Keg leak? or CO2 carbonation?

[rosenblatt]

Hi,

I think I am getting crazy. I have just built my kegerator and I am doing my experiments and getting to know the CO2 cylinder, regulator, etc.

I tried filling my corny with tap water, pumped pressure up to 50 psi and left it in the refrigerator over 4 days to carbonate, with no connections (no beer and no gas disconnects). When I came back today, I pulled the corny release valve and there was no pressure at all! How can that be? I have repressurized and checked for leaks with spray and soapy water and didn't notice any leak. The water is slightly carbonated though. Do I have a leak? I can understand that some of the CO2 can have been absorbed by the water, but all of it is not possible, right?

 

[dawn_kiebawls]

My guess is that all of it got absorbed. You said the water is sightly carbonated, which wouldn't happen if there was a leak. Also, I've never tried doing it, but a few people on here have sparkling water and I've seen quite a few people mention that water takes a LOT of CO2 to carbonate.

 

[McKnuckle]

The 50 psi you pumped into the keg only filled the headspace, which could be a very small area depending on how full the keg was. Then you removed the gas. So over 4 days, the gas in the headspace - which wasn't much to begin with - absorbed into the water. There was no gas left in the headspace to escape when you pulled the PRV.

You have to leave the gas attached and flowing to do this correctly. And I wouldn't start by playing with 50 psi! Just try regular serving pressure, 12 psi or so at 38-40F. Better yet, put some beer in there.

 

[GrowleyMonster]

Yeah you didn't put much CO2 in the keg. Not much in cubic feet anyway. If you had left it for a couple days hooked up at that pressure you would have some very lively sparkling water. Really, you only need about 20PSI tops for that. Hook your CO2 back up to it and leave it for two or three days. Cold. Nice and cold. Agitation will speed up the process. Whiskey and soda? Dark rum and soda? I like a squirt of carbonated water in my old fashioned.

Beer works the same way. You can speed it up with agitation, rocking or sloshing the keg, but if you just hook up the regulator to it at your proposed serving pressure and leave it two or three days, that will get the job done. When you pressurize the head space, you are only beginning the process of dissolving CO2 in the beer. It takes a while for the beer to soak it up. When it has done so, the pressure is back down to normal, and you haven't done much. Cold beer soaks up CO2 more effectively than warm beer. So put the keg in the kegerator, hook it up, and leave it for a couple days. You can probably pull a satisfactory glass after 24 hours but it will be better after about three days.