CO2 gone dry...now what?

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kokonutz

kokonutz

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Hi - rookie kegger here with an unfortunate situation - This is only my 5 or 6th kegged beer... I have a CO2 tank that ran out of gas about 12 hours into a burst carb last night. It's a full 5 gal corny with an IPA that was pressurized to 40 PSI. Because the tank emptied, I removed the gas line. Should I assume it will continue to carbonate with the remaining pressure, and slowly decrease pressure. Or will it maintain that 40PSI since there is no more CO2 coming in? I can not get a refill until Monday, since everything is closed for holidays.

Most importantly - will i get to try this beer before the weekend? What happens if I serve till pressure is gone? It smelled sooooo good going in the keg, and the sample did not disappoint!
 
Sorry, but, unfortunately, the IPA will NOT continue to carbonate as quickly as desired (unless you've given the remaining yeast some sugar. Meaning additional sugar or malt).

It is true, fermentation releases CO2, but I think you want something quicker than fermentation CO2.
 
My vote is to wait till Monday to get new gas. If your impatient, I don’t think drawing a glass will hurt anything as you have enough pressure in there to push a glass of beer. I wouldn’t pour a ton though.
 
well 40psi will reach equalization...when i burst carb at 50psi, for 1.2oz's, after a day it's at 10psi...

i'm not sure if you're an alchie like me, but i just served beer for a day or so, before i was wondering why it wasn't pouring very fast, realized the gas wasn't hooked up....


i've also had luck scraping empty kegs that still had pressure to push a few pours before....
 
If you shake it it will carbonate. The picture bellow is the day of kegging being burst at 30 psi 5 minute shake then 3 hours in the freezer.
D40D33CE-C93C-4A75-BF02-F69CBF16A40D.jpeg
 
I wouldn't drink until you have a new CO2. You would risk using all of the pressure to serve and then the keg not staying sealed letting O2 into your new keg.
 
kokonutz said:
Hi - rookie kegger here with an unfortunate situation - This is only my 5 or 6th kegged beer... I have a CO2 tank that ran out of gas about 12 hours into a burst carb last night. It's a full 5 gal corny with an IPA that was pressurized to 40 PSI. Because the tank emptied, I removed the gas line. Should I assume it will continue to carbonate with the remaining pressure, and slowly decrease pressure. Or will it maintain that 40PSI since there is no more CO2 coming in? I can not get a refill until Monday, since everything is closed for holidays.

Most importantly - will i get to try this beer before the weekend? What happens if I serve till pressure is gone? It smelled sooooo good going in the keg, and the sample did not disappoint!
Click to expand...
Definitely look for that leak if you don't want to keep throwing money (literally) into the air.
Just let the keg rest as it is. The beer will absorb CO2 from the pressure until it reaches equilibrium. It's impossible to tell whether you'll have adequate carbonation at that point. If you start serving without CO2 attached the beer will degas CO2 and become progressively less carbonated but if you limit yourself to pouring one or two samples and don't drink half the keg by Monday this is not the end of the world, you'll recover the "lost" CO2 once you resume force carbonating.
 
Use a little keg lube on the keg post O rings and always check them for leaks after connecting. I spray sanitizer on them. I also dry hop in keg with a paint bag tied with dental floss coming out the lid. I hit that too. Weighing down hops too much can create a leak. I went from a couple marbles to just one and it's better.
 
I'm going to agree with the above and say it sounds like a leak. When I had just a 5# tank I got 3 months out of it, both force carbing and serving. Have you ever changed out the o-rings (and I mean ALL of them) on this keg? If it was used when you bought it, you have no way of knowing when it was last done. Keg o-ring kits are cheap, and great insurance to have one or two in reserve. Also keg lube, as above said. It is nasty pernicious stuff to get off your hands, but absolute gold when it comes to sealing your lid. Another culprit, although lesser known, can be the pressure release valve; it can stay turned to the side just a teeny weeny bit sometimes after you've pulled it, and if you don't hear that tiny hiss of escaping co2, you're in trouble.

Before you go all out and change your o-rings, fill a spray bottle with either mild soapy water or starsan solution; spray everything on the keg, the posts, the lid, PRV; if you see bubbles rise and break, there's your leak. It can also be at the connection to the tank. You need to be thorough and check everywhere there could be a leak, otherwise you'll be spending a lot of money on tank exchanges.
 
i use this and some little 12gram ( i think ) co2 cartridges as an emergency back up if my tank croaks sooner than i expect.

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Innovations-G5040-Charger-Black/dp/B000NV9CE6
Ideally, you could get a paintball tank and that adapter pc since it would actually work to carb a keg without using up 2-3 of those little cartridges. i stopped using mine since it expired and it wasn't worth the money to re-cert it for how little i was using it.
 
seatazzz said:
I'm going to agree with the above and say it sounds like a leak. When I had just a 5# tank I got 3 months out of it, both force carbing and serving. Have you ever changed out the o-rings (and I mean ALL of them) on this keg? If it was used when you bought it, you have no way of knowing when it was last done. Keg o-ring kits are cheap, and great insurance to have one or two in reserve. Also keg lube, as above said. It is nasty pernicious stuff to get off your hands, but absolute gold when it comes to sealing your lid. Another culprit, although lesser known, can be the pressure release valve; it can stay turned to the side just a teeny weeny bit sometimes after you've pulled it, and if you don't hear that tiny hiss of escaping co2, you're in trouble.

Before you go all out and change your o-rings, fill a spray bottle with either mild soapy water or starsan solution; spray everything on the keg, the posts, the lid, PRV; if you see bubbles rise and break, there's your leak. It can also be at the connection to the tank. You need to be thorough and check everywhere there could be a leak, otherwise you'll be spending a lot of money on tank exchanges.
Click to expand...

i half feel; like reviving my thread about how much i love my scale! lol, i think i have a leak right now, lost 0.1oz and the sun is pulling down right now, so it should have gone up not down...but, WELL, i can sleep on it and if it is a leak i'll rip everything apart if i only lose an ounce overnight.....early detection is AWESOME! ;) :)
 
bracconiere said:
i half feel; like reviving my thread about how much i love my scale! lol, i think i have a leak right now, lost 0.1oz and the sun is pulling down right now, so it should have gone up not down...but, WELL, i can sleep on it and if it is a leak i'll rip everything apart if i only lose an ounce overnight.....early detection is AWESOME! ;) :)
Click to expand...
should also be handy to know if your supplier filled the liquid weight or skimped a bit.
 
FromZwolle said:
should also be handy to know if your supplier filled the liquid weight or skimped a bit.
Click to expand...


most of my 20lb'rs are 18lb's...got my last one that was only 13 though. i brought my digital bathroom scale with me to try and find the 'most' full tank but they only had one tank. but it was 18 pounds, so normal.
 
my last swap was 11-16-20, it was 45lb5oz...it's down to 41lb's15.4oz, but i've carbed poured 450 12oz beers.....so like 2oz's a keg....maybe 3, my math isn't good...
 
seatazzz said:
I'm going to agree with the above and say it sounds like a leak. When I had just a 5# tank I got 3 months out of it, both force carbing and serving. Have you ever changed out the o-rings (and I mean ALL of them) on this keg? If it was used when you bought it, you have no way of knowing when it was last done. Keg o-ring kits are cheap, and great insurance to have one or two in reserve. Also keg lube, as above said. It is nasty pernicious stuff to get off your hands, but absolute gold when it comes to sealing your lid. Another culprit, although lesser known, can be the pressure release valve; it can stay turned to the side just a teeny weeny bit sometimes after you've pulled it, and if you don't hear that tiny hiss of escaping co2, you're in trouble.

Before you go all out and change your o-rings, fill a spray bottle with either mild soapy water or starsan solution; spray everything on the keg, the posts, the lid, PRV; if you see bubbles rise and break, there's your leak. It can also be at the connection to the tank. You need to be thorough and check everywhere there could be a leak, otherwise you'll be spending a lot of money on tank exchanges.
Click to expand...

Try Haynes CIP-film. It washes away easily with hot water and soap. It's a night and day difference, I never want to use the regular stuff again. I'm not sure why it's not talked about more.
 
Novacor said:
Woah, I've been swapping out my 5# bottle every 3-4 kegs since I started kegging. Looks like it's time to go find that leak...
Click to expand...

to re-iterate, you should also be checking to see if your tanks are actually full. 4 kegs on a five pounder is way too fast.
 

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