Keg Carbonation Issues

[time01]

i had a few kegs in my keg king fridge that i havent touched for a couple of week at 7 degrees, tasted them last night and they were all quite flat. i had another keg in another fridge at 0 degrees, put that on tap, and carbonation is fine.

is it because i put the temp up to 7 degrees which is too high? or might have a leak in gas line?

 

[Amber Fluid]

I understand that the warmer the beer gets then the more CO2 comes out of the solution. Therefore, if you carbed up at 0C then let it warm up to 7C it will not be as carbonated as it was at 0C.

or

You could have a leak in your keg.

 

[loikar]

i had a few kegs in my keg king fridge that i havent touched for a couple of week at 7 degrees, tasted them last night and they were all quite flat. i had another keg in another fridge at 0 degrees, put that on tap, and carbonation is fine.

is it because i put the temp up to 7 degrees which is too high? or might have a leak in gas line?

It doesn't matter how cold your kegs are in relation to carbonation, it will still absorb Co2, it'll just take longer (provided the pressure is a constant).
The point that the temperature factors into it is that the colder the beer is, the more readily it will absorb co2.
So a cold carbonated drink will hang on to\absorb more bubbles a lot longer than a warm carbonated drink will.

so you can keep your beer at ambient temps if you want and it will still carb up just as much as a cold one, it will just take more time

7deg over a week should have your beer at the right carb level.
I would be checking your lines\bottles\disconnects\fittings

Cheers,

BF

 

[time01]

sorry i should have mentioned these kegs were already carbed up previously and have since gone flat.

must be a hole in the gas line, as i still had them connected to gas even though it was turned off, may have escaped that way?

 

[loikar]

sorry i should have mentioned these kegs were already carbed up previously and have since gone flat.

must be a hole in the gas line, as i still had them connected to gas even though it was turned off, may have escaped that way?

Gas line, disconnects, valves, seals, regulator....

Soapy water will reveal your leak.

Charge the Keg and rub some around your seals, poppets, pressure release valve etc and look for bubbles.
if none, then look at your disconnects, lines and work your way back to your cylinder.

Cheers,

BF

 

[time01]

cheers BF!

will have another look tonight.

 

[loikar]

cheers BF!

will have another look tonight.

No worries,

With your disconnects, lines and fittings, it might be easier to submerge them and look for bubbles rather than have soap all over your setup.
Much like looking for a puncture in a bike tyre inner tube.

Good luck

BF

 

[adz1179]

apologies for digging up an old thread, but better than start a new one with the same subject!

I have had my first beer kegged since the 21st July - almost two weeks. Im still getting my keezer sorted, which has flow control taps so at the moment i have the keg and co2 bottle in my fermenting fridge sat at 3 deg with 6mm beer line and a curly hose bronco tap.

As the end setup will be with flow control taps and short beer lines, i haven't invested any time in balancing this temp system.


I was aiming for 2.5 vol's of co2 so (with the table that is floating around here) set the reg to 80kpa and left it

After one week the beer poured with great pressure, nice thick dense head but relatively flat beer.

I bumped it up to 100kpa and left it for another two days, same result except the pour was faster = bigger head but flat beer

I figured it was just to early, so backed it down to 90 and left it for another few days and tried it again today. still good head and a great pour, but flat beer.

I have tried soapy water around all the connects and cant find a leak anywhere. is it because it not a balanced system or its too early trying to carb it at 3 deg?

 

[glenwal]

apologies for digging up an old thread, but better than start a new one with the same subject!

I have had my first beer kegged since the 21st July - almost two weeks. Im still getting my keezer sorted, which has flow control taps so at the moment i have the keg and co2 bottle in my fermenting fridge sat at 3 deg with 6mm beer line and a curly hose bronco tap.

As the end setup will be with flow control taps and short beer lines, i haven't invested any time in balancing this temp system.


I was aiming for 2.5 vol's of co2 so (with the table that is floating around here) set the reg to 80kpa and left it

After one week the beer poured with great pressure, nice thick dense head but relatively flat beer.

I bumped it up to 100kpa and left it for another two days, same result except the pour was faster = bigger head but flat beer

I figured it was just to early, so backed it down to 90 and left it for another few days and tried it again today. still good head and a great pour, but flat beer.

I have tried soapy water around all the connects and cant find a leak anywhere. is it because it not a balanced system or its too early trying to carb it at 3 deg?

Sounds like a balancing issue. The beer in the keg is carbed (or possibly over-carbed) which is why you get a good head. But the over carbed beer and the incorrect line length causes all the CO2 to come out when you pour the beer - meaning a great head with flat beer.

 

[adz1179]

thanks Glen. So it appears i will be stuck with this temporary setup for a few weeks, any pointers?

 

[mxd]

try dropping the gas down to 20-40 and see what happens (for pouring), the length of the line seems quite short.

 

[adz1179]

try dropping the gas down to 20-40 and see what happens (for pouring), the length of the line seems quite short.

ok will do. should i let some gas out if it and then hook it back up at 20-40 or just turn it down and leave it a while?
the curly hose is just connected to a disconnect, figured this would be ok....?

 

[mxd]

ok will do. should i let some gas out if it and then hook it back up at 20-40 or just turn it down and leave it a while?
the curly hose is just connected to a disconnect, figured this would be ok....?

yep sorry, turn gas off or super low, burp keg, set at 20-40 and try a pour.

 

[adz1179]

yep sorry, turn gas off or super low, burp keg, set at 20-40 and try a pour.

thanks MXD

 

[adz1179]

new issue:

had a beer in the keg for the last 4 days at 2.5-3 deg i set it on my serving pressure which is about 70kpa and leave it. poured a beer today for the first time to try it out and shes totally flat;. no head, no apparent carbonation in the beer. dead. i tried 3-4 different beer glasses, and same result. all have been properly cleaned recently.



when i got home from work today the kpa was at 100, so i just burped it down to 80 - the gauge on the left (they both say kpa???) was at 0, when i open up the gas, this goes up, but so does the gauge on the right.



i have perlick flow control taps, its the same on all settings, from fully closed to all the way open. the pouring pressure changes but that's all.

this may be a stupid comment, but i had a bit more beer left at the end of ferment than normal, so filled up the keg as much as possible, pretty much no headspace at all. normally im a few inches from the top, would this have anything to do with it?

im clearly no expert here, but i figured 4 full days at serving pressure would have got me something? i have a few mates around this Friday night for beers so need to get it sorted prior. cheers.

 

[adz1179]

Bumping for the evening crowd. Appreciate any help

 

[pfitz]

Lots of potential problems here.
1. do you have bubbles in the line in the Fridge?, generally overgassed will leave bubbles in the line and can cause gushing at the tap ( no carbonation left )
2. are you using a tap or a gun? ( the temp may have something to do with it).
3. if you are using a gun, do you keep it inside the fridge? (much colder in there).

I have had problems before with taps and elbows to the back of the tap, straight in not a problem, 90 deg elbow, froth everywhere and no corbonation left.
Type of glass can (shape) also affect beer and head, so will the beer itself.

Serving pressure is OK, thats what I use generally, are you comparing to bottled? (my wife does all the time and reckons its always flat).
Have you only gassed at serving pressure for the four days? Generally, 240KPA for a couple of days and a further 3-4 days at 140KPA before back to serving pressure unless you force.

I could be talking out my arse as well.... but trying to help

 

[Crusty]

new issue:

had a beer in the keg for the last 4 days at 2.5-3 deg i set it on my serving pressure which is about 70kpa and leave it. poured a beer today for the first time to try it out and shes totally flat;. no head, no apparent carbonation in the beer. dead. i tried 3-4 different beer glasses, and same result. all have been properly cleaned recently.

View attachment 59413

when i got home from work today the kpa was at 100, so i just burped it down to 80 - the gauge on the left (they both say kpa???) was at 0, when i open up the gas, this goes up, but so does the gauge on the right.

View attachment 59414

i have perlick flow control taps, its the same on all settings, from fully closed to all the way open. the pouring pressure changes but that's all.

this may be a stupid comment, but i had a bit more beer left at the end of ferment than normal, so filled up the keg as much as possible, pretty much no headspace at all. normally im a few inches from the top, would this have anything to do with it?

im clearly no expert here, but i figured 4 full days at serving pressure would have got me something? i have a few mates around this Friday night for beers so need to get it sorted prior. cheers.

I would fill the keg to the top ring & no higher. You should make sure the gas post is not submerged.
4 days @ serving pressure is really not long enough for it to be carbed properly.
Even at a week into carbonation, I feel my beers are a little mellow.
After the second week though it's all happening. Nice bubbles & nice head. I think it needs more time to be honest.
Falling pressure on right can just mean the keg is absorbing co2 so just check on it daily. Not too sure why your bottle pressure gauge would drop though unless you are nearly out of gas.

 

[adz1179]

Yeah thanks crusty. Didn't even think about submerging the post. I'll just have to be patient with it I guess.
I hope the gas bottle isn't almost empty, it's a 6kg unit and only the second keg!

Futz, no bubbles, using perlick taps, straight connection.