First Kegged Beer Not Carbonating

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mikeyc

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So I kegged my first beer, and Irish Stout on Wed. The fridge is set at 40 degrees, and I set the co2 at 10psi. I thought it would take about a week to be carbonated, but so far there is nothing. It is completly flat. Am I jumping the gun on this? Another thing is that I cant tell If my tank is empty or not. The gauge is showing 10psi, but when I turn the gas down, or even off, my gauge does not move. Any suggestions?
 
CHECK FOR LEAKS!!!!!!!!! Use a spray bottle with sanitizer or soapy water. My first two set ups resulted in leaks. It took me awhile to find 'em and proof the system but then I was good to go. Check every single connection there is from the bottle to the keg itself and the lines in between.
 
If the gauge says 10 psi then it should be 10 psi at the gauge, meaning there is pressure in your tank. You can test this by turning the pressure up, what does it do? hopefully it will go above 10 psi. If no, then this is weird.

If yes, then are all your valves turned on? There is a switch on the regulator, and you need to turn it to face in line with the output, otherwise there will be no gas leaving the regulator to your keg. Also, do you have a manifold or any other valve between the regulator and the keg?

When you release the pressure release valve on the keg, does co2 come rushing out? If yes, it's pressurized. If no, there's no c02 getting to the keg.

Just a couple things to check, good luck.
 
Like bottles, it just takes time. By all means look for a leak...but it I've found a week for some brews is when it 'starts' to carbonate. There are people that swear that true forced carbonation can take up to 3 weeks to stabalize....especially if using the set-it, forget it method. (setting at the recommended pressure and waiting.). If your worried or impatient...bump up the pressure to 20 for a couple of days then bring it back down to 10. Also the gauge won't move unless you bleed the keg. If your reg is at 10 and you turn it off....there's still 10# of pressure on the gauge until you bleed off. Relax.....
 
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