Carbonation Emergency

[JAW]

I have a party in 40 hours. I kegged a batch of beer a week ago and had planned to let it carbonate for a little over a week before the party. I just discovered a faulty poppet valve on the keg and the beer has no carbonation. I'm not sure what the problem is other than maybe the spring for the poppet valve was too weak to push open the CO2 valve. I replaced the valve and verified it is now working properly. I immediately put 30psi on it but I'm almost out of time. Has anyone ever fully carbed a beer in two days time?

 

[k2zr2]

I have a party in 40 hours. I kegged a batch of beer a week ago and had planned to let it carbonate for a little over a week before the party. I just discovered a faulty poppet valve on the keg and the beer has no carbonation. I'm not sure what the problem is other than maybe the spring for the poppet valve was too weak to push open the CO2 valve. I replaced the valve and verified it is now working properly. I immediately put 30psi on it but I'm almost out of time. Has anyone ever fully carbed a beer in two days time?

Yup, carb'd up to drinking level. It might not be the perfect amount but a day at 30, a day at 20, then serving pressure resulted in a good beer for me in the past.

 

[beaksnbeer]

30 psi and shake keg every couple of hours 3-5 times temp will help colder beer takes in co2 better

 

[Flashman]

What they said. A day at 30 and one at 20 works fine. Just did this last weekend for a party. Worked fine, plenty of carbonation but not foamy.

 

[bf514921]

Ditto, your fine, just don't forget it too long on the 30 psi. what kind of beer?

 

[JAW]

Thanks to all for the advice. It's a basic pale ale. I've used the keg several times before with no problems. I connected several different co2 lines and none of them worked. I then plugged it into the "beer out" side of the keg and could hear it pushing co2 through the dip tube, so I knew it was the poppet. After removing, cleaning and reinstalling several times it still didn't work, so I switched out the valve with one from another keg and the problem was solved. Could it be a weak spring? The button was freely moving when pushed down and it was sealing just fine, but I noticed it takes a decent amount of pressure in the co2 disconnect to allow the co2 to flow. I would think the poppet spring would have to provide that pressure. Thanks again for all the responses.

 

[JAW]

Thanks to all. I put the keg at 30# for 24hr and reduced to 20# for 24hr and then purged and set to my usual pressure. The beer was perfectly carbonated for the party.