Guinness Issue

[Moneypit]

Long time lurker - first time poster...

Unfortunately, my lack of patience has resulted in a 'ruined' keg of Guinness unless any of you have ideas that can help me.

I ordered a keg of Guinness over the holidays and had bought the stout faucet, guinness handle, nitrogen tank before picking up the keg. However, the delivery of the new nitrogen regulator was delayed and I had family over that wanted to tap the keg with the CO2. With all of the delays and getting around to installing the new tank once it arrived, I had the CO2 running to the Guinness keg for about 2-3 weeks. I think I completely carbonated it by doing this and, now even with the 75/25 mix hooked up, I am getting a very foamy pour with large CO2 (I think) bubbles.

Is there a way to fix this problem? I've tried playing with the pressure - ranging from 35lb down to 10lb and nothing seems to fix it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[mctripj]

just an idea... did you try decarbonating the keg before you hooked up the new gas? i am not too familiar with the workings of guiness since my distributorship does not carry it. i myself am starting to learn more about nitro beers since A-B has come out with their own "Bareknuckle Stout".
but yeah, decarbonating would be my only guess at this point.

[Moneypit]

I did not try decarbonating the keg before I hooked up the new gas. Is that something that I could do now, even though I've hooked up the nitrogen tank? If so, how is it done. Thanks for your help.

Jason

[edramshaw]

Basically you need to bleed the pressure off of the keg. This can be done by shutting off the gas and pulling the pressure release valve on the coupler. Letting the beer warm up first will let more of the CO2 go as it will not stay in solution as easily when it is warm. You may need to experiment with how much is too much degassing. Getting it perfect may be tough but you should be able to get it close. Good luck.

[Moneypit]

Thanks Ed, I'll let the keg warm up a little and give it a shot.

Another thing that I'm noticing is that, with the stout faucet and the nitrogen hooked up, the pour is really fast. I can fill up a glass about 3 seconds. Is it supposed to be that fast or does that indicate a problem with the restrictor plate (which I have checked and is in there)?

Sorry for all of the questions but this is all still pretty new to me.

Jason

[Moneypit]

Well, I tried decarbonating the keg and, after letting it sit for about 3 minutes, am getting 1/3 beer and 2/3 foam, though the bubbles are not as big. Does it take a couple of attempts to get it decarbonated? Could there be any other things that I should be trying?

[edramshaw]

If you let it warm before attempting to degass then you need to let it cool before you could pour it properly. You basically want to shake the keg and then let off the gas, shake again and let off the gas. I would do this 2-3 times before cooling it down and trying another pour. The venting is done by pulling the pressure release valve on the coupler. Also, your gas should be set at 28 lbs.

Keep in my that you don't want all of the gas out but you do want to bring the levels down.

[smurph5]

I had a similar problem when my gas distributor gave me all CO2 instead of the mix (man was I pissed). I was able to fix it though with some effort. It took me about 2-3 days of bleeding off the pressure / shaking / and bleeding again. During this time make sure your gas is shut off. It is a trial and error thing but eventually you should be able to get the beer so it is borderline flat and then add the correct mix. As for the pressure issue check the faucet to make sure it has both the restrictor disc and the small O-ring on top of disc. Good luck.

[Moneypit]

Thanks for the message, smurph5. I've decarbonated a number of times over the last few days and the problem isn't getting any better. I'm starting to think I may be the victim of an all CO2 mix, as well. What were some of the sypmtoms that you were finding?

[smurph5]

There are two ways to tell: 1. The size of the bubbles - pure CO2 will produce a larger bubble - if you are not used to using CO2 vs the mix this maybe a little more difficult. 2. The second is tank weight. If you look at the cylinder towards the end of the numbers you should see a Tare Weight (TA) for a 5#lb cylinder probably around 7lbs - this is the weight when the tank is empty. If the mix is pure CO2 the full weight would be around 12 lbs (5 lbs of CO2 + cylinder) If the mix is Beer Gas (25% CO2 75% N2) then the weight should be less (N2 weighs less than CO2) probably around 9 lbs total.

[smurph5]

Sorry - I just posted my reply and then read it and realized that I said Tare weight is TA it should be TW - I guess I have had a few too many Guinnesses myself.