Kegs Losing Carbonation

[HokieHomeBrew]

How come after several weeks of sitting the kegorator, my beers are losing carbonation. Is this normal?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

You have a leak.

 

[SweetSounds]

Do you keep them hooked up to CO2? Or are you leaving them unhooked?

If you serve from a keg that's carbonated, without the CO2 hooked up, it'll go flat. The CO2 comes out of the beer to equalize the lower pressure created from the increase in headspace.

 

[HokieHomeBrew]

I really doubt its a leak. I've tested it several times, and I have 6 kegs and they all seem to do it...so I'd say the odds of that is pretty low. Also, I keep the C02 connected at all times, I usually put it down to around 10psi and leave it at that to serve at....its a mystery I guess.

 

[Yooper]

I really doubt its a leak. I've tested it several times, and I have 6 kegs and they all seem to do it...so I'd say the odds of that is pretty low. Also, I keep the C02 connected at all times, I usually put it down to around 10psi and leave it at that to serve at....its a mystery I guess.

Well, it's not a mystery at all. If you lower the psi to 10, but the beer is fully carbed at 12 psi, it'll gradually lose some carbonation.

My system is balanced so that at 39 degrees, 12 psi keeps my beers perfectly carbonated.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

well, it's not a mystery at all. If you lower the psi to 10, but the beer is fully carbed at 12 psi, it'll gradually lose some carbonation.

My system is balanced so that at 39 degrees, 12 psi keeps my beers perfectly carbonated.

+1.

 

[HokieHomeBrew]

Well, it's not a mystery at all. If you lower the psi to 10, but the beer is fully carbed at 12 psi, it'll gradually lose some carbonation.

My system is balanced so that at 39 degrees, 12 psi keeps my beers perfectly carbonated.

So what do I need to do exactly? Still a little new to the whole kegging process. I usually set the keg to 30psi and let it sit overnight. Then what should I do?

 

[devilishprune]

What temperature is your kegerator, and what carbonation level do you want in your beers (ie. volumes of CO2)?

 

[HokieHomeBrew]

my kegorator can be adjusted to any temp, but i usually set it to 45 degrees F. I am looking to get like 2.5 volumes. I can do it by setting the regulator to like 20 psi and letting it sit overnight or two days or so...and it tastes great, but then I have to set the pressure down to about 10-12 to serve it and eventually it loses all carbonation...

 

[IrregularPulse]

bringing it down is causing you to lose carbonation. This is the downfall for the quick and dirty burst carbing that you are using. Send me a PM and I will email you a spread sheet to calculate psi and line length based off desired temp and carb levels. Include your email of course in the PM.

But 45°F with 2.5 volumes requires 15psi and 57.5" (or 4.79') lines is using 3/16ID lines. 10 psi will settle out at 2.1 volumes with an optimal line length of 36". Longer lines will give even more resistance and lose more carbonation from the liquid out to the tap.

I keep my fridge at 42° with 5 ft lines and 12psi = 2.4-2.5 volumes.as temp fluctuates a bit. It called for 3.8 ft, but I just cut them to 5'.