Kegged Summer Ale suddenly flat

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Hi guys!

I am relatively new to the hobby (only have like 10 brews under my belt). I have had somethign strange happen with a summer ale I brewed on May 21st. I let it sit for three weeks before kegging. Since I this was my first venture into kegging it took me a few tries to get the carbonation about right. After 24-48 hours the beer tasted like water to be honest. I jacked up the carbonation a bit and within a day or two it was a fantastic beer. And it seemed to get better every day in fact. Until out of the blue (I drink one each day) a couple of days ago it went from the best taste it had ever had to utterly flat and bland. It was coming out of the tap with good (almost too much) head. But the body of the beer didnt seem to have all that many bubbles rising from it. I'm totally bummed and stumped and can't find any ideas about what happened. Any ideas?

 

[pekabrewery]

I would suggest that you have a leak going on somewhere. If the dispensing pressure is high the beer can still get a big foam head but without the actual beer being carbonated.

I would check for leaks before anything. mix some water and dish soap and apply at all fittings and cracks, if there is a leak, bubbles will start forming.

Good luck and congrats on starting with kegging!

 

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So I tried the soap and water test just to be sure and no leaks.

The keg has been holding pressure with no obvious problems (no hissing, no slow loss of CO2 from the gas tank, no beer spillage, etc). I decided to hit the keg up with like 30psi and disconnected all the hoses and I am gonna let it sit a couple days and see if that can't bring the carbonation back up.

side note: how much pressure do you all generally use for dispensing a lighter beer?

 

[chezhed]

That depends upon all the factors of fizix regarding pressure drop related to tube diameter, initial pressure, tube length, volume, temperature, etc.....

having said all that, I totally ignore it all and set mine at about 7-10 lbs for one regulator feeding all three taps, regardless what's in them

 

[Traffic]

That depends upon all the factors of fizix regarding pressure drop related to tube diameter, initial pressure, tube length, volume, temperature, etc.....

having said all that, I totally ignore it all and set mine at about 7-10 lbs for one regulator feeding all three taps, regardless what's in them

I like your style!