Overly foamy beer

[cosmondo]

My 1st beer is actually pretty good (self praise, is no praise).

Only thing is, it's really foamy.

It comes out the keg at a fair rate of knots, I have to turn the tap right down to a dribble - or it's Mr. Whippy time.

I have to spoon out about 1/2 a pint of foam, before topping up with more foam - which then subsides into a decent pint with a nice creamy head.

Is there a way to allieviate this?

Like should I try to release some pressure in the keg, by opening the cap or something.

It's not the end of the world, next time I'll use a lot less priming sugar - but I'd like to have less hassel in pouring a beer. Especially when trying to show off to friends, how proud I am of my 1st barrel of beer.

[Brotherton Lad]

That's normal to begin with. Pour it slowly or use a large jug to serve from.
As the beer level falls and the secondary fermentation subsides the pressure will fall. I find after the initial surge , the keg will give about 4 pints a day by itself, more than that and you may need to top up from a CO2 cylinder.

[cosmondo]

That's normal to begin with. Pour it slowly or use a large jug to serve from.
As the beer level falls and the secondary fermentation subsides the pressure will fall. I find after the initial surge , the keg will give about 4 pints a day by itself, more than that and you may need to top up from a CO2 cylinder.

Ok, cheers.

If I can get away without extra CO2 with having 4 pints a night, I'll be pretty damn pleased.

I wonder if you can build it up, i.e. only 1 or 2 pints some nights & then more on other nights - averaging around the 4 pints a night...?

I have a gas bottle anyway, how do you know when it needs topped up?

Is it a case of it being completely flat? Or does it pour very poorly.

I have a bottom tap keg, for this reason - gravity...but it's my 1st one, so I'm not too sure really.

[Brotherton Lad]

The beer is still fermenting in the keg, albeit very slowly and it will continue to slow down. At the start the keg is almost full and you've added priming sugar, so you get alot of pressure to start with. As the beer level drops, the pressure falls and the rate of new gas being generated also falls. At some point you'll need to add gas, with a bottom tap the flow will tail off. Top up at this stage, if you don't the keg will glug air in through the tap and you run the risk of oxidation or infection, which means you've got just a couple of days to drink the lot. If you're throwing a party, then just loosen the lid and gravity serve the lot.

When this tail off happens depends on alot of factors like; how good your seals are, how much priming sugar you've used, when did you keg the beer and at what FG, the temperature and the amount you're drinking each day. Handled carefully you might get most of the way through a keg before you need to top up, or you might not.

[cosmondo]

Thanks for your help.

Just one more - promise.

How much gas do you put into the keg?

A few seconds blast - 10 seconds?

It's still foaming like a rabid dog, so maybe I'll get quite far without extra co2.

[Brotherton Lad]

If you're using a S30 cylinder, it says on the side, one second. If the foam is really too much, just tweak the rubber on the pressure release valve and let some gas out, you'll be able to hear it.