more gas than beer

[JJSG Beer]

I'm a new kegger. I had a 4 gallon batch of beer bottled for about three weeks, and when
I tested it, it was flat. Not sure of the reason; it was bulk primed, had two weeks of fermenting in the bottle and a week to cool. So, I poured the beer in a keg, sealed the keg with 30psi, and set the pressure back to 12 psi. 5 days later, I am getting a mixture of gas and beer coming out of the tap. Suggestions?

 

[J A]

Hose length? Holding at 12 PSI may be too much for your set up. How long did you leave it at 30 PSI? It may have been overcarbed by the time you turned it down.
Purge the keg of pressure and then try serving at very low pressure - just enough to get it to flow. If you find that it's very highly carbonated and still wants to foam, leave the gas off the keg and purge it a few times over a couple of days. Then you can hook it up and try it again.
If you try the low-pressure pour and find that it's carbonated about right, just increase the pressure until you get a regular flow and that'll be your serving pressure. Ultimately you may need to lengthen your serving hose depending on the answer to my first question.

 

[JJSG Beer]

Hose length? Holding at 12 PSI may be too much for your set up. How long did you leave it at 30 PSI? It may have been overcarbed by the time you turned it down.
Purge the keg of pressure and then try serving at very low pressure - just enough to get it to flow. If you find that it's very highly carbonated and still wants to foam, leave the gas off the keg and purge it a few times over a couple of days. Then you can hook it up and try it again.
If you try the low-pressure pour and find that it's carbonated about right, just increase the pressure until you get a regular flow and that'll be your serving pressure. Ultimately you may need to lengthen your serving hose depending on the answer to my first question.

I only used 30 PSI to be sure the tank was sealed, purged the gas, reset to 12. How do I determine the right hose length? I'll try your suggestions.

 

[Nosybear]

I only used 30 PSI to be sure the tank was sealed, purged the gas, reset to 12. How do I determine the right hose length? I'll try your suggestions.

You can check for seal at a lot less than 30 psi. Rule of thumb: A foot of 3/16" ID hose per PSI. If you can't for some reason use 12 feet of distribution line, you can put lengths of that star-shaped weed eater line in the beer line to increase its resistance.

 

[JJSG Beer]

Thanks for your help. I just discovered that the problem was a missing o-ring on the liquid side dip tube. I am now enjoying an easily poured home brewed pale ale that includes home grown hops!

 

[Over The Cliff Brewing]

I had a similar problem a few batches ago. I had put the spring loaded pin in backwards on the out connection. I went through 1/2 keg like that until I investigated. S%$#T happens.