Why does my beer seem flat?

[DonBon]

Hi all,

Hoping you can help again! I moved my beer from the fermenter to the keg last Monday, added sugar and such and then put it away in its cupboard to get bubbling. Today, I drew off a teeny amount from the tap to taste and found it really flat.

I had expected the carbonation to be well under way by this point - is that just naivety on my part, or would you normally expect a reasonable amount of fizz a week in?

The whole process has been a bit quicker than it would be in an ideal world, essentially because it's my first brew and I've been a little over-enthusiastic at each step. However, I don't think I've gone unreasonably quickly - just not been as patient as I would be next time. Is that likely to have had an impact?

I've left the keg in the cupboard this far and was wondering when to look at moving it into the fridge to chill. The point of drawing off a taste was to decide if it was time to move it over. Hopefully I just need to give it a little more time to carbonate and then I can shift it across, but I wanted to check with the experts before I leave myself disappointed!

 

[jdauria]

I assume you are using a small mini-keg since you stored in cupboard? Usually a few corny keg will take up to two weeks to carbonate with priming sugar. How many gallons or liters of beer is it? How much sugar did you use and did you dissolve the sugar first? is the cupboard in warm spot? if not, find the warmest spot of the house. Definitely do not put in the fridge until it's carbonated.

 

[DonBon]

I assume you are using a small mini-keg since you stored in cupboard? Usually a few corny keg will take up to two weeks to carbonate with priming sugar. How many gallons or liters of beer is it? How much sugar did you use and did you dissolve the sugar first? is the cupboard in warm spot? if not, find the warmest spot of the house. Definitely do not put in the fridge until it's carbonated.

Thanks for response. Answers follow:

1. Keg is a 5 gallon pressure keg. Looks a lot like this.
2. What does "corny keg" mean?
3. I'm priming with sugar, rather than forcing.
4. 5 gallons of beer.
5. 130g sugar, not previously dissolved.
6. Cupboard temp is pretty regular, around ~22oC.

Sounds as though I just need to have a little more patience, then.

Cheers!

 

[doogie]

Thanks for response. Answers follow:

1. Keg is a 5 gallon pressure keg. Looks a lot like this.
2. What does "corny keg" mean?
3. I'm priming with sugar, rather than forcing.
4. 5 gallons of beer.
5. 130g sugar, not previously dissolved.
6. Cupboard temp is pretty regular, around ~22oC.

Sounds as though I just need to have a little more patience, then.

Cheers!

I can answer a few of these
1) never seen that before - seems like people are using them when I googled 'pressure barrel' there were YouTube videos on how to use
2) Standard in the US - Cornelius Kegs were used by the soda distributors (Coke - pin lock and Pepsi - ball locks) stainless steel and can handle a lot of pressure.
3) how do you dispense the beer after it's carbonated? I guess I need to watch some of the YouTube videos.
5) priming sugar should be dissolved in a small amount of water and heated to 180 degrees F to sterilize, let cool and then place in keg or bottling bucket and transfer beer onto the priming solution.
6) Room temp should be good for carbonating

 

[jdauria]

Thanks for response. Answers follow:

1. Keg is a 5 gallon pressure keg. Looks a lot like this.
2. What does "corny keg" mean?
3. I'm priming with sugar, rather than forcing.
4. 5 gallons of beer.
5. 130g sugar, not previously dissolved.
6. Cupboard temp is pretty regular, around ~22oC.

Sounds as though I just need to have a little more patience, then.

Cheers!

Interesting, have never seen those. Corny kegs are 5 gallon stainless steel kegs that were previous used by soda companies in the the US. 130g of sugar seems plenty, but I think not dissolving it is definitely the issue. Normally you would boil water, melt the sugar and then let it cool and add to bottom of the keg and then fill so that the movement of beer into the keg distributes the sugar evenly. I am guessing you will find a pile of undissolved sugar at the bottom of that keg. Try shaking the keg to distribute it. Will it carbonate...maybe, but since it probably did not all dissolve it will most likely take longer and not be at the carbonation level you wanted.

 

[DonBon]

I can answer a few of these
1) never seen that before - seems like people are using them when I googled 'pressure barrel' there were YouTube videos on how to use
2) Standard in the US - Cornelius Kegs were used by the soda distributors (Coke - pin lock and Pepsi - ball locks) stainless steel and can handle a lot of pressure.
3) how do you dispense the beer after it's carbonated? I guess I need to watch some of the YouTube videos.
5) priming sugar should be dissolved in a small amount of water and heated to 180 degrees F to sterilize, let cool and then place in keg or bottling bucket and transfer beer onto the priming solution.
6) Room temp should be good for carbonating

Corny kegs look like they would be more efficient for storage. Taller and smaller footprint presumably makes it easier to fit multiple in a single space.

The keg has a tap a couple inches up from the base. Just turn the tap and the beer flows!

I had seen people talking about adding priming sugar and there didn't seem to be a consensus on whether to add it before or after the beer or even whether to bother dissolving it. I can certainly understand that dissolving it would make it available to the yeast more quickly, but does it actually make much difference?

Interesting, have never seen those. Corny kegs are 5 gallon stainless steel kegs that were previous used by soda companies in the the US. 130g of sugar seems plenty, but I think not dissolving it is definitely the issue. Normally you would boil water, melt the sugar and then let it cool and add to bottom of the keg and then fill so that the movement of beer into the keg distributes the sugar evenly. I am guessing you will find a pile of undissolved sugar at the bottom of that keg. Try shaking the keg to distribute it. Will it carbonate...maybe, but since it probably did not all dissolve it will most likely take longer and not be at the carbonation level you wanted.

Hmmm, ok. That seems to be consistent with what doogie said, too. Does shaking the keg pose any risk to the beer? Presumably it would stir up any sediment, but that'll settle in a few days.

I'll certainly be sure to dissolve the sugar first, next time!

 

[Qhrumphf]

These basically seem like PET pins. Cask ale as opposed to keg. Presumably it needs a CO2 flow in, or at least a venting mechanism to allow displacement of gas (i presume there's a vent on top), or it'll eventually stop flowing. Venting to allow air in (the cask way) means you better drink that all in a couple days. With CO2 instead it'll last a lot longer.