No bubbles

[Deevotronics]

Brewed 2 batches, 20 litres each, on the same day.

Put them in the same fermenter.

They went into 2 separate vessels for lagering, both vessels cleaned and sanitised in the same manner.

After a week at 2 degrees (both vessels in the same fridge) i put them into two kegs.

Keg #1 had been used before, keg #2 was a brand new unit.

Both kegs have carbonation from the same manifold, with pressure set to 12 PSI.

Into the kegerator they went, set to 4 degrees.

Keg #1 was great. Lasted a few weeks. All this time, keg #2 was in the same fridge with the same gas pressure.

Once keg #1 ran out I swapped the lines over, expecting another batch of the same beer.

Its the same beer but HAS NO BUBBLES!!! Got a head when I pour from the tap, but there is no visible carbonation.

Any ideas?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Actually...you dont want to see bubbles...

 

[Danscraftbeer]

A head is visible carbonation yeah? Whats it like to drink? Aging has great effect on beer in short term sense rather than wine that can take years. Beer can mature well in very shorter terms. Like for a new beer in keg every day can make a difference to then, weeks and on can make lots of difference.

 

[Pogierob]

Does it taste flat?

 

[Deevotronics]

Tastes flat, bit cloudy. Not sure ageing was the issue, same brew in keg #1 was bright, crisp and bubbly. As a Pilsner ought to be. Flat keg was same brew recipie and age, just different keg.

Ducati can you please elaborate? Why do you say bubbles in beer is bad?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Tastes flat, bit cloudy. Not sure ageing was the issue, same brew in keg #1 was bright, crisp and bubbly. As a Pilsner ought to be. Flat keg was same brew recipie and age, just different keg.

Ducati can you please elaborate? Why do you say bubbles in beer is bad?

Bubble show that the gas is coming out of the beer making it go flat.

Have a look at a good coopers on tap in the proper glass.....no bubbles

Bubbles are a mega-swill thing to make you think the beer is good

 

[Crumpet]

I would have thought bubbles were a pretty prime component in the aroma of a beer. Hence the reason SN and dogfish went to the effort of making that IPA glass.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Beer should not look like Champagne

 

[nosco]

If you can bubbles in your glass then you need to clean your glasd better.

 

[Rocker1986]

All my beer glasses have etching in them to promote head retention. I don't find the beer goes flat if I drink it fast enough. If it sits there for ages then yeah, but by then it's also gone warm and bloody horrible anyway.

Sounds like the issue here is that the beer is already flat when it's poured? Does it taste flat from the first sip or is it just going flat really quickly?

 

[Grott]

Tastes flat, bit cloudy. Not sure ageing was the issue, same brew in keg #1 was bright, crisp and bubbly. As a Pilsner ought to be. Flat keg was same brew recipie and age, just different keg.

You state you originally carbonated both kegs from the same manifold and I assume at the same time. Could it be that keg #2 was not receiving the co2 or limited by some restriction? Check out line to keg #2 is working when line one is also being used. Hope it helps.
Cheers

 

[Deevotronics]

All my beer glasses have etching in them to promote head retention. I don't find the beer goes flat if I drink it fast enough. If it sits there for ages then yeah, but by then it's also gone warm and bloody horrible anyway.

Sounds like the issue here is that the beer is already flat when it's poured? Does it taste flat from the first sip or is it just going flat really quickly?

Flat right away. No head retention at all.

 

[CrookedFingers]

Check seals on keg #2 ?
You said it was new, maybe not all tightened up.