Keg pouring pressure

[JarrydAlex Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JarrydAlex]

We have kegged about 4 brews in out kegorator. The first 3 brews, 2 x lagers and 1 x golden ale were at about 13 psi and 2 degrees Celsius. The beers were great, but they were not carbonated enough for our taste. So we increased the psi of the golden ale to 18 psi (what we had heard a local micro brewery carbonates at). After this increase we could not pour a beer with less than 80% of a head. Obviously with the increase in psi, we increased our beer line according to a calculation, but even with extra length the brew still foamed terribly. I read that it could have also be as a result of increased head space in the keg as the beer level dropped? Could the type of brew be the problem? As in ale being more volatile than lager?
The only reason we want to carbonate and keg at the same psi is because we currently have only 1 gas bottle and kegorator, but 2 kegs. So we don't really want to have to keep turning the pressure down on the pouring beer because the carbonating brew will also decrease then. Does anyone have any advice, suggestions or has any one got the same issue?

[JarrydAlex Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JarrydAlex]

Just to add to my post. Tonight I turned the pressure right down to about 5-6 psi, to try pour a Munich lager. It still foamed even after purging the keg and allowing it to settle for an hour or so....

[Rooster Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rooster]

I had a similar problem with a batch; I don't know what caused it but it did eventually settle once I had dropped the level of the keg somewhat, the beer was also initially very hazy but this too cleared. Is your beer clear once all the foam settles or is it cloudy?

Is it the same keg you are using as per the previous more successful attempts? Faulty dip tube O rings on the liquid out tube can cause it. Is the liquid out post loose or any of the other connections on your beer line?

[DieBaas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DieBaas]

JarrydAlex How long has the beer been in the keg? Are you sure that the beer has been fully carbonated? Explain your kegging procedure.
Rooster the haziness with a full keg is that you still have yeast and other sediment at the bottom, some guys trim their dip tubes (sounds painful) to stop this from happening but then you miss the last liter or so in the keg at the end.

[JarrydAlex Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JarrydAlex]

We tend to carbonate our beer for at least 10 days before pouring properly, obviously we test throughout those 10 days. I'd say the beer in the keg is probably a month old. We simply siphon the brew from the fermenter into the sanitized keg. Put it into the kegorator and hook up the gas and beer line. As I think I said before. Probably the first half of the keg is carbonated perfectly and pours like a charm, only once the beer starts getting lower do we start to run into this pouring problem.

[JarrydAlex Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JarrydAlex]

Rooster. The bee is clear once the foam settles and even the little beer that come out with the foam is clear too. We haven't lost any gas so I can't see there being a leak anywhere in the system. Maybe the liquid out tube is blocked or the tap, however this doesn't make sense as we only have the problem when the keg beer level drops.

[DieBaas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DieBaas]

Could be a hairline crack halfway in the dip tube. The first half should be fine because the beer level is above the crack and when the beer is below you get some of the CO2 from the headspace through the crack foaming the beer.

[JarrydAlex Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JarrydAlex]

I don't see that being the problem. As it happens with both our kegs.