Carbonation trouble

[Razovich]

Just looking for advice re carbonation. Have done several brews and am struggling to get the required carb level with force carbonation.

Have checked for leaks, none that I know of. Have had top end lager,Aztec Cerveza and lawn mower lager in conditioning in 10l ss kegs for a month then in fridge for two weeks at 13psi. Seems like with my flow control taps almost on lowest setting I just end up with mostly foam and flat beer. It’s like the gas is just sitting in the head space of the keg and not being absorbed.

Any thoughts idea’s would be appreciated as beer is quite good but I can’t stand drinking it flat

[Thagomizer]

@Razovich,

Sorry to hear you're having this kegging problem.  I don't have any kegging experience beyond the BrewFlo and the Party Star Mini keg, but I suspect a plumbing issue.  Hopefully, another member can offer specific advice.

A short-term solution to saving your current brew is to get a DrinkMate system.  It will allow you to carbonate about anything.  It requires a small CO2 cannister and comes with special bottles.  You pour the flat beer into one of the bottles and insert the bottle into the device.  You control the amount of carbonation by pushing down on the lever until you are satisfied.  It is awkward, but it beats flat beer.  I used to use swing-top bottles and got a lot of flat beers.  The DrinkMate solved that problem.  But I now use crown caps when I bottle.

After you solve your kegging issue, you can use the DrinkMate to put some fizz into Kool-Aid for your children. 😄

Happy brewing.

[Razovich]

Any thoughts or tips @Captain 3 Droids , @Dustin Frothman

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Hey @Razovich I'll have a crack at helping you with this issue.

First, can you please explain your set up, what you are using in as much detail as you can.

From your first post, you are using 9.5l SS corny kegs and what are you using for carbonation? Are you using a mini-regulator and SodaStream bottle? Or perhaps a larger CO2 bottle with full sized regulator? A kegerator or Keezer?

From the post, you are conditioning in a fridge under pressure using 13 psi. So it's certainly strange that the beer is flat and you're getting nothing much more than foam when you pour.

You are right in that it seems your beer isn't getting carbonated and when pouring from your tap, it's all head from the carbonation sitting in the head space.

I would try a couple of things, first would be to look at something like a pluto gun or picnic tap to rule out your flow control taps. Another thing, spray Star/Stellar San over the entire set up and look for bubbles. Some times they can be easy to miss, I've found a couple of small slow leaks in my Kegerator setup previously that I only found by putting all the gas lines into water and turning the gas on.

Another thing to try is to tighten all the fittings on your corny kegs. Those posts can get lose and will lead to a gas leak. To test, try spraying StellarSan on like with the gas lines. Also spray around the keg lid as those seals can move or age and cause a leak.

I make sure I use a food grade silicone lubricant over the lid O-ring and the posts before filling every time.

I'll post more when I have a chance to put some more thought into it, in the mean time, if you can detail your current set up, it will help a lot.

Cheers

 

[Razovich]

Hi @Wazza_wantsbeer,

thanks for your help/advice. Have 10l ikegger kegs with 2.6kg gas bottle and regulator. Have managed to get some slight carbonation by increasing pressure to 28psi for two days then dropping to serving pressure of 13psi. Still think it is under carbonated. It is in a kegerator and am wondering if the fluctuation on the temp could be causing a slight issue. How important is a constant temperature? As you can see in pics I run gas line from bottle regulator through mini individual regulators to each keg.