Force Carbonating Problems on Sanke Kegs

[herewego311]

Ladies and Gents, I am in need of some help with my recently built kegerator from a fridge with currently two taps.
I have done lots of research building the kegerator and lots since finishing putting it all together and having problems force carbonating the two beers I have ready.

I have a half full 5lb c02 tank (verified at homebrew store) with a regulator hooked up to a 4 tap c02 regulator set to ~12psi and fridge set to 40deg C.
I have two 5gal sanke kegs setup. There is enough pressure to the beers, as I am able to draw (unfortunately uncarbonated) beer out. I have allowed appx 4 weeks of time for carbonating and both beers are still not carbonated.
I have tried shaking the beer, as both are fairly hoppy and some have found the oils settle on top keeping c02 from fully flowing through all of the beer.

Please oh please help, as I really "need" to get the beer drinkable!

Thank you in advance,
Chad

 

[WPen]

Do you mean 40 degrees F? At 12psi in fridge temps the beer should definitely be carbed after 4 weeks. I would check for leaks in your system. Can also bump the pressure to 20 psi for a day and see what happens

 

[Bwerner]

I know this is old but I'm having the same problem.. 2- 5gal sanke with 10lb co2 tank. 40 degrees, 12 psi.. 4 wks later beer is totally flat. After discussing with a few ppl I strongly believe the problem to be that sanke's are meant to serve already carbonated beer that a commercial brewery would fill from a Brite tank. Therefore, the design of the sanke is not allowing the co2 to disperse through the beer, it is basically just sitting at the top of the keg and the beer is being drawn from the bottom. My solution was to switch the co2 line from gas "in" to liquid "out" and removing the check valve. I put a penny under the shank on the co2 "in" to close it off. I increased the pressure to 30psi and I'm giving it 3 days (on day 2 right now) before resetting all connections and lowering back to serving pressure for 24 hrs to equalize.

I can't verify this works as I'm still in the process. My "plan B" is to make a small scale version of a Brite tank setup. I was thinking carbing in a corny and then transferring (closed system) to the sanke.


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[patthebrewer]

You can DEFINATELY carb in a Sanke...same process as with corny's.....I've done it with my Sanke's many many times. I'd check the spear, do you disassemble your spear for cleaning? Another area to check might be your sanke coupler, check valve, or reg.

the set it and forget it method is all I do in my sanke kegs, at 39 degrees and 12 psi yield perfectly carbed beer in about two weeks.