No Carbonation!

[Brewer #404298]

Have done this many times previously. Flushed the keg with CO2. Transferred my English Brown Ale to my 5 gallon keg on Friday morning. Attached the tank and put it in my kegerator. I left it set at my usual 7-8 PSI as I found that gives me good serving carbonation. I had to travel so when I came back on Tuesday night, I had a beer, no carbonation. Odd, so I shook the keg to get it going (not uncommon). Tried it Wednesday, nothing, shook the keg again. Thursday same and I turned up the PSI to 9. Today (1 week later), better carbonation (but not complete), but no head foam.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Josh Hughes]

Leak?

 

[Brewer #404298]

Leak?

I don't think so as the tank pressure has not gone down that I can see. If there was a leak, I would assume the bottle would be empty by now after a week. It is just odd that I have pressure to dispense, but not enough to get decent carbonation. Maybe I will take it apart and reconnect?

 

[Josh Hughes]

Hmm I’m sure some guys who force carb will jump in. I spund abd use co2 to push out so I’m not as well versed.

 

[Brew Cat]

Have done this many times previously. Flushed the keg with CO2. Transferred my English Brown Ale to my 5 gallon keg on Friday morning. Attached the tank and put it in my kegerator. I left it set at my usual 7-8 PSI as I found that gives me good serving carbonation. I had to travel so when I came back on Tuesday night, I had a beer, no carbonation. Odd, so I shook the keg to get it going (not uncommon). Tried it Wednesday, nothing, shook the keg again. Thursday same and I turned up the PSI to 9. Today (1 week later), better carbonation (but not complete), but no head foam.

What am I doing wrong?

I've noticed some beers are harder to get CO2 into solution than others for some reason
I do it a bit differently
I'll force carb at 15-20 Psi for a full week Then drop the pressure to serving pressure after its carbonated
I think you can force carb at serving pressure but will probably take at least 2 weeks
that's my experience anyway but you say you have done it before

 

[Donoroto]

Run the pressure up high, like 30-40 psi, then use a soapy water solution to check for leaks, tiny bubbles. Be meticulous.

 

[Brew Cat]

Run the pressure up high, like 30-40 psi, then use a soapy water solution to check for leaks, tiny bubbles. Be meticulous.

he says the tank holds pressure so may not be a leak unless his tank goes empty
I force carb but disconnect the gas just in case
like I mentioned above I would be surprised if a beer was carbonated after 4 days at only 7psi
of course CO2 pressure and keg temperature work together
warmer the keg the higher pressure you need
hed doesn't mention temperature of the keg
there are calculators on line

 

[J A]

On beers that I don't finish under pressure, I burst carb a 30 to 40 lbs, either leaving on high pressure overnight or, more often, topping up 2-3 times a day for 2-3 days until the desired volumes are in the beer. Your pressure of 7-8 lbs sounds a little on the low side and would take a while to carb up but 9 lbs should be fine.
I'd be double checking the regulator. It doesn't take much malfunction to make a difference of a couple of pounds. The fact that increasing to a higher setting than you normally use gave closer to the accustomed results points in that direction.
Another thing to consider is temperature. If it's colder than you normally keep it for some reason or has become partially frozen, it could take longer to carb.

 

[Dave Y]

I've noticed some beers are harder to get CO2 into solution than others for some reason
I do it a bit differently
I'll force carb at 15-20 Psi for a full week Then drop the pressure to serving pressure after its carbonated
I think you can force carb at serving pressure but will probably take at least 2 weeks
that's my experience anyway but you say you have done it before

Run the pressure up high, like 30-40 psi, then use a soapy water solution to check for leaks, tiny bubbles. Be meticulous.

Agreed. If you want the beer able to be tapped sooner, do a burst carbonation as described above. Check for leaks - A star san solution in a spray bottle is great for this.

Right now, I'm in no hurry for anything on tap so I can brew and just put on maintenance CO2. But, for something that's filling a gap in the lineup, burst carbonate. I'll charge, purge, agitate(sometimes), repeat a few times, set to about 20-25psi and recharge the next day. Unless it's going on nitro.
If not going on nitro after 2 days of high psi, I will put in the storage fridge with maintenance pressure - between 5 & 10 psi and hold. Depending on the keg lineup, I may keep the gas off and activate it once / day to level the kegs up. I hate burning through a gas cylinder because my keg seal is bad.

 

[Bigbre04]

Another important thing is ensuring that you have some space in the keg for the gas.

shake carbing is very easy if you need it fast.

7 does seem fairly low in general unless the beer is STUPID cold(31-33f)

If you have a short draft system i would set the pressure to 11 or 12 and that should hold very nicely at 36-38f.

On a side note i am pumped i finally ordered a Zahm and Nagel!

 

[Mike at Bay]

Interesting. I am having a similar issue right now with a choc PB porter that I put on gas a few days ago. My beer has been very cold and the beer is pretty "heavy" being a porter and slower than normal to get carb. I have it set at 20 psi at the moment......beer is getting there but still no head. I need it to warm up outside for a few days. (Keezer is outside.)

 

[Vodka Drunkenski]

What am I doing wrong?

You're not bottling.

(Sorry I couldn't resist)

 

[Minbari]

Have done this many times previously. Flushed the keg with CO2. Transferred my English Brown Ale to my 5 gallon keg on Friday morning. Attached the tank and put it in my kegerator. I left it set at my usual 7-8 PSI as I found that gives me good serving carbonation. I had to travel so when I came back on Tuesday night, I had a beer, no carbonation. Odd, so I shook the keg to get it going (not uncommon). Tried it Wednesday, nothing, shook the keg again. Thursday same and I turned up the PSI to 9. Today (1 week later), better carbonation (but not complete), but no head foam.

What am I doing wrong?

Assuming there is no leaks, 7psi would take weeks.

Turn it up to 40psi for 2 days then down to serving pressure.

 

[Craigerrr]

Before I started fermenting under pressure, I would set a new keg at 25-30 PSI for about 3 days usually pretty well carbonated at that point

 

[Mike at Bay]

Before I started fermenting under pressure, I would set a new keg at 25-30 PSI for about 3 days usually pretty well carbonated at that point

Yep. That just worked for my Porter. Very nice head on it now.

 

[UNIDRUMMER]

Have done this many times previously. Flushed the keg with CO2. Transferred my English Brown Ale to my 5 gallon keg on Friday morning. Attached the tank and put it in my kegerator. I left it set at my usual 7-8 PSI as I found that gives me good serving carbonation. I had to travel so when I came back on Tuesday night, I had a beer, no carbonation. Odd, so I shook the keg to get it going (not uncommon). Tried it Wednesday, nothing, shook the keg again. Thursday same and I turned up the PSI to 9. Today (1 week later), better carbonation (but not complete), but no head foam.

What am I doing wrong?

Carbonation relies on temperature and pressure. C02 will not go into solution of the temp is too high, it will just stay on the head space of your vessel. At 7 psi your temp would need to be around 33° to reach a max carb level of 2.33. See attached chart. As someone else said, the higher the temp of the liquid the more pressure you will need. Some beers are also more difficult to carbonate.