Kegged beer flat and pouring slowly

[hathro]

Hi all,

So my problem is that I've had my beer patiently sitting at 10psi for a week and last night I was finally going to taste my beautiful black IPA. However when I went to pour, the beer comes our slowly (very slowly but still a constant stream) and is flat. It doesn't foam up at all either - no head, no foam.

My setup is a keg king kegerator at 4 deg c measured with a probe in a glass of water. Have just changed over the taps and shanks to perlick 525 SS's and the work great - worked fine when cleaning the lines. Completely dismantled the keg and cleaned everything before adding the beer. Have also tried different lines and taps and still the same thing.

I've upped the pressure to 30PSI and left it overnight. Tried to pour this morning at 30PSI, same thing. Keg is holding pressure. Have left it at 30PSI for now. I'm thinking it's keg related but don't know what.

Any suggestions on how to get this carbed and serving properly?

 

[sp0rk]

burp all gas and remove the out post, remove the dip tube and check the tube and post for any hop matter or other blockages

 

[pedleyr]

How long is the beer line?

Connect a gas line to a liquid disconnect, then put it on the liquid post. Blast it with 40psi for a few seconds.

Disconnect everything, swap the liquid disconnect back to a gas one and give the keg 15 minutes to settle.

That should clean out any blockage in the liquid post or dip tube.

If that doesn't work someone with more keg experience than me will have to help...

 

[hathro]

Beer line is 4m in length.

Thanks, I'm thinking it's a blockage too. Will do it tonight and report back.

 

[GalBrew]

Did you dry hop in the keg? If you did and used pellets that can clog up the dip tube very effectively.

 

[hathro]

Haven't dry hopped the keg. I did dry hop in the fermenter and transferred from primary to the keg after cold crashing.

 

[mxd]

I think 4 mtrs is long for 10 psi and 4 degree's (assuming it's the standard ID of beer line).

Be careful that you now don't overcarb the keg

 

[hathro]

I've said 4m but I'll measure it tonight. Could be 2m. Standard line length you get with a keg king kegerator.

If the keg is overcarbed, what steps do I need to take?

 

[hathro]

The beer lines are 4m in length. I should note that my previous kegs poured fine through those lines.

My other concern now is that when I set my CO2 to 10psi, it creeps up to 17psi within a few minutes. The CO2 bottle and reg are in the fridge. I've isolated the reg and it still does the same thing, it's not keg related. My setup is as follows:
CO2 bottle -> CO2 reg -> check valve -> manifold. If I let some CO2 out through a quick disconnect, the reg will jump back to 10psi but then creep up to 17 in the next 5 mins...

Any ideas?

 

[pedleyr]

What's the inside diameter of the line? 4m is too long, the line resistance is probably contributing to the slow pour. Small blockage probably making it worse.

 

[hathro]

Internal diameter is 5mm. How long should the beer line be?

 

[pedleyr]

At that temp and pressure I'd cut it down to 3m and see how it goes. If still too slow take 100mm off at a time.

Take a look at this for a guide http://www.kegking.com.au/balancing%20your%20keg%20system.html

 

[TheWiggman]

Everyone's discussing the slow pouring but that doesn't explain the flat beer. Even if it's blocked it should still be fizzy if it's been carbed properly. Are you sure your regulator is working fine?
I'd wind the pressure up to 200 kPa (I don't speak imperial and not on a computer). You should hear the gas go into the keg when you do. Leave it for a day then turn the gas off. Leave the keg for about 12h and see what it settles at. If it ends up at 70-100 kPa there's a good chance it's working fine and the issue is definitely a restriction of some sort.

 

[mrsupraboy]

Hey mate I have the same problems as u. I think the only way u can do 10psi over a week is if u carb through the out. I've never been successful with that way. I normally find 30psi over 3 or 4 days to be addicute

 

[hathro]

Success!

I took the gas and dip tubes out, cleaned them and the beer/gas posts. They were spotless, no muck caught in them but I cleaned them anyway. I had a thought it could be the poppets, so I changed them over. Put it back on the gas at 10psi and it pours like a champ! The beer was carbonated too!

Winning all round. Thanks so much for all your help guys.