Carbonation Is Kicking MY BUTT!!!!

Ok here's the situation. I have a beer that has been in the kegerator for more than a month now, under about 15 to 18 psi, and it has little to no carbonation. I have put it under pressure and shaken it until it couldn't take any more and then left it under pressure in the kegerator. The beer is cold...I'm at a complete loss...this is the second kegged beer I've had this issue with. Any thoughts please.

Jimbob said:

this is the second kegged beer I've had this issue with. Any thoughts please.

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My guess would be bad regulator or bad gauge ... ie. you are not actually putting 15-18 psi in the keg.

ajwillys said:

My guess would be bad regulator or bad gauge ... ie. you are not actually putting 15-18 psi in the keg.

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I actually just recently changed out the gauges and had the reg. checked out. It's definatly getting the CO2. I perged the keg a short while ago, hooked it up, and poored a glass. It has some carbonation but not what it should. I should have about 2 volumes in there right now but there is now way I have that.

Why are you purging and unhooking the keg? I'm not understanding that part- sorry!

i think he probably just means the tap.

when did you change the guages and check the reg. maybe the guages were a problem before but you haven't let it take it's time now that they're fixed. shake it up again and try it.

you either had a leak or something was reading incorrectly.

I'd say if the beer is cold (which it probably is), just crank the gas to 30PSI and then begin taste testing every 12 hours. (No more shaking)

I use the 30PSI x 36 hours routine for my carbonation all the time.

Maybe your regulator is just not reading correctly at the 15(ish) range.

YooperBrew said:

Why are you purging and unhooking the keg? I'm not understanding that part- sorry!

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It was at 17 psi, I vented it to decrease the pressure in the keg to get it to a serving pressure a before I drank it.

I'm going to give you a complete rundown of the whole process

July 4th - kegged the beer and chilled it
July 6th - once cooled I put 15psi on the keg and shook and repressurized until the it would not take any CO2...I then put the keg into the kegerator and let it sit connected to the CO2 tank at 15psi

I've increased the pressure up to 18psi and have tried weekly...but no significant carbonation.


****EDIT**** COOL THIS IS MY 100th Post

hook it up to 25 psi for 3 days or do what BierMuncher said. just stop shaking the damn thing and let it do work

Don't overfill your kegs. The CO2 needs some headspace to work its magic. That's why I overfill, then systematically begin drinking the beer after a few days...to provide more headspace.


I think you'll find this method works.

:cross:

I'm wondering if the tank isn't full of oxygen. What color is it?

Hmmmm. I carbonate and serve at 12 psi, and it's perfect in about two weeks or so. (I occasionally am impatient and carb it faster with a higher psi at first, but it only seems to save about a week). I never shake- mostly because I'm a weakling but also because I'm afraid of ruining my regulator from backflow. Anyway, I guess I'd turn it way up (like Biermuncher said) and see how long it takes to carbonate. Once it's carbonated, try keeping it at 12 psi or so, so it'll stay carbonated, depending on your system.

What do you want for a serving pressure?

i had this problem once when i made 5.5 gallons of beer and I was going to bottle a few of them and condition them for a few months but I hot lazy and tried to keg all of it. I took god damn forever to carb almost a month at like 20 PSI. Also, I had a leak in my release valve once that I noticed but make sure your sealed.

i carb just like Biermuncher, he is the one that i got my info for carbing from, i have never had a problem 30 psi for 36 hour purge and set for 10 psi
make sure you purge the head space
Lenny

I do 30 psi for 36 hours, then turn it down to 10psi and have never had an issue. I have also had some VERY full kegs and had no issues. This is very strange.

YooperBrew said:

Hmmmm. I carbonate and serve at 12 psi, and it's perfect in about two weeks or so.

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This is what I do too. No point in rushing it and it gives it more time to condition. If it was carbed in 3 days, I'd start drinking it and giving it to people in 3 days. It is sort of a good exercise of my patience.

Lot's of great advice and thoughts...thanks guys. I set the pressure at 25 psi the other night and will let it set for a few days. I have in the past set my serving pressure between 5 and 10psi. The other issue I'm having is a massive amount of foam, I'm using 8ft of line but. I'm giving it until tomorrow and I'll give it a try and let you know how it turns out. I think from this point forward I'm going to prime the keg and do natural carbonation...that'll take a bit more pre planning and I'll need to wait a bit longer for the beer to be ready but that's alright with me.

Jimbob said:

Lot's of great advice and thoughts...thanks guys. I set the pressure at 25 psi the other night and will let it set for a few days. I have in the past set my serving pressure between 5 and 10psi. The other issue I'm having is a massive amount of foam, I'm using 8ft of line but. I'm giving it until tomorrow and I'll give it a try and let you know how it turns out. I think from this point forward I'm going to prime the keg and do natural carbonation...that'll take a bit more pre planning and I'll need to wait a bit longer for the beer to be ready but that's alright with me.

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You know, I've been thinking about this. Are you 100% sure you don't have a small leak in the keg? Like maybe around the pressure relief valve, or the lid? Maybe spray some star-san solution around the top just to check. If you're getting foam with 8ft of line, the pressure is there.

YooperBrew said:

You know, I've been thinking about this. Are you 100% sure you don't have a small leak in the keg? Like maybe around the pressure relief valve, or the lid? Maybe spray some star-san solution around the top just to check. If you're getting foam with 8ft of line, the pressure is there.

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Yooper, I've been thinking about that too. I recently listened to an episode of The Brewing Network "The Sunday Session" on kegging and carbonation and they mentioned just that. I'm actually planning on running that test. It may be worth while to replace the o-rings on my keg (both of them for that matter). This is actually the second time this has been an issue for me. I've kegged a total of 6 batches of those six I've had my two most recent batch have a problem.

Spyk'd said:

Don't overfill your kegs. The CO2 needs some headspace to work its magic. That's why I overfill, then systematically begin drinking the beer after a few days...to provide more headspace.


I think you'll find this method works.

:cross:

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+1, I've had this happen, too. The beer didn't seem to be carbing much, but after a few pints were poured I could hear the exact moment that the beer level dropped below gas inlet tube as I could hear the gas rushing into the headspace. It carbed up quick after that.

Most of my beers sit in the secondary or about a month or two before I get them kegged, so I certainly do rush the carbonating, they are already conditioned... I need a drink!

If you DO have a leak in your keg... as long as your keg is always on gas, it should still carbonate. If you keep pressure on it, it should. Now if you disconnect the gas and it drops to say 5psi due to a leak, then it will not carbonate, but I dont think that is what you indicated. If it is ON the gas, a leak wont matter at all.

I don't keg, so I can't offer any advice or help. but just wanted to pass along that I hope you get your frustrations figured out.

Jimbob said:

LThe other issue I'm having is a massive amount of foam, I'm using 8ft of line but.

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Maybe the beer is carbonating fine and the massive foaming issues simply leaves you with a flat beer after the foam subsides. Does it taste flat even if you don't get any foam? Maybe the real problem is the foaming. 8ft of beer line should be plenty to limit foaming as long as it is cold. Check for obstructions/bumps/burrs, etc. that might cause turbulence. Do you open your tap all of the way when you pour a beer? I made a sign for a recent party. "Confuscious says; a half open tap is a glass full of foam"

pjj2ba said:

Maybe the beer is carbonating fine and the massive foaming issues simply leaves you with a flat beer after the foam subsides. Does it taste flat even if you don't get any foam? Maybe the real problem is the foaming. 8ft of beer line should be plenty to limit foaming as long as it is cold. Check for obstructions/bumps/burrs, etc. that might cause turbulence. Do you open your tap all of the way when you pour a beer? I made a sign for a recent party. "Confuscious says; a half open tap is a glass full of foam"

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The beer does have a little carbonation but not enought to affect the taste or mouth feel of the beer to much. I have tried using the tap tower and using a removable tap. I'm pretty confident that I'm obstruction free. With regard to the tap I have been opening it slowly and only about half way and also full open and then back it off to about half way. I did not realize about the fully open tap...I'll give that a try too and see if it reduces the foam.

I won't be able to try any of these recommendations until tomorrow but trust me I'm going to.

I know that some of you have mentioned head space, I'm pretty confident that there is plenty of head space as I have pulled several pints for tasting (by the way it tastes like crap too...another topic for another post)

Sounds like leaky seal. I like to pressurize my empty kegs during storage so I know the seals are working properly.

Jimbob said:

With regard to the tap I have been opening it slowly and only about half way and also full open and then back it off to about half way. I did not realize about the fully open tap...I'll give that a try too and see if it reduces the foam.

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The recomended pouring procedure is a quick light flip to fully open and then a quick flip to close. If you want more head, at the end of the pour, close the tap part way.

I agree it sounds like a very slow leak in the kegs.
Having a problem like this, and I'm convinced it is leaky seals on some of my kegs. I seal them at kegging with around 30lbs co2.
I just moved my kegerator so it was a good time to test it. and I have around 3 kegs leaking out of the post. Lubed them up well and I now leave them with co2 off, and when I pour a beer I open up the valve to the keg and listen. Right now things are OK due to the globs of keg lube, but I went through 2 5# canisters. I hit all kegs last night with 18lbs, pulled a beer from each and today very little gas moved as I opened each check valve.

I'm always amazed by how many people I get at my house that want to open the tap just a crack to try to control the pour and all they get is a glass of foam.

Linc

I have a problem with the LEAK argument. If you keep the keg on the gas, and the regulator is set to 18psi, even if there is a slow leak, it is STILL under 18psi of CO2 pressure, because there is a constant re-supply of gas and pressure to compensate for it. Now if you have carbonated beer, but you are constantly running out of CO2, then you have a leak. If you have a full tank of CO2 and no carbonation, it is not a leak.

I agree if there is a leak but you have it ON Co2 this should not prevent it from carbonating. I would think you would just waist a lot of CO2.

Ok, so I had the beer on about 25psi for a few days and it did make a difference. I haven't checked the keg for leaks yet but I'm of the opinion that a small leak would not be a real issue. Furthermore, if I did have a leak I my CO2 tank would be gettting bone dry by this point.

I also still have a ton of foam even when pour as recommended earlier in this thread.