Once again, a higher gravity beer won't force carbonate!

[Hwk-I-St8]

I have a high gravity stout (OG of 1.128, FG of 1.030) that I cannot get to force carbonate. I followed my usual force carbonation routine which is about 25 psi for 48 hours @ 36 degrees F followed by a week at 9 psi at the same temp. This works great for my IPAs and they're usually about 90% of the way to reaching equilibrium at that point.

With my stout, I actually went quite a bit longer as I was out of the country for a few weeks. The 9 psi portion was almost a month, which should be plenty of time for the "set it and forget it" mode. I put some in a bottle last night to bring to a home brew club meeting and it is absolutely flat. Not a hint of carbonation.

I know the beer is under pressure because it serves at a rate that seems typical for that pressure (it's not just dribbling out).

I ran into this to a lessor degree with my imperial porter. It was about 9% abv and had a final gravity of 1.023. I never really did get that to carb the way I wanted. My IPAs, blonde ales, etc all carbonate with no issues.

So, are beers with a higher FG harder to force carb? If that's not it, what the heck is going on? It's just these two beers so far (the only ones of that style I've brewed) that have shown this issue.

Thoughts?

 

[oceanic_brew]

It’s definitely not the beer.

I force carbonate at 40-50 psi for about 12-18 hrs or so, drop it down to 20-30 for the rest of the day and set it to 12 PSI where it stays on my taps that are sitting just below or just above my kegs depending on where they go.

My lines are about 10 ft long I think.

I don’t know your setup but it would take a hell of a long time to carbonate my beer at 9 psi.

Given your other beers are fine this seems to be a coincidence regarding your two heavier beers not carbonating.

It sounds like you have a small leak somewhere.

Pop all the seals out of your kegs and either replace them or give them a shot of lube, flush the headspace, seal the keg with about 30 psi and then drop to your serving pressure.

How short are your lines given that 9 psi gives you a decent pour?

 

[divrack]

Sounds like you have ghosts.
Ring a reputable priest and have them do the candle and whatnot thing. Will carbonate fine thereafter. I had the same thing happen on a triple IPA. Called in father mcgonegal and problem solved.
Priests can be expensive, but worthwhile IMHO, and at the same time I got him to fix a squeaky door so it was good value.

A lot of brewers don't pay enough attention to ghosts in the brew process which is why they only make average beer. Sure if that's your aim then that's fine, but for exceptional beer you have to really try and limit all supernatural apparitions from the brew house.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I didn't choose 9 psi for the pour, I chose it for the desired volumes of CO2. I actually have pretty long lines and a chilled tower so my beers pour well even at 14 psi.

With IPA's I usually go 10-11 psi. I went lower because I wanted the stout to be less carbonated. 9 psi at 36 degrees should yield 2.38 volumes, which is in the upper middle for a RIS based on the info I've read. By all accounts, a month at serving pressure should be sufficient to carbonate a beer, especially with 48 hours at 25 psi to start. Most say the set it and forget it method takes about two weeks. With the initial burst carb to start, it should be less (and is with my other beers).

As far as a leak, I'm not sure what difference that would make. If the beer is at a given pressure of CO2, a leak should not stop it from carbonating unless I run out of gas and the pressure drops. The fact that a small amount of CO2 was leaking out doesn't change the surface pressure of the CO2 until you start to run out. Also, with a leak, I'd think my tank would be empty after 2 days at 25 and another month at 9 psi.

 

[divrack]

I didn't choose 9 psi for the pour, I chose it for the desired volumes of CO2. I actually have pretty long lines and a chilled tower so my beers pour well even at 14 psi.

With IPA's I usually go 10-11 psi. I went lower because I wanted the stout to be less carbonated. 9 psi at 36 degrees should yield 2.38 volumes, which is in the upper middle for a RIS based on the info I've read. By all accounts, a month at serving pressure should be sufficient to carbonate a beer, especially with 48 hours at 25 psi to start. Most say the set it and forget it method takes about two weeks. With the initial burst carb to start, it should be less (and is with my other beers).

As far as a leak, I'm not sure what difference that would make. If the beer is at a given pressure of CO2, a leak should not stop it from carbonating unless I run out of gas and the pressure drops. The fact that a small amount of CO2 was leaking out doesn't change the surface pressure of the CO2 until you start to run out. Also, with a leak, I'd think my tank would be empty after 2 days at 25 and another month at 9 psi.

Maybe try this guy
http://www.bornagainministry.org/de...rjoUtJQXXbOdoCmaRHJ620GtdjJiqRCRoCB4cQAvD_BwE

 

[divrack]

I didn't choose 9 psi for the pour, I chose it for the desired volumes of CO2. I actually have pretty long lines and a chilled tower so my beers pour well even at 14 psi.

With IPA's I usually go 10-11 psi. I went lower because I wanted the stout to be less carbonated. 9 psi at 36 degrees should yield 2.38 volumes, which is in the upper middle for a RIS based on the info I've read. By all accounts, a month at serving pressure should be sufficient to carbonate a beer, especially with 48 hours at 25 psi to start. Most say the set it and forget it method takes about two weeks. With the initial burst carb to start, it should be less (and is with my other beers).

As far as a leak, I'm not sure what difference that would make. If the beer is at a given pressure of CO2, a leak should not stop it from carbonating unless I run out of gas and the pressure drops. The fact that a small amount of CO2 was leaking out doesn't change the surface pressure of the CO2 until you start to run out. Also, with a leak, I'd think my tank would be empty after 2 days at 25 and another month at 9 psi.

Seriously though, the only logical thing is a badly sealed bottle

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Seriously though, the only logical thing is a badly sealed bottle

I'm not bottling this yet. It's still in the keg.

 

[isomerization]

I had issues carbonating a RIS that finished at 1.040 (by design). Ended up having to do the shake method to get CO2 into solution (at high psi). There was another thread I found on here where others had this issue.

 

[divrack]

Well I still think you have ghosts but here's what some so called scientists have to say..
https://www.researchgate.net/public...mental_results_and_phase_equilibrium_modeling
Pathetic idiots.
So yes concentrations of sugar do effect rates.
Have heard that having a high fat content can effect it also so lots of oats cocoa etc might be a thing.

 

[vgmohag]

I had a moktoberfest OG 1.055 that took about 6 weeks to develop any real head/carbonation. You could see there was carbonation but it looked at tasted flat. I brewed it 6 weeks earlier this time... Hopefully it'll be ready to drink by 10/1