Do we have any members who are into home brewing beer? I brewed my first batch of beer today with the assistance of a good friend of mine. We had a great time. I created my first attempt at an ale. Only time will tell....

I've brewed many batches--some of them great, some of them not so good, drank 'em all anyway. Lately I've gotten lazy so I just have my two soda kegs filled at the local brew pubs. At about $10/gallon, it works out to be about $1.25/pint, which is about twice the cost of some good hops and malt/extract. Besides, if I'm at home brewing, I'm not fishing! (Although this past winter I have so many skunk trips I think I'd have been better off staying at home brewing--especially my infamous rollover trip).

Anyway, if you run into any trouble, send me a pm--I bet I've made that mistake before.

My first batch of beer turned out well. I moved it into the Soda Keg and charged it with CO2 for several days. The wife wanted an "american beer" type flavor so I went with an amber ale.

The only thing I am having trouble with is the amount of foam when I pour the beer from the keg. I have the CO2 set at around 7 pounds but can't seem to get more beer and less foam.

Any ideas?

Glock,

7 lbs may be a tad high. If you look at a pressure/volume CO2/temperature chart, 7 lbs would seem about right (for 40 degrees or so), but I've found that I prefer to err on the low side. My kegs are refridgerated at about 36 deg and I have them set at 4-5 lbs. The beer still seems plenty carbonated, and the foam is reduced. The other thing I've found to be helpful is to open the pressure relief valve on the soda keg and relieve the pressure before pouring. This greatly reduces the velocity at which the beer is expelled from the line which in turn greatly reduces the off-gas effect (foaming). Try it; I think you'll find that it helps out quite a bit.

I am now on my third batch of home brew. It really is a neat hobby. I took your pointers on PSI and found it did poor a better glass of beer. My problem with the first batch, however, was over carbonation. I think I added way to much CO2 at too long of a duration.

The second batch of beer was placed in the soda keg and cooled. Prior to charging it with CO2, I cooled it to 38 degrees. I applied 10 PSI for 3 days and it turned out great.

Holy smokes! I hope you have some help putting away all that brew. This reminds me, I need to get my kegs filled...

The news of freshly brewed beer spreads quickly. It's hard to keep it in the keg long with friends and family. The last brew was a Kolsch which a clone of the Columbia Kolsch Ale from Ice Harbor Brewing.

Kolsch Yeast (White Labs)
LME Weizen Extract - 7lbs
Pale Ale 2 Row - 1lb
Mt. Hood Domestic Hops - 3oz