Help! Keg beer still flat

[Nommag]

Hi all,

11 days ago I kegged my beer and put on the sit and wait plan for carbonation. I put on 12 psi and left for about 6 days and being unable to resist trying the beer poured a little it was flat. I raised the psi up to 30psi for one night to compensate for what I poured and then bumped it back to 12 psi for another 4 days.

Hoping it would be carbonated today I tried again and it is still as flat as the last time I tried it. My keezer is about 2.5-3 degrees most of the time and I have 4 metres of beer line. I have only kegged one beer prior and that was a 30psi shake for 10mins then leave for 48 hours at 30psi job. It turned out fine

Help or advice would be appreciated!

 

[McKnuckle]

I wonder if there is blockage in your gas IN post/poppet apparatus. If you temporarily switch off the gas, then purge the headspace by pulling on the PRV, then turn the gas back on... do you hear the hiss and groan of gas filling the headspace again?

Or perhaps an issue with the regulator?

 

[Nommag]

I wonder if there is blockage in your gas IN post/poppet apparatus. If you temporarily switch off the gas, then purge the headspace by pulling on the PRV, then turn the gas back on... do you hear the hiss and groan of gas filling the headspace again?

Or perhaps an issue with the regulator?

It does groan if I turn gas up etc - there is also a lot of co2 sitting on top of beer in the form of a head so its coming through it just hasn't mixed into the beer. I'm wondering whether the keezer isn't getting cold enough, I poured a glass and then used thermometer to check temp and it was 8degrees - would have thought it would have been colder given the temp I had stc set to.

 

[bracconiere]

@day_trippr has all your answers, i just drink my beer flat...he's got an LCD panel on his kegerator.....

and...

there is also a lot of co2 sitting on top of beer in the form of a head so its coming through it just hasn't mixed into the beer.

is your keg lid leaking? if you turn the gas off at the reg and wait a few hours then turn it back on does it hiss?

 

[Nommag]

@day_trippr has all your answers, i just drink my beer flat...he's got an LCD panel on his kegerator.....

and...



is your keg lid leaking? if you turn the gas off at the reg and wait a few hours then turn it back on does it hiss?

could I tell that by spraying suds of some kind onto the lid and posts and checking for bubbles. Also, would the gas canister be flat after 11 days if there was a leak?

 

[bracconiere]

could I tell that by spraying suds of some kind onto the lid and posts and checking for bubbles. Also, would the gas canister be flat after 11 days if there was a leak?

yes, did i miss one of your posts? i'd be to scared to lose a tank and would shut it off at the reg first suspicion of a leak and wait over night......(in fact i do that quite often just to make sure)

i'm just not sure how you have carbed beer in the keg but flat beer not foam out the tap...

 

[Nommag]

yes, did i miss one of your posts? i'd be to scared to lose a tank and would shut it off at the reg first suspicion of a leak and wait over night......(in fact i do that quite often just to make sure)

i'm just not sure how you have carbed beer in the keg but flat beer not foam out the tap...

It has to be that my keezer isn't getting the beer cold enough. If I had a leak surely the tank would be empty after almost two weeks. I was thinking it could that my beer line is too long but my last keg pour fine put of it. Its 4metres ( I think that's like 14 feet) long

 

[verboten]

I carb kegs at room temp.

6 days at serving pressure probably isn’t enough, leave it at 30, shake a couple times until no more CO2 is absorbed, drop back to 12 and pour a carbed up beer.

 

[Nommag]

OK I turned it to 30psi, shook it until it no longer made the carb hissing noise of sucking more from cannister (maybe 6-7 good 15 second shakes) and it is sitting at 30psi in keezer. How long do I leave at 30psi for before turning it down to 12? And when should I pour it to check I'd carbonated correctly, like do I need to wait a few hours to let it come down from the shaking?

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

I'd give it 2-3 days. Also look at this carb table.

 

[Nommag]

I'd give it 2-3 days. Also look at this carb table.

2-3 days to turn down to 12psi or 2-3 days at 30psi before I can turn down and drink? I was trying to carbonate based off the table it didn't really work out, possibly not patient enough and trying to pour a glass at day 6 and day 11 didn't help (I think it needs like 14 days at pouring psi till its good?) also the chart uses fahrenheit, which makes very little sence (freezing isn't 0...)

 

[verboten]

OK I turned it to 30psi, shook it until it no longer made the carb hissing noise of sucking more from cannister (maybe 6-7 good 15 second shakes) and it is sitting at 30psi in keezer. How long do I leave at 30psi for before turning it down to 12? And when should I pour it to check I'd carbonated correctly, like do I need to wait a few hours to let it come down from the shaking?

With the gas you’ve already given it, I’m guessing you now have some carbonation in there. Letting it sit til tomorrow won’t Do anything but help. I’d probably pour one now if it were me though. Cheers

 

[Nommag]

So turn back to 12psi now and leave it till tomorrow or turn down tomorrow before I pour?

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

It would be interesting to know what style of beer you kegged, how long you fermented it, and at what temperature.

 

[Nommag]

Sorry very new to this hobby. Wife had a baby and I got stuck at home a lot and decided beer brewing was worth a punt, went straight to kegging and built a keezer. Not great with knowing what information is needed. I brewed a kit, my second kit (the first being the coopers pale ale) tastes very good. It is the mangrove jack's No.6 Pils. I brewed it at 18 degrees celsius for 7 days, then dry hopped and raised the temperature from 18 to 21 over 4 days for diactyl rest then cold crashed for 2 days (total time in fermenter 13 days). Sunday the 19th was the day I kegged it and set it at 12 psi in keezer. The beer tastes good and is clear, no obvious signs of infection and tastes much better than my taste on the 25th so is maturing well.

 

[Nommag]

So I turned down to pour and the keg is carbonated - but far too much. Actually all foam, one problem solved another found. So i have turned the gas off and released excess gas. Will release the excess co2 tomorrow morning then try pour again. Then again after work and see if it improves. Hopefully it doesn't overfix the problem and I end up with flat beer again.

Edit: I watched a youtube vid on decarbing using the liquid out. Worked a treat, getting ice cold perfectly carbonated beer. Lost a couple of litres in foam im sure, but just means I'll have a free keg and tab for more beer sooner than expected.

Thanks for the help

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

What temp is your keezer? I am sure with just a little more time you’ll be fine. Using a Perlick faucet could help you control the foam.

 

[brew703]

I have FC faucets and they do not help much with controlling foam.

Important to get the beer line length correct and balance your system.
For me, I use the EVA Barrier lines (4mm) and use 6' lengths. My keezer temp is set at 35 degrees and my beer pours about 38-40 degrees.
I have three taps. Two are FC and 1 is a CMB V3S.
The CMB pours the best with little foam.

I've found that pouring a couple ounces first, drink then pour your pint works best.

Check your beer temp after pouring just to see what temp it is. Also, what kind of line are you using? If it's the stiff stuff (Ultra Barrier) then you may be good on length- if it's some other type then you may have too much.

Should not have taken 2+ weeks to carb beer. I force carb at 30 psi for 30-36 hrs, purge then reset to 12 PSI and let it sit another day or so. After 36 hrs it's pretty well carbed, however after sitting for another day at serving pressure is best for me. So after 2-3 days of force carbing then purging you should have a carbonated beer.

 

[Nommag]

The temp is currently set 1 degree celsius with a 0.5 differential. When the beer was coming out flat I checked the temp and was like 6-9 degrees celsius. I thought the beer would be well carbonated at 12 PSI for 5-10 days, was quite wrong.

I have 5.5mm, 4 metre (14 feet'ish i think) long beer lines. They arn't branded here so just the smaller of the two beer lines available at brew shop. Its not that stiff I guess, would the 4 metre line decarb the beer though? My two taps are just standard taps, nothing flash they were cheap.

Now that I have it carbed is there a risk that whatever stopped it from carbing will cause it to decarb even though there are no leaks?

 

[troglodytes]

I'm kind of in the same boat as you and I think line balancing may be the issue. I have a saison I wanted to be carbed at 2.8-2.9. I currently have my keezer set to 38F & 13-14 PSI. I know that's a little low, but I have the Accuflex beverage lines with very little resistance and in installing I had to cut it a little shorter than I wanted and have yet to fix.

So with 10 ft of line and lets say 13.5PSI I should be at 2.7vols of carbonation. However, my first pull of the tap comes out super foamy. So what I do is I pull for a second to clear the line, drink that foamy pour, then pour the full glass. This pours a glass with perfect head, but upon drinking the actual beer, it almost seems flat. At 2.7vols it should be quite bubbly. It still tastes good, but it doesn't have that thin, highly carbed taste that a saison should.

 

[Nommag]

It does sound like the same kind problem. I have a back up line to try that is roughly ten feet. My only reservation is that prior to my keezer i had a keg in a fridge with the 14 feet of beer line and tap (on a little stand i made) all inside the fridge. I had 0 issues, keg carbed quickly and beer came out perfectly carbonated with perfect amount of head. I'm leaning a lot towards the keezer not doing the job.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

I have FC faucets and they do not help much with controlling foam.

The flow control helps in adjusting issues during serving and will help with foam. Sounds like maybe a fan needs to be installed in his keezer to help move the air around and chill everything equally, which a kegerator has.

 

[Nommag]

I purchased a little USB fan for a couple of dollars and it seems to have made a difference. Just need to get a solid carbonation method and I'll be set