My Kegged Beer Loses Carbonation After 1 Beer

[bjl]

I am new to kegging and are having trouble keeping my beer carbonated. I have tried several methods as described on these forums.
Basically, my beer loses its carbonation after one beer? The first beer is perfect, nice head and enough bubbles but after 2 or 3 there is basically no bubbles in the beer. The beer temp is controlled at 2deg C. Is this just a case of under carbonation or could it be a result of a slow leak in the system somewhere? Also, is it advisable to diconnect the beer line from the keg when you are not using it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pokolbinguy]

Also, is it advisable to diconnect the beer line from the keg when you are not using it.

Basically No. The disconnect and tap should seal perfectly and there should be no need to disconnect.

Pok

 

[lokpikn]

When you pour your beer do you leave the gas on at a pouring pressure on do you turn the tap off. You should not notice carbonation problems after such a small amount of beers being poured. Try putting a bit more gas in it and see if this helps. I dont think it could do much wrong.

 

[Jye]

A keg will take a few days to lose carbonation so thats not happening. Heres my thoughts...

The first glass has a good head because the tap is warm and causes to beer to foam, this always happens on the first pour and once the tap has chilled the resultant pours will be less foamy.

A dirty/warm/dry glass will cause bubbles to form due to nucleation points etc, after the first beer the glass will be cool and cleaner. Try swishing it around in your mouth to release some bubbles.

Also how long has it been in the keg for and are you sure its carbed up correctly?

 

[Mercs Own]

If you carbonbate your beer correctly there is no reason why your second or third glass should pour flat.

Read: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...hl=gassing+kegs

I always keep the gas connected to the keg with the gas on at pouring level I use 100kpa.

Once gassed up either using the Ross method or the slower method my beers pour correctly every time until the keg is empty - which is usuall way too soon!

 

[BOG]

I just set it to serving pressure (70Kpa for mine), shake the shit out of it and put it in the fridge (gas line attached) for 2 weeks.

After that time it's fine. After about 4 weeks (keg in now almost empty) the bubbles are finer and hold in the glass longer.


BOG

 

[bjl]

I leave the gas hooked at 100kpa and drop back to 70kpa when pouring. It has been in the keg/fridge now for over a week.
It sounds like it is under carbonated, so I'll let it sit for a while and try again. Having beer on tap is just to much of a temptation, I'll have to be more patient.

Thanks for all the advice

 

[ibast]

I leave the gas hooked at 100kpa and drop back to 70kpa when pouring. It has been in the keg/fridge now for over a week.
It sounds like it is under carbonated, so I'll let it sit for a while and try again. Having beer on tap is just to much of a temptation, I'll have to be more patient.

Thanks for all the advice

I take a different approach. I carbonate much higher. 250 or more. That way it's carbonated in a couple of days.

then I pour at 20kPa.

Taste wise it's still better after a couple of weeks, however.

 

[cloudy]

I leave the gas hooked at 100kpa and drop back to 70kpa when pouring. It has been in the keg/fridge now for over a week.
It sounds like it is under carbonated, so I'll let it sit for a while and try again. Having beer on tap is just to much of a temptation, I'll have to be more patient.

Thanks for all the advice

Harden up Andre, you crazy Europeans are into all sorts of sick shit. you might as well drink your beer flat too.

 

[Snow]

I leave the gas hooked at 100kpa and drop back to 70kpa when pouring. It has been in the keg/fridge now for over a week.
It sounds like it is under carbonated, so I'll let it sit for a while and try again. Having beer on tap is just to much of a temptation, I'll have to be more patient.

Thanks for all the advice

Hi BJL,

You really should only have to drop the pressure back just once after the beer's been carbonated. Chopping and changing pressures everytime you pour a beer is just wasting gas. I find the simplest method is to chill the beer in the fermenter for at least 24 hours before racking to the keg, then crank up the gas to 250-300kpa (depending on the beer style) and leave it connected at that pressure for 24 hours. The next night, drop the gas pressure back to 80kpa and serve and store at that pressure from then on. At that pressure, you will have some equalisation, depending on your initial carbonation level, but your beer will never go flat. You may also need to play with your serving pressure a little depending on your set-up (ie beer line length and diameter, type of tap, etc)

Cheers - Snow.

 

[SJW]

then I pour at 20kPa.

Thats about 3psi, how do you get it that low? An dwould'nt all the gas come out of the beer with pressure that low?

 

[KGB]

^^^ Indeed. Do a search for "balancing a keg system" or "balanced keg system". Ideally you want your pour pressure to be the same as the pressure you need to maintain carbonation. ie balanced.
Basically the easiest method of achieving this is to increase the length of your beer line to create more resistance and give a slower pour, which allows the gas pressure to be higher on the other end. I made a magic box chiller out of an esky with 5m of line coiled in the bottom and it gave a beautiful pour.

 

[Thunderlips]

A dirty/warm/dry glass will cause bubbles to form due to nucleation points etc, after the first beer the glass will be cool and cleaner. Try swishing it around in your mouth to release some bubbles.

Yep, that's what I reckon too.
For a test, after having a couple in the same glass take another dry glass and pour into that and see what happens.
It'll likely be as good as the first pour into the other glass.
Also, I've got a heap of different glasses and some are a lot better than others when it comes to bubbles and head retention.
Some, even on the first pour, can make it look like a totally different beer, flat and lifeless.
My best glasses would probably be the 285ml Brasserie.
You could always try Headmaster glasses which have been roughened up so the bubbles have a nucleation point.

 

[drag]

I have never seen any where were it has advised the way to set the lines on the keg system.
I asume its somthing like as follows
Determin carb level & set pressure to carb
Start with beer line too long and gradually decrease the line to get a decent flow at your pre determend carb level pressure which is now the pouring pressure.
If you have a celli tap is the line length not important?
Can someone let us know if this is correct.

 

[Ross]

I have never seen any where were it has advised the way to set the lines on the keg system.
I asume its somthing like as follows
Determin carb level & set pressure to carb
Start with beer line too long and gradually decrease the line to get a decent flow at your pre determend carb level pressure which is now the pouring pressure.
If you have a celli tap is the line length not important?
Can someone let us know if this is correct.

Basicallly correct, but should be no need to start long & keep decreasing, as there are plenty of calculators online, that will calculate what you need. One in the wiki on here I believe. If using a Celli with flow restrictor, just set your line length as short as possible & adjust at the tap for a perfect pour - This makes switching between ales & highly carbed lagers a breeze.

Cheers Ross

 

[ibast]

Thats about 3psi, how do you get it that low? An dwould'nt all the gas come out of the beer with pressure that low?

It does rely on the inherent pressure in the beer. It pours more like a British pub beer then and Aussie pub beer if you know what I mean.

I flows out rather then streams out and forms a fair head.

With the amount I gas my beer, it splatters all over the place at any more than 20kPa

 

[drag]

Is that becouse your beer line is too short?

 

[ibast]

Is that becouse your beer line is too short?

Is this in reference to my comments.

If so, then no. My lines are actually quite long. I've never trimmed them since I got the set-up.

Its just because I carbonate more then it seems many do. I think the extra head you get suits natural brews better. My head comes from the beer itself, rather then the pouring pressure.

 

[chovain]

Is this in reference to my comments.

If so, then no. My lines are actually quite long. I've never trimmed them since I got the set-up.

Its just because I carbonate more then it seems many do. I think the extra head you get suits natural brews better. My head comes from the beer itself, rather then the pouring pressure.

That actually suggests that your beer lines may be too short. You should ideally be serving your beer at the carbonation pressure. I normally slow-carbonate at about 100kPa. My lines are about 5m long to keep the flow rate down and prevent foaming.

If you're carbonating your beer more than that, then you'll probably need longer lines again. It depends on the height difference between your tap and your keg, and the kind of line your using.

I used to have lines that were about 2m. Left to serve at carbonation pressure, they'd come out too fast. Drop it down a little, and they'd foam (that's partly because the beer is starting to release CO2 in the keg and line). I'd have to serve at about 10-20kPa. I now get a nice flow rate, without the excess foaming.

There are formulae for working out your best line length: See http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=24 or http://hbd.org/clubs/franklin/public_html/docs/balance.html for more info.

 

[crozdog]

As Ross says, checkout the wiki articles, I think there are 2; 1 on setting up a keg system and another on line balancing. I put together the spreadsheet together to simplify the whole line balancing calculations as the info & online calculators I found were not in metric.

Remember each persons system is unique & has its own characteristics. You neeed to understand what yours are and develop a process to simplify your use of it. The use of a calculator such as the spreadsheet will cut down on the trial and error to obtain beer pouring nirvana :lol: Good luck - its an interesting exercise which will result in many great beers.