Half Dranken Keg Gone Flat?

[dazz1975]

I have just started doing home brew in kegs and I put a lager in it the other day and the first few beers were over gassed but now I have dranken half of it, it has gone flat. I turn the keg on for a pouring pressure occassionally.

How do I revive those wonderful little bubbles again?

Cheers
Darren

 

[Keifer]

To keep it idealy pressurised you should turn the gas on whenever you pour from it.

Leave the gas on, thats what i do

 

[dazz1975]

To keep it idealy pressurised you should turn the gas on whenever you pour from it.

Leave the gas on, thats what i do

Ok.. Will do that from now on. Thanks for that Keifer. So how do i get it gassy again once it has gone flat. Any ideas?

Cheers
Darren

 

[Keifer]

Just leave it hooked up to the gas at serving pressure (mines 90kpa) for a few days, or do a search for force carbing if you want it gassy quick.

 

[Brewer_010]

Leave the gas on, thats what i do

This can be a good way to leach all the gas from your cylinder, unless you have a perfect seal in your keg (which I didn't once and lost a nearly full cylinder).

I pump about 5-10psi worth of CO2 into the keg at the end of the drinking session to keep positive pressure inside, then turn off the cylinder. No more flat beer.

But the choice is yours. I just dont trust my keg seals anymore (although none have leaked since, however)

 

[pint of lager]

Have a read of the brew wiki kegging. It covers balanced systems which is what you want.

A perfectly carbonated beer has a specific pressure.

To push beer through a narrow tube requires a specific pressure.

Once these are the same, your pouring pressure is the same as the pressure needed to keep perfect carbonation and you leave your gas on all the time. Over the entire pour of the keg, the beer retains its carbonation in the glass.

 

[beers]

This can be a good way to leach all the gas from your cylinder, unless you have a perfect seal in your keg (which I didn't once and lost a nearly full cylinder).

I pump about 5-10psi worth of CO2 into the keg at the end of the drinking session to keep positive pressure inside, then turn off the cylinder. No more flat beer.

But the choice is yours. I just dont trust my keg seals anymore (although none have leaked since, however)

If you do have a leak isn't the keg just going to lose pressure once you turn the gas off anyway?

 

[PostModern]

If you do have a leak isn't the keg just going to lose pressure once you turn the gas off anyway?

Yes, but you won't lose a whole cylinder worth of CO2. The key here is to keep the kegs' seals well maintained. I've had my system for 18 months and never turned off the gas. Always have nice carbonation and never have to fiddle with anything.

 

[deadly]

If its flat half way I would suspect a leak in the keg....

 

[barfridge]

Yes, but you won't lose a whole cylinder worth of CO2. The key here is to keep the kegs' seals well maintained. I've had my system for 18 months and never turned off the gas. Always have nice carbonation and never have to fiddle with anything.

^^ What pomo said. Except mine must be closer to 2 years by now, still on the original cylinder of gas.

 

[pint of lager]

If you have any leak in your system, you can lose a bottle of CO2 in a day or two. If you have a stuffed o'ring on the liquid post, you will lose your beer plus a cylinder of gas. If you have any doubts, then turn the gas off after a session.

Regularly use soapy water and check all connections and seals.

The reason why the beer is flat could be a leaking seal. It is just as likely to be because the system is unbalanced.

If the pressure to push the beer out the lines and through the tap is less than the carbonation pressure, then the beer will be slowly losing carbonation. Eventually the carbonation level in the beer will drop and equal the pressure needed to pour. If you consume the keg up relatively quickly, say within a few days, you won't notice the loss in carbonation. If you take a few weeks, then the beer has lost significant carbonation and will be flat on pouring.

Have a read in the wiki and get your system balanced.

 

[Keifer]

Yes very true you can lose a bottle of gas, i did, but then i only use a very small gas bottle so i only lost about $5-10 worth (less than half full).

I always forget to turn it on/off so now i just leave it on unless im not gonna have very many through the week and all the kegs are gassed up good.