Force Carbonating Problem

[whitehorsellc]

I have been force carbonating my corn. kegs for one week and there is still very low carbonation in the beer. I have a 50 pound CO2 tank sitting outside of the fridge with a hose attached to the tank that goes through a hole in the side of the fridge. The hose is connected to a manifold that has 6 lines going to six kegs inside the fridge. The temp is 46 degrees and has gone as high as 60 degrees through the week but is now down to 40. I set the pressure to 15 psi and after 5 days not much carbonation was present in the beer. Increased pressure to 20 psi and that still did not do much. Increased the pressure to 25 today to see if that gets it going.

Could the difference in temp of the CO2 and beer be slowing things down? Would the pressure need increased because of the six lines?

Help is greatly appreciated because I am starting to get frustrated because I have 12 other kegs waiting and I need to get this beer bottled to free up more kegs.
Thanks

 

[Bobby_M]

At 15 psi, you're looking at about 3 weeks to get there. Yes, at 25psi, you'll get there in about 2 days, but be careful. Overcarbing is only a few hours away once it's right.

 

[Hammy71]

+1 what Bobby said. At that psi (which I'd recommend you keep it at) it'll take about 2 weeks to get sorta carbonated, and three to start hitting the sweet spot. This is definitely a hobby that patience pays off big time.

 

[Exportjo]

I wouldn't be worried about the temperature difference of the co2 and beer, I would focus solely on the beer. The colder the temperature the more readily your beer will absorb the co2. I think your fluctuations of temperature is your culprit. A 40-60 degrees is a BIG difference when it comes to force carb, do you have a temperature control unit for your fridge?

 

[MuddyCreek]

Rule of thumb with my kegerator. Don't even hook up the beer-out lines for a minimum of 2 weeks at 12 psi. And then if you do hook up in 2 weeks, expect cold, but non-carbonated beer.

 

[whitehorsellc]

Exportjo,

Yeah the fridge is temp controlled. The reason for the fluctuation was that we were lagering pilsner and discovered it was not done working so we turned the temp back up to keep fermentation going.