Flat stout

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Scottsdale

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So I've had a milk stout I recently kegged on gas at 20psi for well over 24 hours. I just drew a bit to taste and it's flat as a pancake. Check the regulator on CO2 and it's still in the green.
Do stouts take longer to carbonate?
 
yes i have noticed my higher gravity stouts take longer to carb than my lagers, also the stouts with flaked barley or oats seems to take even longer.
 
Set-and-forget takes about 1-2 weeks, depending on the set pressure.

You could burst/force carbonate by rolling/rocking the (cold) keg at 20-30 psi until gas stops rushing in. About 5-7 minutes. It may be overcarbed a bit, so vent off the excess every few hours. Should be good to drink right after each venting, and better after a few days.
But you can drink it right away and be a week or 2 ahead.
 
fwiw, my 5 gallon kegs of ipas, neipas, wheats and saisons, take ~2.5 weeks to reach equilibrium using chart pressure. Before I got my beer gas setup going I used to carbonate my imperial stouts, and those kegs would take almost twice as many weeks. I expect the difference is due to FG as the stout finishes in the mid-to-upper 20s while the others finish in the low-to-middle teens...

Cheers!
 
It may also simply be carbonated and you just can't tell.

As an example, I had a Russian Imperial on tap for several months 3, maybe 4), and prior to it going into the frig I burst carbed it. Even down to the last drop, just a few nights ago, stored and served at 12psi the entire time, it felt "flat" whereas the other beers on the same setup were perfect.

It had nothing to do with the setup, system, keg, lines or anything. The fact was, for some reason (High gravity? Grain bill?) it just never seemed carbed. But it was indeed.

Put a little of this stout in a container with a lid, shake it, and see if you don't get a bunch of escaping CO2.
 
Thread bump! I'm working on drinking an Imperial Stout right now. It's in a frig at 12 psi. It's fully carbonated, it was force carbed last summer and held for 6 months in the basement. I checked psi before putting it in the frig and it was still at 15psi after all that time, so no leaks. I trust my gauge, and the pale ale on tap is perfect. So, I'm quite sure there's no problems.

The stout is 1.026 and like 12% ABV. So it just seems flat, probably due to the high gravity. If I stir it up, bubbles do come out.

Has anyone cranked up the pressure a little higher, and if so what was your perception afterwards? Improved, or weird?
 
CO2 here. Hmm, I should keep this on my radar though for future upgrades / options.
Got my beer gas tank at Arc3 - had to buy the tank and gas first go round... Then just swap. I think it is 65/35 ...
Nitro/CO2. I drink stout like crazy (friends too) and love it. The whole pour has a trippy lava lamp thing going on as the nitro falls in the glass. Refreshing in winter and summer. Mine are slightly stronger than Guiness, about 4.3-4.5 ABV. Yum !!!
 
Something I have noticed with some beers that I had lagering for a long time(more than 3 or 4 months) sometime the first few pints pour kind of flat looking, no head and not much carbonation bubbles. Tasting the beer you can feel the carbonation on your tongue so it is not flat but the carbonation is just staying in solution. Normally after a few more the pints it behave normally, OK head and free flowing bubbles in the glass.
 
Normally after a few more the pints it behave normally, OK head and free flowing bubbles in the glass.

To what phenomenon to you attribute this miracle? Other than possibly inebriation, I mean ;)
fwiw, I dispense my stout with 35 psi 70/30 beer gas. It's never flat...although the carbonation is actually quite low...

Cheers!

[edit] A thought: if you mean it takes a few pints pulled from a fresh keg of your stout before the carbonation comes up to par, I wonder if the stout density stratified in the keg so the very bottom took on the least carbonation. That would make a lot of sense to me as there's no doubt in my mind that higher FG slows carbonation from my own experiences carbonating my stouts before I switched to a stout faucet and beer gas...
 
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To what phenomenon to you attribute this miracle? Other than possibly inebriation, I mean ;)
fwiw, I dispense my stout with 35 psi 70/30 beer gas. It's never flat...although the carbonation is actually quite low...

Cheers!

[edit] A thought: if you mean it takes a few pints pulled from a fresh keg of your stout before the carbonation comes up to par, I wonder if the stout density stratified in the keg so the very bottom took on the least carbonation. That would make a lot of sense to me as there's no doubt in my mind that higher FG slows carbonation from my own experiences carbonating my stouts before I switched to a stout faucet and beer gas...
The beers were not stouts or high gravity, pale to amber in color and the 1050 range. Common thing is the beers were allow to sit fully carbed and on gas for extended periods of time being tapped. Like I said the beers looked flat but you could feel the carbonation on your tongue when I drank the beer and without doing anything but pouring more the the appearance changed by itself.

No idea of the cause just an observation of something that has happen enough to remember. With it only happening to first few pints off the bottom it does seem like some sort of stratification happening.

I commented because there is some commonality with tracer bullet's observation of looking flat but stirring caused bubbles.
 
I'm assembling some random bits to make an inline regulator to my pale ale, to hold it at ~ 12psi or so while I bump the regulator at the tank itself up to maybe 14 (ergo pressurizing the stout to that) and will slowly mess with it to see what I get. I know it won't be immediately in solution and will give it at least a few days to form an opinion.

I've been purging the serving line as well, I typically have flow control faucets on top of my 3 gallon kegs but the 5-gallon with the Imperial in it won't quite fit the faucet on top within the confines of the frig, and so I've got a length of EVABarrier coiled up leading to a picnic tap. I know EVABarrier shouldn't allow the couple ounces of beer in it to oxidize, and it doesn't make a lot of sense that it decarbonates, but either way that stuff seems sweeter and flatter. So I put it in the glass, swig it quickly, then pour the glass I'm actually going to sit down with. I guess I'm saying the first couple ounces may actually have changed and been a factor, but I have tried to omit it.

I doubt anything's wrong, just perception. I guess the beer may have stratified but that seems.... a bit out there. Maybe I'll pull it and rock it a few times anyways to see.
 
Since I like it when other people follow up on things, I will do the same.

1) Not all pressure regulators can work for us. I had a "precision" regulator that was surplus form work. Turns out, to be precision, it's a constant slow bleed of air. Or CO2, in our case. Not suitable for this job! I went with a more mundane version to lower the psi to my pale ale.

2) I ran my Imperial Stout to 15psi, and it was glorious. Took a few days of course but after that I got what I wanted. I didn't realize how much of a difference 3 psi would make. It's certainly something I will play around with for all beers from here on out.

It might not be to style, but I love that it's actually got a little more carbonation finally going on.
 
if the stout density stratified in the keg
Is this a thing? I know some particulates might settle out. However, unlike temperature, I would not expect density to stratify -- except in a very tall keg 'cuz gravity would be weaker at the top :) But maybe...

I've had some heavy stouts take forever to carb. The rock 'n' roll method fixes this.

I ran my Imperial Stout to 15psi, and it was glorious.
This is also unexpected but seems worth a try. Mine tend to stay closer to 10psi, but I could crank it up and see what (eventually) happens...
 

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