foamy. Because the keg line is warmer than the beer, it heats the beer up, and CO2 foams out. After that half of a glass, the cold beer coming from the keg cools the keg line down and it isn't foamy anymore.

Cheers

Edit: I realized I did not link the article above! Ooops. Here it is. Page 6 & 7. Notice temp is a dependent variable.

 

My point though, working with chilled beer is much easier than working with warmer beer. I tried to force carbonate my first kegged batch and I didn't chill the beer first. It made it a nightmare, considering I had no knowledge to balancing my system.

 

I serve at about 10 PSI.

 

I am also new to kegging, and I would recommend just setting the CO2 to the correct PSI, and leaving it for a week or two. I tried to fast carb a beer, which worked, but found it too be much easier and I thought tastier to just set my regulator to 11 PSI and leave it for 1.5 weeks.

 

You need to read about "balancing". The link Vikeman posted will get you started.

I have roughly 5.5 foot beer lines (basic/cheap lines from Midwest). I carbonate and serve at about 11 psi (roughly 38 degrees), just set it and come back in a week or two.

 

I'm also part of the "Set it and forget it" club. Set it at 11 or 12 PSI and 38-40 degrees and come back in a week and it's usually good to go (even with taking the odd sample throughout the week).

 

Now that i know better, i also like to practice the "set it and forget it" as mentioned above. The process will still be much faster than the bottle carbonation.

 

I guess I'm just impatient I like to force carb it with high PSI and shaking so it will be ready the next day.

 

In most circumstances, the flavor of the beer will benefit from the week or two it takes to carbonate. There should be a law prohibiting fast carbonation!

 

Well, you learned that there is no real law for fast force carbing. Pressure over time plus temperature is the equation, or something.

you can get away with maybe 15 minutes at 40 psi but after that you need to bring it down to serving pressure. shaking the keg helps to absorb the gas into the liquid too.

you should remember what the regulator actually does. it "regulates" the pressure of gas being applied to the liquid in the keg. it also drops the tank pressure, about 800 psi, to the applied pressure you want. so if you drop 40 psi of gas on top of your beer the liquid will begin to absorb the gas and become carbonated. but as the gas is absorbed, the gas pressure in the headspace is reduced, and the regulator lets out a bit more gas. do that for too long and the beer will contain the equivalent of 40 psi of gas, which is about 4 times what you want.

you need to turn off the gas. then vent the keg. let it sit for an hour, vent again. do this process for a few hours until the gas leaves the liquid and it fully vented. then reapply the gas and set it at 10 or 12 psi. leave it alone for a few days.

lastly the velocity you pour with has an effect on beer foam. too much and yes you will get foam, no matter the applied pressure. that's why we use 3/16" beer line to restrict the flow. it just slows down the pour so it is more manageable.

Cheers.

 

correct. carbing warm beer can be done, but it is really a head ache.
the regulator is one way. it will release enough gas to maintain equilibrium of gas pressure between liquid and head space. do that with a warm beer and it will carb. but once you chill the keg the beer is going to absorb more co2, and the regulator will allow it to flow. so you get over carbonated beer. the regulator doesn't put excess co2 back in the co2 tank, the only way to reduce the pressure that is in the tank is to vent the keg, and it is very difficult to estimate how much dissolved co2 is in the liquid once the beer is over carbed.

Cheers.

 

When I've forced carbonated beer I've put it to about 30PSI and shaken the keg, and you'll hear the Co2 hiss into it when you shake the keg. Once I do that for only a couple of minutes I'll turn it down to about 10PSI and let sit for a week. It will be foam right from the start but it will pour well after the first couple of glasses.

I've also used the set it and forget it method with darker beers and I like it better. I serve at anywhere from 7 - 10psi depending on the beer and the pour.

Prost!

 

OP it sounds like you need to vent the pressure from the keg before pouring. Turn the regulator down, vent the keg and bring the pressure back up to about 10 PSI to dispense.

As far as no carbonation, I am sure some of the links above will help. I happen to be an idiot so I use the shake method for forced carbing. Like others said it is "easier" if the beer is cold but I have carbed up warm beer this way as well.

First find the pressure necessary for the temp of the beer to achieve the desired volumes of CO2. If the beer is cold you the pressure will probably be between 10-15 PSI, warm probably above 30 PSI.

Now that you know the pressure you need crank up the regulator above that number, lay the keg on its side and roll back and forth for a few minutes (or until tired). Now close the valve between the regulator and keg (assuming you have one) and roll for a minute more to get the CO2 in the headspace equalized.

Stand the keg up and turn the pressure down, release the pressure in the line through the emergency blow off valve.

Now open the valve between the regulator and keg. The regulator will read a pressure. That is where you are at in terms of carbonation. Have you achieved the pressure from the table? Good you are done. Not yet? Rinse and repeat.

Good luck.

 

My method. Rack from fermenter at room temperature. Seal and purge keg. Set psi to 30 (no shaking,) and let sit for 36 to 48 hours in the kegerator. Turn off gas, purge keg, set to serving pressure and rock and roll. Usually have to play with psi for couple days to get to exact serving pressure.

 

Dispensing at over-pressure will look a lot like low Carbonation. The higher carbonation pressure is ok to help force co2 into the beer... but you need to lower it way down at the pour . as others have said ... 10 psi should give you a quiet and controlled pour. This way, most of the carbonation remains in the beer instead of agitating at the valve and presenting as "full head".

40 psi through the tap will immediately release all the dissolved co2 as foam - leaving nothing in the beer. you could dispense at 5 psi, but this is a bit slow and gives almost no head. You want to find the sweet spot and gently "wake it up" without shaking the hell out of it. - think alarm clock here -
As far as proper carbonation.. you need to set pressure to match storage temperature (as well as beer style) to get initial and long term proper levels. Carbonation will level off and balance perfectly in the keg (with time) .. but then use some additional care and control when moving it into the glass.