Kegging Questions

Nov 20, 2003 3 Replies
S

I have been kegging my brew since August of this year. Still have a few "problems". I have four kegs that I fill in sequence. When I fill the kegs I seal them, purge the head space and apply about 40 lbs. of CO2 to seat the gasket. From there its into a beer fridge for about three weeks. After that I put it into a serving fridge as the kegs get emptied. I put a new keg into the serving fridge and leave it to carbonate overnight at 11 lbs./ 36F. The serving line is 6 ft.long



1/4" and the CO2 is 3 ft long 1/4' plastic. Problem is that for the first few days the keg dispenses very flat beer and about day three I get all foam. Anybody out there with a few suggestions? Scott.>
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D

I found that the 6ft tube helped but it worked even better when I went to a

3/16" 6ft instead of 1/4". I Also experience foam on the first beer or two of the day but I found that when I have friends over the beer poors nicely when constantly in use.

I usually force carbonate with 20 lbs at about 35F as well. I rock the vessel for about five min each time I charge it and keep checking each time before I re-charge how well it is comming along. I do this bout once every

4-5 hours when I'm home but I work during the day so it goes about 8-10 hours on the morning charge. Most beers have only taken around 2-2.5 days to carbonate.

I also like to let some pressure off the top with the release valve on my cornys before I pour my first beer.

I don't know how right these methods are but it's how I've been doing it.

Good luck with the suds!

-Dono

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S

I can recommend (along the lines of the OP) that longer, thinner lines work. I had foam problems due to beer coming out too fast and so I went to a 4 m (about 13 ft) beer line, up from 1 metre and the issue has all but gone away, I could have gone even longer, it really depends on what pressure you have your kegs at.

Also, according to the stuff I have read, 3/16 ID tube is about 4 times as effective in dropping pressure than 1/4 inch (see

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As for following their calculations, I suggest getting a longer length of tube and cutting it down until you are happy with the pour.

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