Co2 Problems - Beer NOT Carbonating

[Schlenkerla]

I think have a bad bottle of gas. Just curious if anybody has run across this before.

I have had a steel 5lb bottle of co2 for about 4-5 months. If always wondered if it's messed up. I carbonated two pale ales that seemed to have a weird taste like a faint vegetable taste, however nobody but me detects that off flavor. Those two beers are long gone now.

So I thought that might have been a brewing defect like DMS but I have vigorous boils, I chill super fast and don't use pilsner malt. I've NEVER had this problem before.

I have two new beers on tap that have been on 10psi for three weeks and beer still seems flat. All three kegs. Even my nitro faucet when swapped with nitrogen gas at 30psi seems to have zero impact. Typically, I carb my nitro beers 48 hours then switch to nitro. None of my kegs are leaking either. I don't see any bubbles when sprayed with soapy water. I have a three tapper, the oldest beer I tap was fully carbed in November, and it seems flat now. It was carbed on the other bottle.

I'm ready to put my back up bottle of gas on now.

FWIW - I've always had aluminum bottles, this sucker I got from a tank exchange is steel. I'm wondering if I have a mislabeled bottle of gas.

Looking for info or ideas....

Thanks.

 

[micraftbeer]

I used to have some questionable flavors develop when putting my beers on CO2, that I didn't seem to have when bottling. I was paranoid about it for a while, and then it passed. I never found true root cause, but concluded the issue was probably more one of recipe issues or process issues that led to bad flavor as it matured. In my case, I knew my tank was filled with CO2 from my local reputable LHBS, I'm not sure if the source of your CO2 is less clear or not.

So I guess I'm not being much help. When in doubt, go with your instinct. It's an easy enough change to swap out your CO2. If you can find a place that does CO2 tank swaps, not just fills, that would give you additional peace of mind. I recall reading something a few months back about someone that went to a local Pepsi or Coke distributor and got a 10 lb tank of CO2 on an exchange basis for a deposit $$ less than it would cost to buy your own empty tank.

 

[cegan09]

what temp are the kegs at? how long are the draft lines? Is the bottle actually full, or at least not empty?

If you've successfully carbed other kegs in the past with this bottle, it's likely not the bottle. 10psi will under carb if your fridge isn't keeping the kegs cold enough. I had that recently with a stout. 10psi was what I thought I needed, but it was pouring under carbed. bumped it to 12psi and dropped the fridge down so the keg was reading 37-38F. Everything is fine now.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Sounds like you have a slow leak, probably in your regulator.

 

[Schlenkerla]

what temp are the kegs at? how long are the draft lines? Is the bottle actually full, or at least not empty?

If you've successfully carbed other kegs in the past with this bottle, it's likely not the bottle. 10psi will under carb if your fridge isn't keeping the kegs cold enough. I had that recently with a stout. 10psi was what I thought I needed, but it was pouring under carbed. bumped it to 12psi and dropped the fridge down so the keg was reading 37-38F. Everything is fine now.

The beer is at 38F, the draft lines are 5' long and I believe 3/16" diameter. The beer pours fast at 10 psi.

My keezer is 8 years old.

The bottle is not empty. The bottle pressure is over 900psi it's in the keezer.

I think I've carbed two batches of beer on this bottle. I made a bottle change in late October or early November.

Maybe I'm being impatient. At three weeks I think they should all be carbed well. Especially the one keg dating back to mid November.

Scratching my head....

 

[cegan09]

A different issue, but I'd recommend changing the beer line lengths. 5ft is usually a touch short. Increasing the length will help slow the beer down and potentially stop some carbonation coming out of solution.

If you have a different bottle swap it out. It will eliminate that variable. It may be possible that you did actually get a bottle of beer gas, which is 75% argon and 25% CO2. If so it could explain the failure to carb, and that other keg losing carb.

 

[Schlenkerla]

A different issue, but I'd recommend changing the beer line lengths. 5ft is usually a touch short. Increasing the length will help slow the beer down and potentially stop some carbonation coming out of solution.

If you have a different bottle swap it out. It will eliminate that variable. It may be possible that you did actually get a bottle of beer gas, which is 75% argon and 25% CO2. If so it could explain the failure to carb, and that other keg losing carb.

You said argon and co2, did you mean nitrogen and co2?

 

[cegan09]

You said argon and co2, did you mean nitrogen and co2?

I did in fact. Sorry, had welding on the brain. I have an empty argon tank that I need to go swap out and my brain just stuck with it.

 

[Brewsit]

Have you tried cranking the pressure up to 30-40psi for a few days and checking the results? I usually do this and get proper carbonation in about 3-5 days. Just another idea for troubleshooting.

 

[Queequeg]

Also what is the headspace like in the keg? And do the beers have a high percentage of adjuncts?

In both the above instances I have known beers to take a long time to carbonate.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Have you tried cranking the pressure up to 30-40psi for a few days and checking the results? I usually do this and get proper carbonation in about 3-5 days. Just another idea for troubleshooting.

I might do that, the beer shoots out pretty good at 15psi on a 5 ft line.

Also what is the headspace like in the keg? And do the beers have a high percentage of adjuncts?

In both the above instances I have known beers to take a long time to carbonate.

The kegs like 85% full, used to be about 95%. The brown ale is 100% pale malt. Made my own amber and pale malt. Got high efficiency in my mash. The other beer is 95% pale malt and 5 black malt. NO Adjuncts.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I think I know what part of the problem is with my keezer.

I have two tanks; nitrogen and co2. I've swapped back and forth without venting the high pressure nitrogen. I have check valves on the valve bank that stop the gas from entering the regulator. Since its fully pressurized the co2 would have stopped flowing unless I vented the keg or poured the beer. I've been mainly pouring beer every now and then to check the co2 level. That's why there is little to no change with carbonation.

We're talking 25-30 psi for the nitrogen verses 8-10 psi for co2. The co2 will never flow if the keg is at 30 psi.

I feel kinda stupid for NOT realizing this.

The other beers that haven't been on nitro are about normal now. Now to wait for my maple smoke brown ale to carbonate....

My co2 is at about 14 psi. I could turn it down as soon as I see the brown ale is carbed.