Carbonation help

[Strong_Brews]

I made a ginger ale this last weekend and it's pretty much fantastic. It force carbonated for two days. And come out with a great fizz but goes flat in about 30 sec. am I missing something? I have flow control faucets Want to try turning that and the serving pressure down. Any other suggestions?

 

[ericbw]

How long is your liquid line? Is it cold? I think soda takes longer to absorb the carbonation. Even water is tough to do without it doing exactly what you described.

Rather than turning the pressure down (which will reduce the carbonation), try increasing the lines, which will effectively lower the pressure at the tap. Does that make sense?

For example, soda needs 30psi to carb the way we like it. TO serve at that pressure, we have 20 feet of beer line, so by the time it gets to the tap, it has slowed down and foams less - so it is keeping more carbonation in it.

Again, I think it takes a lot of time to get it to absorb. You can pressurize a 1 liter bottle with 30psi and it will fizz, but go flat immediately. Same bottle, carbed at 30psi overnight or for 2 days, and it holds the carb because it's absorbed CO2.

I don't exactly know the terminology or physics, but that's my experience.

 

[daft]

carbed too warm?

 

[Strong_Brews]

The lines I have are 8ft long and it is starting to hold its carb better but not too much better. It was
Carbed in the keezer it's set to 35 degrees.
I carbed it at 30psi for 3 days then dropped it to 5 for serving.

 

[Strong_Brews]

This is what I am carbonating in. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1474771338.417004.jpg

 

[ericbw]

Very nice!

 

[Yooper]

The lines I have are 8ft long and it is starting to hold its carb better but not too much better. It was
Carbed in the keezer it's set to 35 degrees.
I carbed it at 30psi for 3 days then dropped it to 5 for serving.

That's why- it needs to be served at 30 psi as well, to keep the carbonation. Reducing the pressure means reducing the carbonation level.

The thing is, it needs a LOT more than 8 feet to balance that carbonation level. I used 25' of 3/16" serving line on my soda, but could have used a bit more. You generally need about 1 foot of line per psi on the regulator.

 

[andrewmaixner]

That's why- it needs to be served at 30 psi as well, to keep the carbonation. Reducing the pressure means reducing the carbonation level.

The thing is, it needs a LOT more than 8 feet to balance that carbonation level. I used 25' of 3/16" serving line on my soda, but could have used a bit more. You generally need about 1 foot of line per psi on the regulator.

He said that he has flow control faucets. I serve rootbeer with minimal foam at 40PSI and 40F with 10ft of line, using a perlick flow control faucet.

 

[ericbw]

Why do you keep it at 40PSI?

 

[Yooper]

Why do you keep it at 40PSI?

So it stays carbed. Reducing the pressure to serve means reducing the carbonation level. To go from 30 or 40 psi to under 25 psi means the soda will go flat. Soda is carbed much higher than beer.

 

[ericbw]

So it stays carbed. Reducing the pressure to serve means reducing the carbonation level. To go from 30 or 40 psi to under 25 psi means the soda will go flat. Soda is carbed much higher than beer.

You and I have both said 30 psi and that soda is carbed higher. My question is why 40 psi with 10 foot lines, rather than 30 psi, which seems to be the prevailing wisdom in this thread (and elsewhere). Using flow control to ease up the foam might be less important if it were at 30 instead of 40.

 

[andrewmaixner]

40 psi gets it to a good carb level faster, I guess, and works for me. With the flow control, the line length is much less important.