The saga of my over carbonated kegs continues, but I am happy to report they are both pouring fine now. As I have written about before, it is really easy to carbonate beer quickly. Going from flat and newly racked into the keg to pouring a near perfect pint in an hour or two is very possible. This is the first time (no, really, it is) that I have over carbonated my beer!

The correction is simple but takes time. I vent the keg almost completely and then pour a pint at a slooooow fill. Pouring the pint isn’t strictly necessary but I do need to monitor progress, right? Be patient and occasionally take a pint off at really low pressure and the carbonation will balance out. Once the pour is where I want it I cranked the CO2 back up to serving pressure and away I go.

As an aside, it is nice having the kegerator to keep the kegs in one place and at one temp. My beers are both pouring crystal clear. Keeping it in the garage has helped in keeping the beer around too. That whole inconvenience thing comes into play.

Cheers!
Tony

Wow, so much for writing daily! I’ve been trying to keep myself active in this blog by writing at least five times a week, but it appears that I have been slipping. I place blame completely upon my pocket book though. After doing some reviewing of our spending habits I discovered some troubling information about where our monthly expenses need to be curbed.

Daddy needs to stop getting good beer and the (slightly more than) occasional good whiskey! Bad daddy.

On a completely unrelated note, one of some interest in case you have been following the saga of the kegerator: A mix of 60-40 pumpkin-apple beer is really very good. The apple is too tart and sweet for my tastes and the pumpkin has very little flavor beyond a weak brown, but the mix is really pleasant.

I feel a little like those Leinie commercials where they tell us to mix the Berry Weiss with the Honey Weiss. In my case though, the beer is good.

Cheers!
Tony

It may be that I simply over carbonated the beers for what I’m using. I pressurized the kegs at 12psi and left them for a couple weeks before finding a cup of foam. It seems silly to write this now, but when I have 5-6 feet of tubing to a faucet on the outside I would carbonate at 12psi.

When I just have the adaptor off the quick disconnect to screw the faucet on I carbonate at 8psi.

Oops.

Why did I give up on ice? Again, the cans weren’t frozen, cans that were lower than the kegs and cold air falls. The only tubing in my fridge right now is gas hose. Really though, I had one keg freeze on me before, so it did seem like a reasonable conclusion, didn’t it? The problem was after I pulled the first pint of foam, I cranked it down two only 2-3psi and it cleared up.

Chalk one more up as evidence that I am by no means a pro! Hakim’s Razor, the simplest solution is the most likely. The simplest solution for this one is once again “I screwed up”. At least it is salvageable. I pull maybe four pints a week unless we have company. There is plenty of time to regain the balance.

Meltedeyes: Sorry I botched this afternoon, I should have contacted you rather than mention in a follow up comment to contact me. My social skills have deteriorated in the last six years at home with the kids. A friend and I are heading to Metro for some clays later tomorrow morning, interested?

Cheers!
Tony

Both kegs are super foamy. I just poured off what ought to be a perfect pint of apple beer only to get a glass full of foam.

Now my options seem to be move it inside or just bring the kegs in. Decisions decisions. This honestly doesn’t make much sense to me though. Why would the kegs get some ice in them when the cans do not?

Cheers,
Tony

See how fast I move on these problems? Three days pass after discovering the foam issue in the kegerator and I still haven’t even done anything to fix it. I did have a couple of ideas to narrow it down, and I feel pretty stupid that I didn’t think of this right off the bat.

First, I should see if the other keg is foaming too, that would put it as a systemic issue rather than with just the keg, indicating ice.

Second, if the other keg is clear, then I should try the clear faucet on the foaming keg. Hey, if it still foams its a problem with the keg, if it doesn’t it is a problem with the faucet.

There is my plan of attack. We’ll see when I actually get around to doing it, but once I do, I’ll report it here!

Thanks for the comments on the previous posting too, you guys rock!

Cheers,
Tony

I poured a pint or two of my Pumkin ale this weekend and was getting nothing but foam. It was a bit frustrating at first but I think I may have it figured out. It must be just cold enough to freeze a bit in the line to cause some turbulance and stir it up when I’m pouring.

The cans of beer below the kegs* are not frozen though, and the beer settles out fine after its poured, but it is still disconcerting. The hard solution will be to bring the kegerator inside for the winter. A solution that I am guessing doesn’t have much appeal to my wife.

A this point I don’t have an easier solution…

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Tony

I caught the episode of Dinner: Impossible last night. The mission was to do a five course meal based on, paired with and using A-B’s craft line of beers. They drug Chef Robert in at five in the morning to go over the different styles and sample what he had to work with.

Unfortunately I have to admit that I am a borderline foodie. Food Network ends up catching me and reeling me in more than all the other channels. Good Eats, Iron Chef America, Throw Down and Dinner: Impossible grab me right away. DDD’s is a good one to, depending on where Guy is stopping.

Back to the show last night. They pulled out some amazing looking recipes including a bearnaise with hops added for salmon. The best part was the amazement that porters are such good desert making beers. I’ve never had a trifle before, but it sure looked tasty.

I’m going to petition my wife to let me post the chocolate porter/stout cake she makes. It is so good I stake my reputation as a homebrewer on it. (Hahaha, not wagering much, am I )

Cheers,
Tony

Get out and vote. Go vote today, please everyone go VOTE!

Here’s the deal, I don’t care who you vote for so long as you go and vote. I haven’t met anyone who hasn’t had something to complain about in politics, economy, the state of the nation, or the progress of the war. People like to complain about ridiculous city statues, state policies and taxes. GO VOTE! You don’t like something VOTE about it!

If you don’t vote, you have no business complaining. If you are unwilling to vote, I don’t want to hear you complain. Think about this, too: your vote at the local level carries more weight than in national elections. You want to vote for someone who will do something to affect your life directly? Inform yourself about the city council positions and other local races.

It took me maybe an hour to familiarize myself with my ballot and who is up for election.

Vote! Then when you get back from voting have a beer on me!

Cheers!
Tony