"Set it and forget it" not working?

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Schwind

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So I've had my keg of Dos Equis Amber clone in the keezer for almost 2 weeks now and it still doesn't seem to have the right carbonation. I also have my brown ale in the keg under pressure for a week, and it is not at the proper carbonation level. I tried the set it to 15 psi and leave it method.

So today, I'm wiping up the small puddle of moisture on the floor of the keezer and feel CO2 running up my nose, which is next to the gas in ports on my keg. I sprayed the gas in side with a star san solution and it didn't bubble. I must have a leak somewhere but I figured my tank would run dry before 2 weeks had passed. But its a 20 pounder so who knows. Does a little gas escape from the disconnects or is this a bad thing. I'm thinking its a bad thing.

I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow and would love to come home to a nice draft brown ale, not a flat brown ale.
 
With 2 weeks under carbonation you should be seeing the results. It is not going to be fizzy like say Bud but we all know fizzy yellow beer is for wussies :)

It is probably a leak if you are smelling it. The best bet would be find it and fix it before you go out of town. Short of that if you feel it is you system that is leaking and not your keg. You can unplug them and turn the gas off. If it is the keg you might have flat beer when you return.
 
Its carbonated. Just not what I thought It would or should be. It has a nice head for a little while, then the beer itself can't maintain that nice skim layer of head that I like. It doesn't really have the same bubbles in the beer I was hoping for. I'm just going to shut the gas off before I leave and hope the beer isn't flat when I get back.
Could my regulator be off? Maybe its 15 psi isn't really 15psi.
 
You're only providing half the information for your carbonation problem. We need to know the temperature in the keezer as well.

I would track down your leak problem before you go. Just make up a soapy solution of water and dab a little bit on all the gas fittings and on the keg posts and pressure relief valves. The leak will identify itself pretty quickly.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
I'm with Brad here...what's the length of your beer tubing? If it's too short it'll strip the carbonation out also, right?


Yes, this info might help...along with the i.d. of the tubing so we can see if you have enough resistance in the line.
 
keezer is at 38-40. I have 5 ft of 3/16 beer tubing. My LHBS said that would be enough. I'll test for leaks again with soapy water.

Thanks everyone.
 
To answer the other question: No, gas connectors should not leak, even slightly. You might have a cracked o-ring on the post.
 
Regardless, you seem to have a leak, and it's very much in your best interest to figure out where it is. Searching for leaks with soapy water or starsan is a quick, easy process.

However, having a CO2 leak will not cause your beer to be flat unless it actually empties your tank. As long as there's gas in the tank, the pressure in the keg should be unaffected by a small leak.

Personally I'm generally too impatient for the set-and-forget-for-weeks method of force carbing, opting instead for the fast way, so I can't provide much advice on what IS causing your flat beer problem.
 
Schwind said:
Its carbonated. Just not what I thought It would or should be. It has a nice head for a little while, then the beer itself can't maintain that nice skim layer of head that I like. It doesn't really have the same bubbles in the beer I was hoping for. I'm just going to shut the gas off before I leave and hope the beer isn't flat when I get back.
Could my regulator be off? Maybe its 15 psi isn't really 15psi.

I think he is saying that it is carbonated just not up to what he is accustomed to.

1. The simple solution would be to increase the regulator a few pounds.

2. You can add a lot to head retention by changing the recipe. There are ingredients that add to it.

3. Things like jet dry can rob retention.

If you are going to shut off the CO2 make sure and take the disconnects off too.
 
Not counting what is lost to the restriction of the beer line (and to any leaks), the beer in the keg should be at about 2.8 volumes of CO2. That is quite a lot (at least in my opinion, but I like mine less than 2.0), I would think he has a leak that is keeping his beer from carbonating fully since he was also detecting CO2 with his nose.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
Maybe you should purge the keg, take the lid off, turn the lid around 180 degrees, and re-presurrize. That helps some kegs. ;)


Worth a try.

The beer is carbonating. Just not as much as I expected. I know what it should taste like, CO2 wise, and its not there for me.

I did check for leaks and couldn't find any.

I'm just going to turn off the gas. Unhook everything. Let the beer sit in the keezer for the week I'm on vacation, And figure it out next week.

This makes me feel stupid that I can't figure it out. It also sucks that the beer tastes awesome, just needs a little more carbonation, so it's kind of ruining it for me.

Oh well,
I'm gonna relax and have a homebrew.


Thanks for all the help and suggestions.
 
15psi and only 5 feet of beer line...the system doesn't sound balanced. I bet you're blowing some CO2 out of solution just dispensing.

how long does it take to fill a pint glass?
 
malkore said:
15psi and only 5 feet of beer line...the system doesn't sound balanced. I bet you're blowing some CO2 out of solution just dispensing.

how long does it take to fill a pint glass?
That's what I'm thinking. I use 12 - 15 PSI and I run 10 feet of 3/16 hose to get it to flow right.
 
I bet you overfilled your keg and don't have enough head space to properly carb the beer.


The best answer (and most fun) is to drink the beer down a little and then let it sit for a couple/few more days and I'm sure your carb level will be fine.

:cross:
 
malkore said:
15psi and only 5 feet of beer line...the system doesn't sound balanced. I bet you're blowing some CO2 out of solution just dispensing.
I was thinking the same thing. With the beer at 38-40F I had to have about 10-12 feet of 3/16" line for a good pour at only 12 PSI. 15 PSI would be worse.

Unless you like the beer heavily carb'ed or are making something that should have more volumes of Co2 for the style (ex: Heffe), I would turn the regulator down to 10-12 PSI.

I started my balanced system at around 12-14 PSI for lagers and slightly lower for english ales but found it too carb'ed for my taste. So now I actually do 5 PSI for my English style ales and around 8-9PSI for lagers/wheat beers (all at around 40F). Plenty of head and nice mouthfeel. But then, I like my beers more like draft beer in the pubs which slightly flatter than what you get in the bottle.

Kal
 
Thanks for all the responses guys,

I'm back from vacation:( , obviously, and I checked the beers. They're still carbed, and I have no leaks in my lines. I had a poppet valve that wasn't seated properly, and fixed that before I left.

After reading more about line balancing, I think my lines are to short. I'm going to replace the five foot lines with 10 footers. hopefully that should fix my problem.

Malkore, It takes 10-12 seconds max to fill a pint glass. It should be slower shouldn't it?
 
10-12 seconds is fine for a pour. But I will still go to 10 feet of line and see what happens.
 
10-12 second pours on 5' of line tells me that your pressure gauge is probably off a bit. I run about 12psi and have 10' lines and my pours for a whole pint are about 8 seconds.
 

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