Pressure drop in corney...

Kegged my batch of Ed's apfelwein, topped it off with a shot of CO2 (about 12psi) and noticed the pressure had dropped a few days later. I tightened everything up (one post was a little loose) and it was still dropping. Gave the keg a good soaking w/ soapy water and didn't see any bubbles. Last night for goofs and giggles, I slathered more keg lube on the main seal (all new o-rings minus the poppet valves). Going to check when I get home.

Question is could this just be the apfelwein absorbing the CO2? I think I remembered reading something like that.

T.I.A.

Did you pressurize it warm and then put it in the fridge? That could explain the drop in pressure.

Forgot about that... Yes I did at first, but even after sitting in the fridge for a a week, it still seems to be dropping a little... I pressure tested all the kegs when I was sanitizing them, but maybe since that was closer to 25psi, maybe the lid was seating as good at lower pressure...?

I would think that 12psi would be enough to seal the lid, given that it is seated properly. My guess if that you lost some pressure from the temp change, and the apfelwein has also absorbed some over time. I wouldn't worry about it.

Sweet... I am planning on picking up one of the add on regulators from micromatic in the next month so I can keep both kegs under different pressures....

Thanks!

Are you putting pressure on the keg and then disconnecting it?

If so, the CO2 is going into solution and the pressure will drop. When you hit the keg with CO2, the head space is pressurized, but as the CO2 goes into solution in the beer, the pressure will go down. To carb the beer, you need to leave it on pressure all the time.

When you say put a "shot" of 12psi, it sounds like you disconnected it. That explains it. When you pressurize the headspace of an uncarbed keg, it dissolves the CO2 into the liquid. That's how it works. You have to leave the gas connected so that the headspace pressure is replenished during carbing.

Yeah, that is what I did....

Question about that though...

If I were to use a corney for secondary, how would I keep the lid sealed and purge the headspace without carbing the beer inside? Or is that just part of the process?

Duckfoot said:

If I were to use a corney for secondary, how would I keep the lid sealed and purge the headspace without carbing the beer inside? Or is that just part of the process?

Click to expand...

Just hit it with 10 to 20 psi and bleed off. Repeat a couple times. This purges the head space and seats the lid; it doesn't need constant pressure to keep the lid seated.

Once a lid is seated, it is rare for it to lose seal.