Cannot get my Vanilla Porter Carbed

[cwalkingozzy]

To start this off, I am rather new to brewing. I think this is our 6th brew. Didn't take too many brews to realize I need to start kegging. I've force carbonated 2 brews without issue. I went to 30 PSI, and shook the corny for 3 minutes. Tasted great. Until I got my Vanilla Porter...

I set my pressure to 30 PSI again, and shook for 3 minutes. I was aware my CO2 tank was probably low, but wasn't exactly sure. My gauge showed I got to 30 PSI, gave the 3 minutes of shaking, then pulled the CO2, and left it in the fridge for 48 hours I believe. After that I released the pressure, hooked up the CO2, and the CO2 was now empty. NOOOOOOOOO. I had no idea where to go to fill the thing, so I was without CO2 for a few weeks.

Once I finally got my empty replaced, I hooked it up, to find out the beer was flat. I kind of expected it as it ran out, so I jacked the PSI back to 30, shook for 3, then left in the fridge for 24 hours. Each time, by the way, I used soapy water to look for any leaks, and I also made sure I couldn't hear the CO2 trying to pressurize once the pressure was sustained. So I don't think any leak exists? Well, as you can guess based on the title, the beer was flat still, pouring at roughly 7-9 PSI.

I told my coworker, who is a more experienced brewer, and he was rather perplexed, but he did mention that he carbonates at 40 PSI for 2 minutes of shaking. So I gave that a try on Friday. Was pumped to FINALLY have a carbonated vanilla porter for the pacquiao vs mayweather fight. Unfortunatly, my beer was as flat as the fight.

I want to save this beer, but what am I missing?! I told my coworker that this makes me consider going the sugar route, tho he was adamant that I shouldn't (I think he knows how impatient I am).

Thank you for any and all suggestions, I greatly appreciate it.

Still Thirsty,

Adam

 

[JonGrafto]

Not sure why you are shaking and taking it off the gas...

Here is what I do:

30 psi (chilled down to 37°) for 24 hours, set to 12 psi and purge. Leave it on the gas the entire time.

If I don't need the keg quickly, just set it to 10-12 psi and leave it for 2 weeks... should be good to go.

One last thing: How is it pouring? Are you getting a TON of head? You may be knocking all the CO2 out when you pour thus giving you a flat beer.

 

[Rockn_M]

Are you sure you don't have a leak? Sometimes it can be hard to get the large O-ring to get a proper seal or one of the poppets\ballvalves are getting a good seal.

If you have Star San handy you turn the PSI up and spray everything down with the star san and water solution and look for bubbles. I would also spray the regulator down to make sure you don't have a leak there. Sometimes the leaks are very tiny so you have to be patient and really look for the bubbles.

 

[cwalkingozzy]

Thank you both for your responses!

Rockn_M - I will do that tonight. I don't have Star San, but clearly I have sanitizer around.

JonGrafto - I took it off the gas simply because that's what I thought I should do. If I'm to leave it on the gas tho, can I not force carb a keg while leaving a keg on tap? Ideally I'm going to get another regulator and split the CO2, but in the meantime I'd love to be able to get a beer carbonated and continue drinking from another keg. And I thought I should release the pressure with the pressure release valve before pouring just cause I could see it literally shooting out of the spout. BUT, asking about the head could be the entire problem. On the first few force carbonated kegs, there was WAY too much head, but it remained carbonated, so I didn't think much of it. One person suggested I need a longer hose from the keg to the tap. In any case, the vanilla porter is pouring with essentially no beer in the pint glass at all. Almost 98% foam. So I think you hit it right on the head. How is this caused/fixed?

 

[JonGrafto]

The easiest way to do that (I've been there) is to remove the already carbed keg off the gas and crank up your regulator to 30 psi for 24 hours leaving it connected to the keg then entire time.

Then you can purge to 30 psi gas and set the regulator to 10-12 (whatever your serving psi is).
I invested in a stainless tee to serve both kegs then I upgraded to a distributor. I STILL have to turn off my already carbed kegs and move my single gauge regulator to 30 psi to force carb fast. Like I said before, it is only for 24 hours and won't hurt anything to take the other ones off for that long.

ALSO: make sure you DO NOT have the tap connected to your keg when you have your gas at 30 psi....

 

[peterj]

It's caused by you overcarbonating your kegs. It's fixed by not shaking at high PSI. Think of the beer like a baby. You wouldn't shake a baby would you?

It's coming out all foam and by the time it settles all of the carbonation has been knocked out of it.

Read this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=73328. It's a sticky in this forum.

Sounds like you got kind of lucky on your first two. When you set the PSI way over the serving pressure (which should be the pressure at which the CO2 will come to the correct equilibrium at the temperature the keg is stored, usually around 8-12 PSI for a cold keg) and shake it, it is VERY easy to overshoot the correct amount of CO2.

I do it like JohnGrafto said. Chill it, set it at ~30 psi for 24-48 hours (WITHOUT shaking!) to give it a jump start on carbonating, then turn it down to the proper carbonation pressure. Here is a chart and a calculator that tells you the proper the pressure for the carbonation you want based on temperature:
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php
http://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbonation-calculator/

You should definitely get a splitter for your tank. I'm not sure if they all come with the on/off valves, but you should get them too. In the meantime, I would leave the carbonating keg hooked up the whole time. You can still serve from the keg that's not hooked up with the pressure that remains in there. You just might need to hook the CO2 back up (dialed down to serving pressure) from time to time to keep the carbonation and pressure up.

 

[cwalkingozzy]

JonGrafto - I'm a bit confused with your first sentence as you state "remove the already carbed keg off the gas and crank up your regulator to 30 psi for 24 hours leaving it connected to the keg then entire time". How can I remove the carbed keg off the gas while cranking it to 30psi connected to the keg?

peterj - You're right, I wouldn't shake my baby. I also wouldn't consume my baby either =P So, sounds like with your suggestion, as it's a porter, I should have gone to 30psi for 48 hours, then turn down my regulator to 5 psi. At that point, is it ready for consumption? Or does it need a 'resting' period? Also, to save my current beer, should I shake and bleed excess CO2, shake and bleed, shake and bleed?

 

[JonGrafto]

JonGrafto - I'm a bit confused with your first sentence as you state "remove the already carbed keg off the gas and crank up your regulator to 30 psi for 24 hours leaving it connected to the keg then entire time". How can I remove the carbed keg off the gas while cranking it to 30psi connected to the keg?

peterj - You're right, I wouldn't shake my baby. I also wouldn't consume my baby either =P So, sounds like with your suggestion, as it's a porter, I should have gone to 30psi for 48 hours, then turn down my regulator to 5 psi. At that point, is it ready for consumption? Or does it need a 'resting' period? Also, to save my current beer, should I shake and bleed excess CO2, shake and bleed, shake and bleed?

You said you have 2 kegs.. One is already carbed and on tap and now you are trying to carb your Porter, right?

Should have said "remove the already carbed keg that is on tap off the gas and crank up your regulator to 30 psi. Connect to your Porter keg and leave your Porter keg connected to the gas the entire time." - BEtter?!?! lol

 

[cwalkingozzy]

Ahhhhh! I got ya! Thank you!!

 

[peterj]

peterj - You're right, I wouldn't shake my baby. I also wouldn't consume my baby either =P

Haha, touché!

So, sounds like with your suggestion, as it's a porter, I should have gone to 30psi for 48 hours, then turn down my regulator to 5 psi. At that point, is it ready for consumption? Or does it need a 'resting' period? Also, to save my current beer, should I shake and bleed excess CO2, shake and bleed, shake and bleed?

After the 24-48 hours at 30 psi my beers usually need a few more days to a week at equilibrium pressure to come to the right carb level. It should be almost there after the high pressure time though. And with a porter that you're carbing to a lower pressure I would imagine it would be pretty close.

As for your current situation, I would warm the keg up to room temp (the warmer temperature will allow more CO2 to come out of solution) and just release the pressure every now and then. You don't have to shake it, but I suppose that would speed things up. But it also might make it foam up and out of the pressure release valve, so be careful of that. It's kind of a guessing game now as to when you've released enough CO2 out of the beer, which is why overcarbing is a PITA. Good luck!