[Joe_Beer]

Seems like my brews (IPAs) build up carbonation over time. Generally I have a 5 gallon keg in the kegerator for 5 weeks before it's empty. The first week, it's usually a bit flat. Second week, carbonation is better but not great. Third week, it's perfect. about 3/4" head on a pint glass and a nice tingle on the tounge. The following two weeks, it's half a glass of foam with every draw. I'm using 8 feet of 1/4" silicone tubing from the poppet to the tap. Serving pressure is 10psi.

When I transfer from the fermenter, I put about 25 psi on it at room temp and rock the keg back and forth to dissolve CO2 into the beer. I'll do it for about 10 minutes and then stick it in the kegerator with 20psi on it for a week.

I've tried lowering the serving pressure to 2psi and then it just gets flat again. I've swapped out the regulator for a Taprite but that doesn't seem to make a diff. Any thoughts?

[majorvices]

If you are carbonating under pressure it is all about time and pressure. First off you shouldn't even try to carbonate "warm"unless yoiu are natural conditioning. Warm beer will not dissolve co2 well into solution. Cool the beer to serving temps (38? 42? 45? your choice) then shake it at 20-30 psi for 30-60 seconds. Then adjust the co2 down to 10 psi or so (serving pressure) and let it sit for a few days to absorb Co2. If you want it to go faster turn up the Co2 but turn it down to serving psi when it is where you want it.

There's a carbonation chart here: https://www.kegoutlet.com/keg-carbonation-chart.html

[allenhuerta]

Pretty much your answer right above but you're doing a lot of extra steps. Very simply, you could transfer the beer into the keg, chill it down, attach gas at serving temp, and leave it alone for a week like you are already doing.

Leaving it at 20 for a week is too long. Usually when people are doing these rush carbonation methods, they move on to drinking it that next day or so.

If you are wanting your beer quick, you could search on Amazon for carbonation lids. I have a few of those. They give step instructions but I just leave gas attached at serving temp for 24 hours then if a space is open, throw it in the kegerator. If not, leave it in my backup fridge. I've left the gas hooked up for more than 24 hours before without issue. Guess it reached the limit at that pressure and temp. Happy beer once it gets on tap.

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[erockrph]

When I burst carb, after I shake I pressurize the headspace to 20 PSI then disconnect the gas. I'll check carbonation after a few days and may give it one more shot to 15 or 20 PSI if needed. Burst carbonation is a crap shoot, so if you leave the gas connected at a higher pressure you can easily overshoot. I really don't like to leave gas connected at anything higher than serving pressure because of this.

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[tommymorris]

I just connect to 12 PSI at kegging and leave it there for the duration. It is 80-90% carbonated after a week. Generally, I find the beer to young to drink at that point. At 2 weeks the beer is definitely carbonated.  Some of my beers are ready to drink at this point but most need a bit more time.

In that the past I have done the first 24 hours at 30 PSI then turned the gauge pressure down to 12 PSI. That is a bit faster but not worth it to me since the beer is too young to drink (IMHO).

[mainebrewer]

You might want to switch from 1/4" tubing to 3/16".
1/4" tubing provides less than a third of the restriction that 3/16" does.

[majorvices]

You might want to switch from 1/4" tubing to 3/16".
1/4" tubing provides less than a third of the restriction that 3/16" does.

+1 -- i missed that

[Joe_Beer]

Thanks all!

Sounds like 20psi for a week is too much (as well as carbing at room temp). In the past, I tried I've tried hooking up a fresh keg,  just at 10psi for a week, but the beer was still kinda flat. I think a "time" column on those CO2 charts would be handy.

I'm still trying to figure out my keg "aging" process. I do taste a difference every weekend in whatever batch I have kegged but mainly it's the hop character declining. First week it's like "Yumm! hops!" but by the fifth week it's "where'd they go?". I have been noticing a slight acidic taste which seems to be from the CO2. I can smell it in the pour, and taste it, but seems to go away after 1/2 a pint. Might go away once I get my carb situation figure out.

I'll read up on the carbonation lid. I thought the purpose for those lids was to oxygenate when fermenting in the keg but obviously more than one use case there.

If I still run into issues after changing my carb process, I'll check into 3/16 ID line . Switching the kegerator over to the 8' x 1/4" line, from the stock 4' x 3/8" line, made an amazing difference in pour/pressure/foam.

[mainebrewer]

At 10 psi serving pressure, you would need to run about 15 feet of 1/4" tubing to get the beer pressure to equilibrium by the time it gets to the faucet.
All other things being equal, 8 feet of 3/16" will eliminate your glass full of foam.
As others have said, the "shake, rattle and roll" carbonation process is a crap shoot. Many times you'll end up over carbed and then you're left with repeatedly pulling the PRV to release pressure. Which, especially in the case of IPA's, is also just venting the wonderful aroma that should be in your freshly poured glass of beer.
Rapid hop character fade is the result of oxidation, which is a another whole topic.
Do a search on "keg purging", "spunding" and "closed transfer" to get some ideas on how to reduce packaging oxidation. 

[majorvices]

The carb stone in the lid works fine, you don't really need it though. I had one for a while but lent it and never got it back.

The more head space you have the faster the beer will carbonate. If you have very little head space it will take longer. That is one area where the stones are nice because they diffuse into the beer.

It can be as simple as shaking the beer under 30 psi (cold) for 60 seconds, then setting the regulator at 10-12 for a couple days. If  you aren't in a hurry you could add some priming sugar and let it carb naturally at room temp.

If I'm in a hurry I'll get a beer really cold and put 30psi on the "out" post and shake it vigorously for 2 minutes. This usually get's it really close to where I want it to be then I'll dial it in over the next few days. If it isn't carbbed enough after 2 minutes I'll keep shaking for 30 second increments until it is.

You don't have to put the gas on the out post, some say they don't notice any difference, but I like hearing the bubbles bubble up through the beer. I personally think it is faster. YMMV.

[Joe_Beer]

All other things being equal, 8 feet of 3/16" will eliminate your glass full of foam.

Sounds like a plan. Does the wall thickness matter? Seems like there's mostly 1/16" wall around. Theres other stuff on MoreBeer (EVA tubing or someting) but I don't care for all the connectors involved. Seems like more places for gunk to build up.

The more head space you have the faster the beer will carbonate. If you have very little head space it will take longer. That is one area where the stones are nice because they diffuse into the beer.

Ok. I usually have a pretty full keg when I transfer. I close-transfer (fermenter spigot > keg "out".  keg "in" > fermenter air-lock grommet) so hard to see what's going on. Sometimes end up over filling it and then dump some off with a picnic tap but it's just guesswork.

[narcout]

Sounds like a plan. Does the wall thickness matter? Seems like there's mostly 1/16" wall around. Theres other stuff on MoreBeer (EVA tubing or someting) but I don't care for all the connectors involved. Seems like more places for gunk to build up.

Maybe there is something better out there, but of the various types of draft tubing I have tried, this if my favorite so far:

https://www.morebeer.com/products/ultra-barrier-antimicrobial-pvc-free-tubing-316.html

I run 10 feet of that and keep the PSI at 16 or 17 with no issues.

[Joe_Beer]

Maybe there is something better out there, but of the various types of draft tubing I have tried, this if my favorite so far:

Well, it can't get any easier than that I'll stick 10' of it on my next MB order
Thanks!