basic kegging question

[BeerPal]

Didn't force carb, just hooked it up to the CO2 at 15-20 psi for a week.

FYI- that is force carbing.

Did you bleed the pressure out of the keg before setting your dispensing pressure?

[TheDarkSide]

I'm having problems with my kegging setup. Waaay too much foaming. CO2 set at about 15 psi. Didn't force carb, just hooked it up to the CO2 at 15-20 psi for a week. Foamy but not really carbonated. Thoughts/suggestions?

How long are your beer lines?

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

I'm having problems with my kegging setup. Waaay too much foaming. CO2 set at about 15 psi. Didn't force carb, just hooked it up to the CO2 at 15-20 psi for a week. Foamy but not really carbonated. Thoughts/suggestions?

What temperature are you at? It is part of the pressure calculation.

With what you have now making your dispensing lines longer and/or use smaller diameter tubing will reduce/eliminate foaming.

I use 3/16" Id tubing and 6-7 feet of tubing, but I only carbonate to 12 psi at 40F.

After a week at this most beers are usually fully carbonated and beginning to be drinkable at 3 weeks old.

15 psi is way too high, IMHO. There's a nice booklet from BA here http://draughtquality.org/ that will help you balance your system.

[brewinhard]

Sounds to me like he did not bleed the pressure from the keg before serving.

[sweendog]

When I said I don't force carb, I meant that I didn't turn it up to 35 and shake the hell out of it.
Temp is at about 40 and the line is about 4 feet and no, I didn't bleed the pressure before serving - my bad.
Thanks for the suggestions!

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

When I said I don't force carb, I meant that I didn't turn it up to 35 and shake the hell out of it.
Temp is at about 40 and the line is about 4 feet and no, I didn't bleed the pressure before serving - my bad.
Thanks for the suggestions!

I don't force card either. I usually put the CO2 on the keg at the dispensing pressure and let it sit for a week or two. Depends on how thirsty I am.

[Dublicious]

When I said I don't force carb, I meant that I didn't turn it up to 35 and shake the hell out of it.
Temp is at about 40 and the line is about 4 feet and no, I didn't bleed the pressure before serving - my bad.
Thanks for the suggestions!

If you're at around 40 I'd say 15 is still kinda high (for many styles). You generally would want something around 12-15 for a wheat at that temp. If you're drinking something less carbonated (pale ales, etc.) you're probably looking at 7-8. Of course, if it's just for personal consumption (no comps or anything) do what ever works for you, but for me that's 10, max. I like my beer a bit on the lesser carbonation end of things, so you might wanna bump this up a bit.

A couple of people have thrown their charts/guides up there, but this is what I found with a quick "google" of "beer carbonation chart". http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

Also, I do what some others have already suggested: set it to serving pressure and forget it for a week. After that, have a glass and see how it is every so often.