Natural of Force carbonation?

[rflinn68]

I recently puchased a fridge conversion kit for a kegerator. I'm getting lots of foam but the beer still taste flat and no tiny bubbles are rising from the bottom. Is this normal with force carbonation and will naturally carbonated beer from the keg taste better?

 

[cubbies]

Personally, I think force carbing tastes better. But other people will have different tastes.

What pressure are you using and how long has it been on the gas?

 

[McKBrew]

How long has the beer been carbonating and a what pressure, and also.. how long are your beer lines. If I had to guess, I'd say the beer isn't properly carbonated yet.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I hope you didn;t just hook it up and pull a pint. Carbonation isn't instant. It's still going to take at least a week with no effort. With some effort you can get carbonated overnite (rock and rol baaaaby).

AFAIK, CO2 is CO2 whether it be from yeast or a tank. If you are getting a noticable "bite" from carbonating (of course it sounds you aren;t letting the gas go into solution) then you may be carbonating too high for your palate.

For instance, some people love the carbonic bite that is found in many "Belgian" styles. Me, ekkk, I don't care for anything over about 2.5 volumes.

 

[rflinn68]

I rolled the keg for 10 minutes at 20 psi and it has been in the fridge for a couple hours at 10 psi

 

[McKBrew]

Yeah, you are nowhere near close enough then. Take a look at some of these threads.
A home brewing beer and wine making civilized discussion community. Also with beer/wine/mead/cider discussion, beer reviews, pub talk, and general chit-chat. - Search Results for carbonating in the keg

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I rolled the keg for 10 minutes at 20 psi and it has been in the fridge for a couple hours at 10 psi

At what temp? Makes a difference.


Carbonation Chart

 

[rflinn68]

40 degrees

 

[bendavanza]

rflinn you need to have the beer cold first. You just have agitated beer right now.
I think we need a sticky about the full spectrum of carbonation to serving, beer line ID and length, temps etc with some examples of balanced systems that work for people.
Oh wait, we do.....

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

40 degrees

Yup. Gonna take more than 10 @ 20 and a few hours at 10.

Read thos threads grasshopper and properly gassed beer will be you reward.

 

[cubbies]

There a couple of methods:

1) set it and forget it

2) shake

Step 1. Get the beer cold. Step 2, put the gas on. For method 1, you want to just hook it up to about 10-12 psi and let it sit for 7-10 days. For method 2, you would want to crank it up to about 30 psi and shake the entire keg every hour or so for about 24 hours. Then, reduce the pressure to serving temp and serve.

I am a "set it and forget it" guy, so if you are interested in the second method, you may want to get better, more descriptive advice from someone who uses that method.

Regardless, your beer tastes funny because it is not yet carbonated.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

There is also a #3. Useful only for when you have a pipeline working.

Prime the keg as you would for bottling. And let it carb while it waits for rotation.

 

[cubbies]

There is also a #3. Useful only for when you have a pipeline working.

Prime the keg as you would for bottling. And let it carb while it waits for rotation.

True. I guess I should have said two ways to force carb. You can most certainly carb a beer this way. You will get some sediment in your first couple of pints, but after that it should be fine. Of course, you have to attach gas at serving pressure to keep the beer from going flat.