I have been kegging my brew since August of this year. Still have a
few "problems". I have four kegs that I fill in sequence. When I fill
the kegs I seal them, purge the head space and apply about 40 lbs. of
CO2 to seat the gasket. From there its into a beer fridge for about
three weeks. After that I put it into a serving fridge as the kegs get
emptied. I put a new keg into the serving fridge and leave it to
carbonate overnight at 11 lbs./ 36F. The serving line is 6 ft.long
1/4" and the CO2 is 3 ft long 1/4' plastic. Problem is that for the
first few days the keg dispenses very flat beer and about day three I
get all foam. Anybody out there with a few suggestions? Scott.>

I found that the 6ft tube helped but it worked even better when I went to a
3/16" 6ft instead of 1/4". I Also experience foam on the first beer or two
of the day but I found that when I have friends over the beer poors nicely
when constantly in use.

I usually force carbonate with 20 lbs at about 35F as well. I rock the
vessel for about five min each time I charge it and keep checking each time
before I re-charge how well it is comming along. I do this bout once every
4-5 hours when I'm home but I work during the day so it goes about 8-10
hours on the morning charge. Most beers have only taken around 2-2.5 days to
carbonate.

I also like to let some pressure off the top with the release valve on my
cornys before I pour my first beer.

I don't know how right these methods are but it's how I've been doing it.

Good luck with the suds!
-Dono


"Scott" <shale32@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:8q9orvcmeb4uct2cmichpe7urgto7nci3o@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> I have been kegging my brew since August of this year. Still have a
> few "problems". I have four kegs that I fill in sequence. When I fill
> the kegs I seal them, purge the head space and apply about 40 lbs. of
> CO2 to seat the gasket. From there its into a beer fridge for about
> three weeks. After that I put it into a serving fridge as the kegs get
> emptied. I put a new keg into the serving fridge and leave it to
> carbonate overnight at 11 lbs./ 36F. The serving line is 6 ft.long
> 1/4" and the CO2 is 3 ft long 1/4' plastic. Problem is that for the
> first few days the keg dispenses very flat beer and about day three I
> get all foam. Anybody out there with a few suggestions? Scott.>[/color]

try repurging after the has cooled in the beer fridge...good luck
"Scott" <shale32@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:8q9orvcmeb4uct2cmichpe7urgto7nci3o@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> I have been kegging my brew since August of this year. Still have a
> few "problems". I have four kegs that I fill in sequence. When I fill
> the kegs I seal them, purge the head space and apply about 40 lbs. of
> CO2 to seat the gasket. From there its into a beer fridge for about
> three weeks. After that I put it into a serving fridge as the kegs get
> emptied. I put a new keg into the serving fridge and leave it to
> carbonate overnight at 11 lbs./ 36F. The serving line is 6 ft.long
> 1/4" and the CO2 is 3 ft long 1/4' plastic. Problem is that for the
> first few days the keg dispenses very flat beer and about day three I
> get all foam. Anybody out there with a few suggestions? Scott.>[/color]

"Scott" <shale32@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:8q9orvcmeb4uct2cmichpe7urgto7nci3o@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> I have been kegging my brew since August of this year. Still have a
> few "problems". I have four kegs that I fill in sequence. When I fill
> the kegs I seal them, purge the head space and apply about 40 lbs. of
> CO2 to seat the gasket. From there its into a beer fridge for about
> three weeks. After that I put it into a serving fridge as the kegs get
> emptied. I put a new keg into the serving fridge and leave it to
> carbonate overnight at 11 lbs./ 36F. The serving line is 6 ft.long
> 1/4" and the CO2 is 3 ft long 1/4' plastic. Problem is that for the
> first few days the keg dispenses very flat beer and about day three I
> get all foam. Anybody out there with a few suggestions? Scott.>[/color]

I can recommend (along the lines of the OP) that longer, thinner lines work.
I had foam problems due to beer coming out too fast and so I went to a 4 m
(about 13 ft) beer line, up from 1 metre and the issue has all but gone
away, I could have gone even longer, it really depends on what pressure you
have your kegs at.

Also, according to the stuff I have read, 3/16 ID tube is about 4 times as
effective in dropping pressure than 1/4 inch (see
[url]http://kegman.net/balance.html[/url]). As for following their calculations, I
suggest getting a longer length of tube and cutting it down until you are
happy with the pour.