Charging keg problem

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McClellandBrew

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I kegged on Sunday night (now Wednesday night) and charged at 55 psi for a few minutes then turned it off. Put the keg in the kegerator sitting around 38F. Every 8 hours or so I repeated 55psi for a few minutes and turning it off. Have done this a total of 7 times, set at 10 psi for the last 24 hours. Purged and set to 5 psi, beer has a small decent head but still tasting a little flat. (No shaking of the keg whatsoever)
I've read numerous threads on this site and decided I should purge, set to 20-25 psi overnight, and in the morning purge and set to 5psi and this should do the trick.
Any suggestions as of now? Should I not do 20-25?

Still learning the Forced carbing techniques, so any advice is helpful.
Thanks!
 
What carb level are you going for? At 5 psi and 38F you'll end up with ~1.9 vol, which is pretty low. If it's already partially carbed and you leave it at 25 psi overnight, you'll likely end up with a higher carb level than 1.9 vol, which will create problems if you try to serve it at only 5 psi. My advice would be to use this chart, and set the pressure to whatever corresponds to your desired carb level at 38°, and then leave it alone.
 
Thanks for the chart. I can and will serve higher than 5psi, Maybe 10psi at 38F which is 2.38.
So you're saying just leave it at 10psi and let it ride out? Less than a week I'm hoping
 
I usually hit mine with 30psi for 10-12hours then purge set to 12-15 PSI turn back on and am usually drinkable in a day or two. No shaking involved. Or you can always just set it and forget it at 12-15PSI and should be ready in about a week.
 
Thanks for the simple advice. I've read way too many different options. This seems legitimate and easy. I'll keep this in mind for my next batch. Thanks
 
Since you've already partially carbed it, it shouldn't take more than a few days to reach full carbonation at serving pressure. Hard to know for sure how long it will take, since we don't really know how carbed it is. Once you get a pipeline flowing, it will be easier to use the set and forget method and wait 10-14 days. If I'm in a hurry, I'll use something similar to the method described above. Usually 30 psi for 30-36 hours, and then purge and reset to serving pressure. That usually gets me fully carbed beer in just a few days.
 
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