Flat Beer

[stevev]

Good day brewers.
Can you help me out on this problem, put my first keg down, put in fridge for 2 days gas connected at 250 kpa shaked keg every time i walked past it. Pulled first beer last night. pulled reasonably well with what i thought was a good head. BUT head was fizzing and popping like a glass of coke and head lasted for about 15- 20 seconds then flatest beer i have ever seen. But the beer didnt taste to bad, can you help have i over carbonated under corbanated or just screwed up. thanks in adv
ance Stevev

 

[Supra-Jim]

Over-carbed.

My method for forced carbing is as follows: 300kPa for 24 hrs, no shaking, then back off to pouring pressure and the beer is perfect in around 3 days.

Two days of high pressure and all that shaking will have seen too much gas absorbed into solution.

No dramas though, just disconnect the keg from the gas, give it a little rock, burp it (release the relief valve) and repeat until you get to a carb level your happy with.

:icon_cheers: SJ

 

[Ronin]

Good day brewers.
Can you help me out on this problem, put my first keg down, put in fridge for 2 days gas connected at 250 kpa shaked keg every time i walked past it. Pulled first beer last night. pulled reasonably well with what i thought was a good head. BUT head was fizzing and popping like a glass of coke and head lasted for about 15- 20 seconds then flatest beer i have ever seen. But the beer didnt taste to bad, can you help have i over carbonated under corbanated or just screwed up. thanks in adv
ance Stevev

Could be any number of problems....there's a FAQ in the articles section about carbonation that might help.

Is it a kit beer? All grain?

 

[chappo1970]

Welcome Stevev1

By the sound of it your over carb'ed. I personally go 275 for 48hrs but that me and there are others that do all sorts of weird and wonderful ways. All I can suggest you do what works for you OK? Research and search this forum OK, it works.

The issue has been dealt with a fair bit try [topic="8535"]here[/topic] for some answers that you maybe seeking.

May good brews come your way!

EDIT: What SJ said he beat me!

 

[buttersd70]

Over carbed, as others have said...
simple rule of thumb....
no bubbles, big head - over carbed
no bubbles, no head undercarbed

IMO, the best way to carbonate, at least for a first keg on a new system, is either 'let er sit', or, 'shake for ages, at serving pressure, then wait 24 hours'. That way, you end up with a keg that will have perfect carbonation.....any pouring problems will then be isolated purely to line length/tap temp, and you can discount carbonation as an variable, and you can adjust for a perfect pour.....then, afterwards, if you choose a different carbonation method, and you have pouring issues, you know its not the lines or the tap, it must be the carbonation level. Divide and conquer....

 

[muckey]

some good advice in the previous posts

definately check the links to avoid future issues.

if the keg is overcarbed, take it out of the fridge for an hour or 2 ( nice warm day).
vent the keg right out and leave it for a while and vent again.
do this 2-3 times on a warm day to reduce the carb.

the keg wont warm a lot over a couple of hours but it should be enough to make pouring manageable

as a side note; when balancing your system, try and set your temperature and dont adjust it. work out what carb level you want in you beer and that will tell you what pressure and how much line. start with your beer line slightly long and trim a bit at a time if required. Once it's set LEAVE IT ALONE.

dont be tempted to fiddle. i can tell you from experience how much of a PITA that is

edit: sniped again by butters, he must be out of beer

 

[pixelboy]

I too just drank from my first keg.. on 20-PSI for approx 36hrs then back to 10psi to pour and had a great head but a little under-carbed, drinkable but needed some more, so I've given it another 12 hrs at approx 20psi..

cannot wait to try it

Thanks god Beersmith has convertors.. all this talk in kpa etc and my regulator turns up and only has psi :huh:

 

[happy benno]

Gday steve, everyone has different way's, i set to 220kpa 48 hrs turn gas off release preasure out of keg then pouring preasure for a few days it's carbonated & drinkable by then but a bit green for my liking.

i've tried the whole shaking bizo but to inconsistent overcarbonated it was more troble than it was worth.

do as supra- jim said he's on the right track with fixing your overcarb problem


cheers BENNO

 

[chappo1970]

edit: sniped again by butters, he must be out of beer

Yep Muckey, no other plausable reason for it, I reckon he's sober again! :lol:

Been hitting the forum today like the good old days and as yet I haven't seen one bloddy rant! <_< Might have to stir him up a bit to see if we can get one huh?

 

[.DJ.]

I too just drank from my first keg.. on 20-PSI for approx 36hrs then back to 10psi to pour and had a great head but a little under-carbed, drinkable but needed some more, so I've given it another 12 hrs at approx 20psi..

cannot wait to try it

Thanks god Beersmith has convertors.. all this talk in kpa etc and my regulator turns up and only has psi :huh:

you may have already slightly overcarbed.... be careful...


I ALWAYS do the "Set and Forget" method.... Pouring Pressure for 7 days. Cant be over carbed, and it lets the beer clear and condition for a week....

 

[pixelboy]

really? over-carbed? But there was almost no bubbles or carb taste and It poured with a nice head.

Ill see when I get home.

7 days! I cant wait that long

 

[chappo1970]

Over carbed, as others have said...
simple rule of thumb....
no bubbles, big head - over carbed
no bubbles, no head undercarbed

IMO, the best way to carbonate, at least for a first keg on a new system, is either 'let er sit', or, 'shake for ages, at serving pressure, then wait 24 hours'. That way, you end up with a keg that will have perfect carbonation.....any pouring problems will then be isolated purely to line length/tap temp, and you can discount carbonation as an variable, and you can adjust for a perfect pour.....then, afterwards, if you choose a different carbonation method, and you have pouring issues, you know its not the lines or the tap, it must be the carbonation level. Divide and conquer....

YES IT"S OVER CARBED OK! Actually we are ALL just trying to fool you just to see how funny it would be!

Butters me old Pal sometimes they just will NOT LISTEN! FFS read above the AGAIN man knows this stuff well, in fact very well! Too well in fact! Ask him about what carbonation level should be for a given style of beer?

 

[Ronin]

really? over-carbed? But there was almost no bubbles or carb taste and It poured with a nice head.

Ill see when I get home.

7 days! I cant wait that long

As I said earlier, it could also depend on the type of beer you made. The first ever kit beer I made had absolutely no head retention whatsoever, even though there was bubbles in it. Looked like coke. Two brews later and I was doing AG, never had a problem since. Even when I overcarbonate inadvertantly, I end up getting a head that crawls out of the glass.

Have a read of

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=70

Was it a K&K beer? A few friends I know who've done K&K beers have also complained of no head retention.

 

[Supra-Jim]

YES IT"S OVER CARBED OK! Actually we are ALL just trying to fool you just to see how funny it would be!

Butters me old Pal sometimes they just will NOT LISTEN! FFS read above the AGAIN man knows this stuff well, in fact very well! Too well in fact! Ask him about what carbonation level should be for a given style of beer?

Chappo???? Was that the sound of a kitten getting snuffed????? Relax man !!

:icon_cheers: SJ

 

[chappo1970]

Chappo???? Was that the sound of a kitten getting snuffed????? Relax man !!

:icon_cheers: SJ

Told ya the nurse has mucked with my medication! :huh:

Sorry ToddyB but we are trying to help ya!

 

[muckey]

Told ya the nurse has mucked with my medication! :huh:

Sorry ToddyB but we are trying to help ya!

You better get her to change the keg then :lol:

 

[pint of lager]

Your beer is overcarbed. This is a very very common problem with new keggers. They have the gear and the beer. Then they want to drink the beer tonight and try and force carbonate. This leads to tears. The forum has this same problem posted at least once a week. Read the links already posted, follow the directions, settle back and it will all be good in a day or two.

The excess carbonation makes the beer foam. The end result is flat beer with lots of head.

 

[stevev]

Thank you brewers, i will try and degas tonight and sample again tomorrow
Stevev

 

[chappo1970]

Hey stevev1 forget my little rant earlier ok...
But if you still have any drama's mate, and the kegs won't play nice, post it up back here and we will see if we can sort it out ya. The only stupid question here is the one you don't ask!

 

[pixelboy]

It was a all malt extract APA. A can of Coopers Liquid Malt and 1kg of LDME with some Crystal and lots of Chinook n Cascade. Its not AG but its always given me nice creamy head in bottles.

There's less head and still not quite enough carbonation so i've set it back to about 10psi and will let it sit for a few days.

Thank you all... even you Chappo