EliW
Active Member
So, I can go into lots of detail, but basically here's my issue:
I recently did like 5, 5 gallons batches of beer, and this was my first time with a kegerator, so that I could chill the beer to force carb it.
And not a single one of my beers seemed to work well. Every single one, I followed the procedure (that I'd read from lots of places)
* Kegs sitting at 45 degrees in the kegerator.
* Hooked up pressure at varying PSI, using the carb charts you can find online
* 7 PSI for a porter. 12 PSI for a blonde, etc
* Leave for 1 week+
Everything comes out flat. Now I can do the 'high pressure and shake method', and it works just fine (beyond the lack of control).
But doing the 'low and steady', everything comes out flat.
Now, one interesting side note: On the blonde specifically, I noticed that when I tapped it through the kegerator that it was coming out with 'just a little' carbonation. Like what I would have expected the Porter to be at.
I wondered if my pressure gauge was wrong, so I took it out of the kegerator and hooked it up to another tank, and no, it seemed to be reading that there was 12PSI. Well then.
I hooked up a picnic tap to try it, and it came out with more carbonation. Not 'perfect' carbonation, but much better. Then again I note that my picnic tap seems to 'spin' the brew as it comes out, while the kegerator tap just lets it gently flow.
This leaves me with questions:
1) Is there a 'problem' with my kegerator somehow? That the taps are 'letting the carb out' / 'killing the carb'?
2) Is the fact that my CO2 canister is inside the fridge & also chilled, somehow effecting the pressure?
3) Am I just doing something wrong?
Honestly at this point I'm feeling like I should just chill the kegs, then do the 20 PSI and shake for 1 minute method. Since that seems to work perfectly within an hour. But there's a lack of finesse with that.
I recently did like 5, 5 gallons batches of beer, and this was my first time with a kegerator, so that I could chill the beer to force carb it.
And not a single one of my beers seemed to work well. Every single one, I followed the procedure (that I'd read from lots of places)
* Kegs sitting at 45 degrees in the kegerator.
* Hooked up pressure at varying PSI, using the carb charts you can find online
* 7 PSI for a porter. 12 PSI for a blonde, etc
* Leave for 1 week+
Everything comes out flat. Now I can do the 'high pressure and shake method', and it works just fine (beyond the lack of control).
But doing the 'low and steady', everything comes out flat.
Now, one interesting side note: On the blonde specifically, I noticed that when I tapped it through the kegerator that it was coming out with 'just a little' carbonation. Like what I would have expected the Porter to be at.
I wondered if my pressure gauge was wrong, so I took it out of the kegerator and hooked it up to another tank, and no, it seemed to be reading that there was 12PSI. Well then.
I hooked up a picnic tap to try it, and it came out with more carbonation. Not 'perfect' carbonation, but much better. Then again I note that my picnic tap seems to 'spin' the brew as it comes out, while the kegerator tap just lets it gently flow.
This leaves me with questions:
1) Is there a 'problem' with my kegerator somehow? That the taps are 'letting the carb out' / 'killing the carb'?
2) Is the fact that my CO2 canister is inside the fridge & also chilled, somehow effecting the pressure?
3) Am I just doing something wrong?
Honestly at this point I'm feeling like I should just chill the kegs, then do the 20 PSI and shake for 1 minute method. Since that seems to work perfectly within an hour. But there's a lack of finesse with that.