force carbonating a sankey keg

[bCash]

I have 15 gallons of a brown ale in a sankey keg I just recently got. I kegged the beer from the fermented to the sankey keg, cooled it and hooked it up to 11-12 psi three weeks ago. I tried it last night and it is hardly carbonated. Does it generally take longer to force carbonate a sankey keg or am I doing something silly.

 

[hercher]

How big is your brown ale? I find bigger beers take longer to carbonate. I suspect it will take a little longer to carbonate than a 5 gallon keg would. Consider jacking up the CO2 to 30 psi for a few days, then lower back down to your serving pressure.

 

[wyzazz]

Pull another pint, I'll bet the second one is more carbonated than the first. Remember you've got beer in the lines and the diptube that likely didn't carbonate.

 

[pcollins]

Pull another pint, I'll bet the second one is more carbonated than the first. Remember you've got beer in the lines and the diptube that likely didn't carbonate.

This.

The spear volume is likely more than a pint. I find that carbonating this way without shaking or rolling results in the first couple of pints under carbed. I find it way better to force carb with the shaking/rolling and I can do it about 6 hours instead of days or weeks.

 

[audger]

...not to mention it takes more than a week.

and you didnt mention what temperature its at, so 11psi could be undercarbonated no matter how long you give it.

 

[bCash]

It is about 5% alcohol so its not a "big" beer. Also, it has been sitting in the beer fridge at about 40 degrees for 3+ weeks now and has hardly carbonated. As of this afternoon I will probably have had about 3 or more pints worth of just testing to see if its carbonated. Its very good, but its just a very good mostly flat beer right now.

So, to answer my original question...does it just take much longer in a Sankey Keg?

 

[pcollins]

So, to answer my original question...does it just take much longer in a Sankey Keg?

No.

Some questions then...

Is this your normal set up, 15 gallon sankey?
Is the gas tank full?
Is it on?
Have you tried giving it a shake/roll?
Is this the first time you've done this with a sankey or the first time this has happened?
Is the coupling head engaged and are all the seals fine?

Obvious questions, I know, but just going down some basic troubleshooting stuff.

 

[hercher]

I would think it would take a little longer, but you have more surface area, as well, so it may even out. In any event, you should have more carbonation than you are describing. Are you certain there are no leaks in your system anywhere?

 

[KYB]

It is about 5% alcohol so its not a "big" beer. Also, it has been sitting in the beer fridge at about 40 degrees for 3+ weeks now and has hardly carbonated. As of this afternoon I will probably have had about 3 or more pints worth of just testing to see if its carbonated. Its very good, but its just a very good mostly flat beer right now.

So, to answer my original question...does it just take much longer in a Sankey Keg?

In my experience no, but I force carb everything at 30psi for 48 hours (including cool down), and then to serving pressure. I have naturally carbonated a 1/2bbl in 4 weeks. Might have been fine at 3 but I didn't tap it until 4 weeks. Not really sure why yours is fairly flat. Try high pressure for a day or 2 and test it.

 

[bCash]

No.

Some questions then...

Is this your normal set up, 15 gallon sankey?
Is the gas tank full?
Is it on?
Have you tried giving it a shake/roll?
Is this the first time you've done this with a sankey or the first time this has happened?
Is the coupling head engaged and are all the seals fine?

Obvious questions, I know, but just going down some basic troubleshooting stuff.

To answer your questions, this is my first time to use a Sankey but I've force carbed in a corney several times.
The tank is showing 500 psi, which it's been showing since I got it. And it is on (you scared me for a second. Always the simplest things).
I have not shaken or rolled it. As for the coupling head and seals, I'm getting beer out of it and it doesn't seem to be leaking so I assume it's not.

I just cranked up the psi to about 30. Still haven't rolled it. I'm not what one would call a strong man.

Thanks for the help. Anything else?

 

[bCash]

I would think it would take a little longer, but you have more surface area, as well, so it may even out. In any event, you should have more carbonation than you are describing. Are you certain there are no leaks in your system anywhere?

That was my thinking, but I expected more carbonation than what I'm getting at 3 + weeks.

 

[hercher]

I'd suggest shaking it as hard as you can for a minute or two. You don't have to lift it to do it, just tilt it back and shake it. Also, spray all the gas connections with some Windex to verify there are no leaks. (You probably don't have one, but you never know.)

Give it two or three days at 30 psi, and see how it goes.

 

[bCash]

I believe you were right. Tonight I came home on a mission to drink my beer until it was carved. Apparently my other samples were smaller than I thought. The second pint I pulled was fully carbed.

Thanks for the info.

Party at my house!