Carbonate beer in the beer lines?

[Beer0clock]

Another quick noob question from a keg noob:

I'm force carbonating my very first keg of beer right now, at 12 PSI. For my own education, I'm pulling out a mouthful of beer every 24 hours to try to get a feel for how fast the beer carbonates. So far every single mouthful has been completely flat beer. I just realized that with 10 feet of beer lines, I might be still drinking beer that was never really in the keg for more than a few minutes.

Does the beer in the beer lines benefit from forced carbonation? Or is it only the beer in the actual keg that gets carbonated?

 

[sboyajian]

Technically it should as the pin is depressed on the post and everything in the line is exposed to the same levels in the tank.

I have 10' lines and it really doesn't take much to empty it. I'd say a small tasting glass will clear out the line.

 

[naturebrew]

I would up the pressure to 20 or 30 PSI if you want this to carb quickly, at 12 you have a week at least for the beer to carb, at least in my experience. I would leave it at 20 for 2 days and try again.

 

[Beer0clock]

Thanks guys.

I'm actually not in any rush to carbonate. Its just the curiosity in me that wants to try some every 24 hours so I can get a feel for how quickly it carbonates.

I'm now worried that something might be wrong. Its been 4-5 days now and I still detect no carbonation at all. I was fully expecting carbonation to take a week... but that means that theres only 2 days left for it to go from zero to fully carbonated.

Anyway I guess I'm worrying too much. I'll crank up the PSI a bit and see how that goes...

 

[sboyajian]

I do the same. If I set and forget I check about every 48 hours. If I'm in a rush, I'll set to 30-35 and check every 12 or so. I try to avoid rolling at all costs..

 

[doug293cz]

The beer in the line will be the last to be carbonated due to the very long diffusion path for the CO2 to get all the way to the end of the line. "Set and forget" (force carbing at serving/storage pressure) takes up to three weeks to come to equilibrium, so flat beer at the far end of the line after less than a week is no surprise.

You need to pour 3-4 oz just to clear out the "dead" volume in the line & dip tube which will not represent the carb level in the keg. Drink that, and then pour your real carb sample.

Brew on

 

[Beer0clock]

The beer in the line will be the last to be carbonated due to the very long diffusion path for the CO2 to get all the way to the end of the line. "Set and forget" (force carbing at serving/storage pressure) takes up to three weeks to come to equilibrium, so flat beer at the far end of the line after less than a week is no surprise.

You need to pour 3-4 oz just to clear out the "dead" volume in the line & dip tube which will not represent the carb level in the keg. Drink that, and then pour your real carb sample.

Brew on

That makes lots of sense, thanks!

Maybe next time I'll have the CO2 hooked up for force carbing for a few days before I even hook up the beer line.

 

[beersk]

I usually don't tap the keg for a week, then I'll try it everyday or every could days until it's "ready" (ie tasting good). It's usually carbonated (enough) in a week.