Troubles with carbonation...

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Grond

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So...after running a couple of batches and bottle conditioning (and having pretty good success), I went out and bought some kegs and decided to force carbonate. I like a sweeter cider and really hated messing around with all the glass bottles. Here's where I ran into problems...

I can't seem to duplicate the amount of carbonation in my kegged cider as I was getting in my bottle conditioned cider! It's SO frustrating!!! I honestly do not know what I'm doing wrong...

I have tried letting it sit under 30psi for a week...very little carbonation.
I have tried the "rocking" method to force carbonate...very little carbonation.
I went out and bought a lid with the carb stone built in...very little carbonation.
I just built a quick carb...very little carbonation...and actually, the cider didn't even get "foamy" when it was running!

What the heck am I doing wrong?? Could it be something wrong with my regulator? Could I be out of CO2? If I had any hair on my head, I would be pulling it out...
 
Something's amiss in your CO2 delivery. 30 psi for a week should be fizz city. Do you hear the CO2 flowing through the regulator?
Yes...I can hear it. It's almost like it's losing carbonation in the pour. My dispense PSI is 8lbs, I can see the carbonation in the tubing, but it's flat when it gets to the glass.
 
My method is to apply 25 psi at room temp and purge the keg 8 times. I do this through the liquid post, as I figure pushing CO2 through the cider can only help starting the absorption. Then I'll shake the keg (it's small) while listening to the gas flow and bubbles until that slows down. Leave it under 25 psi over night then put the keg in the fridge and drop to 12-13 psi (about 2.5 vols). I dispense at that pressure through 3 ft of line and get good carbonation and very little foam.
 
My method is to apply 25 psi at room temp and purge the keg 8 times. I do this through the liquid post, as I figure pushing CO2 through the cider can only help starting the absorption. Then I'll shake the keg (it's small) while listening to the gas flow and bubbles until that slows down. Leave it under 25 psi over night then put the keg in the fridge and drop to 12-13 psi (about 2.5 vols). I dispense at that pressure through 3 ft of line and get good carbonation and very little foam.
I'm going to try that with my next 1 gallon batch of cider...a DELICIOUS looking apple & dark sweet cherry combo.

Something that just occurred to me...I've been using 1-step to clean and to sanitize, and not rinsing. Think that some residual would be killing the carbonation somehow? I'm going to clean with 1-step, then sanitize with Star-san this time. I've also got 5 gallons fermenting right now, and I'm going to start another 5 gallons as soon as I transfer this 5 gallons.
 
I had no carb issues with my last batch of cider. 6 gallon batch, split into two 3 gallon kegs post ferment for carbonating. Used the carbonating lid to infuse with CO2 over about 3-5 days (per keg) as per instructions. Ended at 12psi, 40F and use ~12' of 3/16" ID Bevlex tubing. Zero issues with carb level in the glass.
My old carbonating method was the two (or more) week 'set and forget'. Never had issues there either.
I've been using PBW to clean and StarSan to sanitize forever. Never used 'one step'. I'd suggest getting a pound of PBW and try using that to clean then StarSan to sanitize. Using proper methods.
What's the ID of your beverage lines? Line length?
 
I'm going to try that with my next 1 gallon batch of cider...a DELICIOUS looking apple & dark sweet cherry combo.

Something that just occurred to me...I've been using 1-step to clean and to sanitize, and not rinsing. Think that some residual would be killing the carbonation somehow? I'm going to clean with 1-step, then sanitize with Star-san this time. I've also got 5 gallons fermenting right now, and I'm going to start another 5 gallons as soon as I transfer this 5 gallons.
That's another can of worms. I rinse both one-step and star san with clear water. But I doubt very much that either would affect carbonation.
 
That's another can of worms. I rinse both one-step and star san with clear water. But I doubt very much that either would affect carbonation.
You rinse Starsan?? Why?? It's a "no rinse acid sanitizer". If you fear the foam, don't. Rinsing Starsan can actually be a very bad idea.
 
It will eat plastic and vinyl hoses, and I don't want phosphoric acid in my cider.
Really??? How long does that take because I've had tubing submerged in StarSan for more than a while before. In the order of days, if not more. IMO/IME, if you sanitize something, let it drain, you don't need to do anything after that. Rinsing out the foam (to me) is a pointless exercise that can, if anything, open your items up to contamination/infection. Also, if you're worried about such a miniscule amount (residue on your vessel) of the acid in your cider, I think you have bigger issues. :p
 
I had no carb issues with my last batch of cider. 6 gallon batch, split into two 3 gallon kegs post ferment for carbonating. Used the carbonating lid to infuse with CO2 over about 3-5 days (per keg) as per instructions. Ended at 12psi, 40F and use ~12' of 3/16" ID Bevlex tubing. Zero issues with carb level in the glass.
My old carbonating method was the two (or more) week 'set and forget'. Never had issues there either.
I've been using PBW to clean and StarSan to sanitize forever. Never used 'one step'. I'd suggest getting a pound of PBW and try using that to clean then StarSan to sanitize. Using proper methods.
What's the ID of your beverage lines? Line length?
Ok...so quite a lot of drama over here.

First...I found the major issue. The gas pinlock was not letting any gas into the keg. It has to be the stem because I have tried 3 different grey gas fittings and every one of them would NOT allow gas into the keg unless I pushed down on it HARD and held it there. So, in my infinite wisdom, I decided to remove the inside of the valve on both the grey gas fitting and on the stem. VIOLA!! We have gas!

Let me continue by saying that I have build my own QuickCarb outfit and this is what has been giving me fits over the last couple of weeks. Once I removed the "check" portion of the grey fitting and the stem, it worked great! Carbonation in less than an hour! But...

Being in a hurry (I work from home but was on lunch) and in my haste I kinda forgot that I had removed the "check" portion of the gas stem coming out of the keg...and pulled the grey gas fitting off of it. Let just say that I was fully showered in carbonated sticky cherry apple cider. Unbelievable.

This weekend I am going to be replacing the inner working of the ball lock stem in question as well as changing out all of my hoses on both the gas and dispensing side of my keg setup. I'm tired of having to horse around with stiff-a$$ vinyl tubing when it's been in the keezer. I also plan on shortening up my dispensing hoses to 2-3 ft each instead of the 5-6 feet that they are right now.

Now, however, after I'm done with work...instead of getting to sit back and enjoy a nice cold glass or two of cider, I have a HUGE mess to clean up.
 
Before you shorten your liquid lines, I up the dispensing pressure to 10-12 psi. That will keep more CO2 in suspension.
 
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