Does low serving pressure make beer flat?

I tried searching and couldn't find anything useful, so if there is an article please post the link and you don't have to re-type anything.

I had a beer that we force carbed at around 14 PSI at 38 F. We let it sit for a week with the co2 at 14 and it carbed up nice, didn't seem flat at all. I am somewhat new to kegging, so I know most people serve in the 6-10 psi range, so I put the co2 back down to 8, and when we went to drink it next weekend the beer seemed flat. Does the beer de-carb to level the co2 tank is set at while sitting in the keezer, or was this some anomaly? If I want a highly carbonated beer, 2.8 liters at 40 degrees shows to carb at 16 PSI. If I do that for a week then turn down to 10 for serving, will the beer slowly go from 2.8 down to the 2.3 that it shows for 10 PSI?

TO answer your question I don't know but if it is flat....

I would recharge the keg,,, say 30 LBS ... get a spray bottle of water and douse the top and listen and look for "leaks"...

DPB

Yes, the keg will equalize to what the pressure is set to. Best to serve at proper carb levels.

SCUD_Brew said:

Yes, the keg will equalize to what the pressure is set to. Best to serve at proper carb levels.

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Exactly. The co2 level will definitely reduce when the pressure is reduced. I set/carb/serve/dispense always at 12 psi. My kegerator is 40 degrees. That works out well for 90% of all beers.

If you're in a huge hurry, you can set the psi for 30 psi for the first 36 hours and then purge and reset to 12 psi. But I have 5 kegs, and I don't want to play around with turning up the pressure, purging, turning it down, and mess around with the other kegs.

Yooper said:

Exactly. The co2 level will definitely reduce when the pressure is reduced. I set/carb/serve/dispense always at 12 psi. My kegerator is 40 degrees. That works out well for 90% of all beers.

If you're in a huge hurry, you can set the psi for 30 psi for the first 36 hours and then purge and reset to 12 psi. But I have 5 kegs, and I don't want to play around with turning up the pressure, purging, turning it down, and mess around with the other kegs.

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This is what I had done for the first 4-5 kegs I had, set em at 12, leave it at 12 and all is well. I was just getting a lot of foam and wanted to see if I served lower if it would eliminate it. I didn't know the gas would equalize out, probably should have. Thanks for the answer, 12 psi it is from now on.

If you're getting foam at your proper serving pressure, and you aren't at reduced pressure, it simply means your lines aren't long enough! It's a pretty easy fix.

I have started to use priming sugar instead of force carbonating... I hate having to go refill the damn tank thing all the time and sugar seems cheaper.

I also "over prime" with about 5 oz of sugar per corney keg and when it starts coming out the way I like it I put it on the gas at about eight pounds.

So far this works pretty good.

But I may try higher presures after reading some of the other comments

DPB

How long does it take to reach the carb level your looking for when setting and leaving at 12 psi?

Jdaught said:

How long does it take to reach the carb level your looking for when setting and leaving at 12 psi?

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This is what I do as well and it's usually perfectly carbed up in 7 days. it will be carbed up in two or so but not to the proper "fully carbed volumes" until around 5 - 7days.

Thanks. Got a hefeweizen thats gonna get carbed up starting Sunday, so I'll give this a try.

Jdaught said:

How long does it take to reach the carb level your looking for when setting and leaving at 12 psi?

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How long it takes depends on the carb level, which depends on both pressure and temperature. Most average carb levels it takes 10-14 days to reach full carbonation. It's usually carbed enough to be drinkable in about a week.

Storing at 40 degrees and looking for 3 volumes co2

Jdaught said:

Storing at 40 degrees and looking for 3 volumes co2

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That will likely take about 2 weeks at 18 psi to reach full carbonation, maybe even a little longer. I hope you have some extra long serving lines for that one.

10ft of 3/16" line. U think that's enough or should I go for more like 2.5 on the co2. I just like Hefe to have a little extra carb to it.

Jdaught said:

10ft of 3/16" line. U think that's enough or should I go for more like 2.5 on the co2. I just like Hefe to have a little extra carb to it.

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That's gonna be close, but I'd guess it will pour at least halfway decent. Only one way to find out.

Guess I'll find out in a week or so.