Problem: Nothing but foam coming out of my picnic tap
Details: I got a 4-way Co2 Distributor for Christmas so I would not have to keep switching the gas when I have more than one keg in my fridge and eventual would like to get a BeerGun. I have about a foot and a half 1/4” beverage tubing going from the Co2 tank to the distributor and about three or four feet going from the Co2 Distributor to the keg. The picnic tap is 5 feet of 3/16” tubing. My normal process is to set the keg around 20 to 25 psi for two days and then back it down to around 5 to 8psi for serving. This has worked well for many years but now that I’ve set up the Co2 Distributor the flow is very slow and all foam.
You do unhook the other 3 kegs when you are running the keg your carbing at 25 or so psi ?
If not your are going to over carb all the kegs why don’t you just set your psi at say 9 or 10 and carb things that way. It may take a little longer but you will have a lot less problems once you find the best setting.
You have severly overcarbed the keg. You should shut off gas to keg and bleed keg pressure several times per day until it is at the right carb level. Then turn gas back on to your normal setting.
[quote=“cswest”]MullerBrau: If the keg is “severly overcarbed” then why does it pour so slow. Seriously it’s a trickle.
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The flow rate is dependent on the head space pressure not the carb level. You can overcarb the keg, bleed off pressure and get a very slow foamy poor, not saying that’s definitely your issue but that’s how it would work. I’m guessing either that, or you have some kind of blockage in the dip tube or picnic tap/QD, have you checked for blockages?
Not sure if you have some specific style you are trying to serve, but normal serving pressure with proper line lengths for most styles is about 10-12psi. Always best to force carbonate rapidly in a few minutes, or leave the keg at serving pressure for as long as it takes to carbonate (set and forget)
If it were me I’d go through the system from start to finish and check all lines and connections for blockages, stuck check valves, line crimps etc. A properly set up and balanced system will rarely if ever need attention other than cleaning.
Also, overcarbonation is the #1 cause of “foamy flat” beer pours!
So I disconnected the gas and completely vented the keg over the weekend. On Monday I removed, disassembled, cleaned and sanitized the out post and dip tube. I then hooked everything back up and set the psi to 8. everything works great now, I’m guessing something was blocked up in there.
