Bought beer at 7500ft elevation, at 1400 its dead

[skydog4884]

Some of you may have read my post on the colorado trip i took and the couple breweries i went to. well i went to the small one in Estes park and tried the raspberry beer they had. the girl loved it so we bought about a 12 pack; mind you estes park colorado is at about 7500 ft; brought it back to sioux falls, sd at 1400 ft and cracked the first one and the carb was way dead and tasted much worse. i think its because of the drastic 6000 feet of elevation loss but can anyone help me out to verify this and tell me if there is a way that i can fix it and make it so the rest of my beers arnt bad also. the temp fluctuated some on the car ride home but never hot beer or sun light. thanks for the help. Skyler

 

[Cart]

I suspect Henry is to blame. The partial pressure of CO2 over the open beer was much less at altitude than lower, therefore at your lower altitude, the gas is more soluble giving less bubbles. At higher altitude, there is less pressure holding the CO2 in solution, so you get more bubbles. Unfortunately, I doubt there is a fix short of renting a hot air balloon to drink in.

 

[lamarguy]

Carbonation vs altitude

The standard adjustment is ~3psi for high altitude beers to be consumed at low altitude. Short of drinking the beer in a low pressure chamber or re-carbonating the beer, you're SOL.

 

[Cart]

Carbonation vs altitude

The standard adjustment is ~3psi for high altitude beers to be consumed at low altitude. Short of drinking the beer in a low pressure chamber or re-carbonating the beer, you're SOL.

UND in Grand Forks has said chamber... but that's going to be a bit of a drive and some convincing. I still say hot air balloon.

 

[Airborneguy]

I bring beer back from Colorado at least once or twice a year, and I also get homebrew shipped from my friend frequently. He's at about 6200ft, but I am at sea level, so the difference is even more. I have never had a problem at all. Maybe there was a problem at bottling time?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Just brought 4 cases from Elev 6512 down to Elev 1201.

Not a single problem with any of them. Brother, you got a bad sixer.

 

[lamarguy]

Just brought 4 cases from Elev 6512 down to Elev 1201.

Not a single problem with any of them. Brother, you got a bad sixer.

In your case, it's probably because OKC is like living in a vacuum. Ha!

 

[Brewmoor]

Sorry to thread jack a bit but,

Should I be adjusting my CO2 when carbing a keg? I have been using the standard charts for pressure. I live at 6800ft.

 

[lamarguy]

Should I be adjusting my CO2 when carbing a keg? I have been using the standard charts for pressure. I live at 6800ft.

So long as the beer is served at the same (or similar) altitude, the standard charts are fine. It's only if you're carbonating at one altitude and serving at another.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

In your case, it's probably because OKC is like living in a vacuum. Ha!

Yup. We are real good at sucking in all that Texas money.

How's the pooch?

 

[lamarguy]

How's the pooch?

Better than ever. Perhaps a little too energetic now! Thanks for asking...

 

[steinsato]

I send my homebrews back to IL quite often and have never had complaints of flat beer. Santa Fe is at 7,000ft. IL, I am pretty sure stays under 1,000ft. So I'd say your sixer was comprimised. Or it could very well be just the one bottle.