Keg not carbonating

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arnie7781

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In an attempt to produce a clearer beer, I cold crashed an ale in a primary fermenter for 5 days. I then racked to a keg and put it on CO2. It's been 5 days at 12 psi, which usually works for me, and the beer is still flat. Did I "kill" the yeast needed for carbing by cold crashing? Should I raise the temp to bring the yeast back? Am I just being impatient?

2 pints in and I'm looking at a flat, cloudy IPA and getting the feeling that cold crashing is overrated. Advice?
 
Bump your pressure to 22psi for a week. I keg mine and leave it for at least 10 days under 22 lbs at 58 degrees F. By the time I get home from a week at work, beer is perfectly carbonated. Just my 1/12 of a schilling
 
Yeast is not required for force carbonation, and while you didn't kill the yeast, it wouldn't have mattered if you had. What temperature is the beer at? The proper pressure for carbonating varies a lot and depends on the beer temp. Here's a handy carbonation chart that shows what pressure you need for the carbonation level you're after. My keezer stays around 39F, and I carb and serve everything at 12 psi which comes out close to 2.5 volumes of CO2. The above suggestion for 22psi at 58F will result in about the same carbonation level, but will take a little longer. It typically takes me 10-12 days to reach full carbonation.
 
Temp is around 40. Thanks for the chart. 12 psi has worked for me in the past, and while 5 days usually isn't enough time to perfectly carbonate my beer, I can usually tell a difference in the amount of carbonation. I think I'll just give it more time at 12 psi. I guess I got a little impatient to taste this one as it's my first all grain.

Still got to work on clarity issues. Tired of cloudy beer. Had a good hot break. Chilled the wort to 68 in 20 minutes with an immersion chiller, used irish moss and racked from the kettle to the fermenter to leave the cold break behind. Result: haze.

Thanks again for the help.
 
Some more time may also help with the clarity. The first pour or two from each keg usually picks up the sediment next to the diptube. If you keep from disturbing the kegs the sediment should compact nicely and the beer should pour more clearly later on. Finings have their uses, but IMHO the best method for clear beer is careful racking combined with a cold crash. Hope it clears and carbs up for you.
 
arnie7781 said:
Temp is around 40. Thanks for the chart. 12 psi has worked for me in the past, and while 5 days usually isn't enough time to perfectly carbonate my beer, I can usually tell a difference in the amount of carbonation. I think I'll just give it more time at 12 psi. I guess I got a little impatient to taste this one as it's my first all grain.

Still got to work on clarity issues. Tired of cloudy beer. Had a good hot break. Chilled the wort to 68 in 20 minutes with an immersion chiller, used irish moss and racked from the kettle to the fermenter to leave the cold break behind. Result: haze.

Thanks again for the help.
Click to expand...

It takes my beers a lot longer to clear in keg, than they do in bottles. Around a month on average.
 

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