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Author Topic: My beer is flat  (Read 3644 times)

Offline headhunter4hire

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My beer is flat
« on: February 05, 2012, 10:53:25 am »
Aloha,

I'm new to this so please don't frag me! I kegged my first beer, a colonial IPA. The color and taste came out great, there was no carbonation. I didn't make or add a sugar priming solution before I kegged it. I was told that it wasn't required because the co2 would add the carbonation.

I hooked my co2 up and let it sit for a couple of days before pouring, my regulator is set at 12 psi. Can this keg be saved or will I have to drink it flat until my next batch? I have two more batches fermenting right now, should I prime them as if I were going to bottle them?

Much mahalo.

Offline cheba420

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Re: My beer is flat
« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2012, 11:12:27 am »
Personally, I dont like to prime a keg. I've done it a couple of times and just didnt care for it. If you leave the gas on for a few days, you'll get it carbonated just fine. If you want to speed it up, crank your regulator up to 25-30 psi and you'll be all carb'd up in even less time.

Now, if you want to get all scientific and precise about it, you'll want to take a look at the carbonation cart posted here:http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

If, after taking one of these routes, your beer still isnt carbonated, you probably have a leak in your keg gaskets, line or connections. Crank up the gas and spray the hell out of everything with star san. If theres a leak, you'll see bubbles!

Good luck!
Matt
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: My beer is flat
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2012, 01:16:59 am »
Use the chart, figure out the volumes you want and the temp of the beer, set it at that PSI and forget it for a few days.  It will carb up just fine.  If it is not carbing, I would suspect a leak in the system (which is really common) so it will be some work to track it down.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline mainebrewer

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Re: My beer is flat
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2012, 07:07:16 am »
You say the beer has been on the gas for a couple of days at 12 psi.
I use the "set it and forget it" method to carb my beer.
I set it at 10-12 psi , serving temp is 40 degrees and it takes 5-7 days to carb.
Occaisionally, it takes a couple more days to be fully carbed.
"It's not that people are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that just isn't true." Ronald Reagan

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: My beer is flat
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2012, 08:49:34 am »
Aloha,

I'm new to this so please don't frag me! I kegged my first beer, a colonial IPA. The color and taste came out great, there was no carbonation. I didn't make or add a sugar priming solution before I kegged it. I was told that it wasn't required because the co2 would add the carbonation.

I hooked my co2 up and let it sit for a couple of days before pouring, my regulator is set at 12 psi. Can this keg be saved or will I have to drink it flat until my next batch? I have two more batches fermenting right now, should I prime them as if I were going to bottle them?

Much mahalo.

If you give the keg a shake ( I like to rock it back and forth) do you hear a hiss of co2 entering? it will hiss for a minute or two and then stop. if so then it is still picking up co2. If you have a strong back you can pick the keg up while it is hooked up to the gas and holding the top in one hand and the bottom in the other rock back and forth from foot to foot. you will hear the gas entering. If you have the patience and the stamina you can continue that until you no longer hear gas entering the keg. It is now carbed. you can drink the night you keg if you want. but it does get better after a few days. I was under the impression that with the set and forget method it takes at least a week to carb.
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Offline headhunter4hire

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Re: My beer is flat
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2012, 09:10:04 am »
Thanks for the replays. I will take a look at the chart. My kegs are only the 5 gallon kegs so they are easy to left and shake.

Offline euge

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Re: My beer is flat
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2012, 12:02:10 pm »
I suspect a leak if there is little to no carbonation. It is perfectly fine to prime a keg if that is what you want to do.
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Offline headhunter4hire

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Re: My beer is flat
« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2012, 02:45:05 pm »
-Morticaixavier, shook the keg and could hear the co2 going in, very nice. I don't seem to have any leaks in my system. I'm going to shake it a couple more times and give it a day or two. Thanks for all the help, I was hoping that I wasn't going to have to prime my next two batches.

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: My beer is flat
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2012, 03:08:32 pm »
-Morticaixavier, shook the keg and could hear the co2 going in, very nice. I don't seem to have any leaks in my system. I'm going to shake it a couple more times and give it a day or two. Thanks for all the help, I was hoping that I wasn't going to have to prime my next two batches.

you might still have a leak. The hiss just means that the beer isn't carbed to serving presure yet. Try the star san foam test for leaks. it sucks to have to refill the co2 bottle all the time.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce