Carbonation query

The ins and outs of putting your beer into kegs.

Carbonation query

Postby lisa553 » Monday May 26, 2014 11:49 pm

Hey guys, sorry if this has been asked before. I've had a good look all over google and can't find an answer to question.

Basically I put a new keg in the kegerator, left it overnight to chill, the next morning I set it to 30psi, 36 hours later I turned it down to 12psi and started drinking about 24 hours later. Now the beer is cold and good and there's head, but the actual beer has no bubbles. I can tell it's missing some carbonation.

So last night I shook it up and left it again for 24 hours and first few glasses had bubbles but now the bubbles are gone again.

Not too sure what to do, sprayed the gas hose to check for any leaks. It's a pretty long hose so that shouldn't be an issue as I've read on other pages.

Any ideas?
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Re: Carbonation query

Postby weizgei » Tuesday May 27, 2014 9:13 am

Turn your gas bottle off, then look what pressure your regulator is reading. If it's high, purge the keg to get to 12'ish. If it's low, gas it back up to 12'ish. Once it's around 12psi or so, leave the bottle off and take the keg out and give it a good shake around, maybe even lie it down and roll it under your foot (leave the gas side up so you don't get beer up your gas line.

After some shaking/rolling, what's your reg read now? If it's the same, your beer doesn't need any more carbonation, and the problem must be elsewhere. If it has dropped, it's either still absorbing co2, or you have a leak somewhere in the keg.
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Re: Carbonation query

Postby weizgei » Tuesday May 27, 2014 9:23 am

Also, just thinking about it further, are you only getting that good head out of the first pour? If you pour a second glass, is that missing carb? If so you're likely only getting head 'coz of the beer sitting in the line, once that's poured if the rest is undercarbed then it sounds like your keg is either not carbed enough yet, or not fully sealed.
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Re: Carbonation query

Postby lisa553 » Tuesday May 27, 2014 7:51 pm

I turned it off and it sat at around 10psi which shouldn't be an issue?

All glasses have good head but it seems like false head cos it disappears pretty quick. I've sprayed around the area with foam and can't see any leaks.

Will try the rolling thing again, just hate having to wait again afterwards to get clear beer!
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Re: Carbonation query

Postby Boonie » Monday Jul 14, 2014 8:37 pm

Lisa,

My regulator has 'bar' and 'kpa' on it. If you have these readings on your regulator I suggest the following.

With beer cold, connect the gas and turn it up to 230kpa (2.3 bar) for 48 hours (beer cold) or 320 (3.2 bar) for 24 hours and this will be plenty IMHO. If it is too much, leave the gas off and purge every few days/hours until it is right for you.

Cheers

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