frustrated with kegging ... why does my beer not appear carbonated?

SamuraiSquirrel · 05-14-2011, 01:44 AM

So I have been kegging for awhile........

Basically the reason that I am writing this post is because my kegged beers never APPEAR carbed once they are poured. If I pour a bottle conditioned beer there is a nice head and there are running bubbles up the glass. A "fizzy" appearance. My kegged beers pours with a slim head. The amount of head is not my concern though. For some reason my kegged beers do not have any bubbles in the beer as the bottle conditioned beers do. They appear still and flat after they are poured. Is this normal? I don't really understand why there is a difference between the two? Can anyone explain.

Just a few facts about my setup:
I have 2 beers that I am referring to above - an IPA and a Irish red ale both exhibit this same "lack of carbonation" appearance.
These beers have been on the gas for about 2 months
Freezer is set at 38
Pressure is set at 13
Beer lines are 6.5 feet.
I have CO2 in my tank lol. If I close gas valve, release keg pressure, you can definately hear it refilling with gas when you reopen the co2 valve. I've checked this about 5 different times.

A few things that I have tried:
Shorter lines - I tried 5 foot lines. This resulted in a "foamier" pour as expected but no more of a "bubbly" appearance.
I tried raising pressure up to 15 - Still no more "bubbly" of an appearance.
The beer seems to have co2 dissolved - If i pour a glass and put my hand over it and agitate the beer will spray everywhere lol.

So I'm just not sure why there is this difference of appearance? I'm stumped. Is this normal with kegged beers? I might have to pour a glass of each (bottle conditioned and keg carbed) and take a video to illustrate the difference that I am talking about.

mrduna01 · 05-14-2011, 01:48 AM

Hmmm that's an odd predicament. My kegged beers, albeit I'm only on my fourth keg, come out with similar carbonation as my bottles do. I'm interested in what others have to say.

**Boleslaus** · 05-14-2011, 02:37 AM

Have you simply tried a more aggressive pour? If you are pouring gently down the side of your glass you can get the beer into the glass without any agitation and therefore hardly any bubbles and very little head. Pour straight down the middle and see.

**Reno_eNVy** · 05-14-2011, 02:41 AM

You tried shorter line.... did you try longer line? I seriously think that will solve your problem as it reduced foam (the act of CO2 being released from solution)

scinerd3000 · 05-14-2011, 02:44 AM

what do you clean your kegs with?....If there's residue in the lines or kegs they can have an issue with the development of a good head although it should still technically be carbonated. Are you sure your regulator is correct at 15psi?

SamuraiSquirrel · 05-14-2011, 02:53 AM

I did not try longer line ......... I had that thought but since I get very little head on my pours I had kind of ruled the line issue out

Kegs are cleaned with Oxyclean ..... rinsed & stored. Prior to kegging they are sanitized with star san.

Regulator ...... it tipped over a couple months ago and fell on the high pressure gauge which is now disfunctional. It doesn't leak though and since high pressure gauges are fairly useless I didn't replace it. The other gauges were not affected by the fall ....... or so i thought?....... In any case it DOES NOT leak as I've been on the same co2 tank for a couple months and it still has gas in it. Maybe the fall jacked up the accuracy of my regulator gauges though?

**Seven** · 05-14-2011, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamuraiSquirrel

Regulator ...... it tipped over a couple months ago and fell on the high pressure gauge which is now disfunctional. It doesn't leak though and since high pressure gauges are fairly useless I didn't replace it. The other gauges were not affected by the fall ....... or so i thought?....... In any case it DOES NOT leak as I've been on the same co2 tank for a couple months and it still has gas in it. Maybe the fall jacked up the accuracy of my regulator gauges though?

Did you get any carbonation in your beers prior to the regulator mishap you described here? If the regulator took a hard hit during the fall it may not be working properly.

SamuraiSquirrel · 05-14-2011, 01:14 PM

I can't really remember .... the fall happened really early on when I got my kegging setup. I had a beer on tap with a picnic tap. I was building keezer and pulled co2 out to lift the freezer up onto my caster base which is when it took the fall and blew the high pressure gauge.

So I had one beer on tap prior to the fall for about 3 weeks. I have no recollection of the carbonation level of this beer prior to when the regulator took the dive lol.

I guess there really is no easy answer to this question .... more troubleshooting is in order. Possibly testing a different regulator and seeing if that makes a difference.

Sounds like there is something wrong though, my beer should appear just the same as a bottle conditioned beer from what I am gathering.

**Reno_eNVy** · 05-14-2011, 03:57 PM

I'm still going to go ahead and say 10 feet of 3/16" line, properly cooled will provide much more resistance, thus reducing foaming on the pour. This will cause CO2 to stay dissolved in solution and will give you the gorgeous bubbly fiesta you want.

broadbill · 05-14-2011, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reno_eNVy_446

I'm still going to go ahead and say 10 feet of 3/16" line, properly cooled will provide much more resistance, thus reducing foaming on the pour. This will cause CO2 to stay dissolved in solution and will give you the gorgeous bubbly fiesta you want.

yeah but the OP said that if wasn't foaming all that much to start with. I'd buy your hypothesis if he was getting nothing but foamy pours to start with. It sounds like the beer isn't carbed from the get-go. I'm wondering if this a problem with his regulator getting knocked over...