Force Carbing - Leaks?

[Monmouth00]

Hello All,

Just transferred my kolsch into the corny after about 2 weeks in the primary.

I normally either carbonate my beer in the keg with priming sugar, or chill it quickly before hitting it with 30-40 Psi and rocking it for 10 or so minutes.

As I don't intend to drink this one for a few weeks (vacation), I read up on some threads about hitting the room-temp (68 deg) beer with 30 Psi, which I did. I burped it a few times to let the air out, and ensure it was well capped with CO2. Every time I pulled the PRV, it hissed like it was charged with 30 Lbs. Then I disconnected the CO2.

After charged, I gave the lid a little squirt with soapy water, and didn't see any bubbles.

Well, I'm curious, and generally impatient, and I went back the next morning and pulled the PRV again. I wanted to make sure it wasn't actually leaking. It hissed, but only a tiny bit.

Is that because the beer cooled overnight and absorbed the CO2? Or is my corny lid leaking?

I reconnected the CO2, and hit it with another 30 Lbs, disconnecting after. I'm hoping i'm not over'carbonating my beer.

What are your thoughts? Leak or CO2 absorption?

Go home and pull the PRV again? What if it's just a tiny pfft?

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[Jag75]

Since you checked with soapy water and confirmed there were no leaks I think your right about absorbing. I've never primed with sugar in a keg before but you may have been better off doing that since it was gonna sit for a couple weeks . Kinda like a big bottle.

 

[homebrewfinds]

I don't think 30 PSI in the head space at room temp will do much in the way of carbonation. Never heard of that technique and the math (or what I'm imaging the math would be) doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Jag75]

A keg @ 70 degrees for 2.5 volumes you need 28.8 psi , however it needs to be kept on gas for roughly 2 weeks to get that volume.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Yep, it needs to stay connected to the gas. If you don't want to leave the CO2 connected, give it a burst of 30PSI each day for a couple of weeks and it'll be about right (it might need a small top-up burst once chilled).

 

[Monmouth00]

Ok, thank you. Checked again, and the pressure seems to be holding. Got a good, quick burp when I pulled the PRV tonight, so the keg is holding pressure. C
The fridge is set at about 40 degrees, and the beer is chilled to that temp.
Rocked it for a bit, and will hit it again with another 30 psi in the morning. I think I should leave it like that until I get home from vacation in 5 days. Think that's enough?

 

[bracconiere]

do you have a bathroom scale? i'd think you had a leak. no way it absorbed 30 PSI in a day....vasoline the PRV at the bottom while open, try the experiment again...

edit: how old are the keg poppets in general? even the gas and bev out poppets get leaks...need to be replaced every few years. i've lost a lot of beer not just co2 to leaky bev out poppets

 

[day_trippr]

I dunno, put five gallons of "uncarbonated" beer in a tight corny keg, fill the scant head space with 30 psi and disconnect the gas, I'd rather expect there'd be little head space pressure the next day...

Cheers!

 

[verboten]

I do this all the time, it always takes a big hit of gas the next day because it absorbs it.

 

[Jag75]

I dunno, put five gallons of "uncarbonated" beer in a tight corny keg, fill the scant head space with 30 psi and disconnect the gas, I'd rather expect there'd be little head space pressure the next day...

Cheers!

Yup , exact experience I had one time

 

[bracconiere]

ok, ok...i don't hurry and give it 30 PSI....but as a experiment i will when i keg my stout...check back later! (leak, or no leak! "The truth is out there", lol)

edit: in fact i had a empty keg, i filled it with water, pressurized it 30 psi...report back in the morning...these sorta serious topics is why i love it here! (greenhouse gases and climate change and stuff....don't want leaks! )

 

[camonick]

The fridge is set at about 40 degrees, and the beer is chilled to that temp.
Rocked it for a bit, and will hit it again with another 30 psi in the morning. I think I should leave it like that until I get home from vacation in 5 days. Think that's enough?

If you’re going to be gone for 5 days and you’re confident there are no leaks in your system why not just leave the gas connected at 10-12 psi while you’re gone?

 

[Jag75]

For me I've found success with force carbing @ 30psi for 36 hours, then 12 psi for around 36 hours and it's perfect.

 

[Monmouth00]

Ok, so I checked again this morning. A big, healthy release of CO2 when I burped it, so I've ruled out a leak.

I bled it completely and hooked it up to about 12 psi, where it will sit until I return on Monday.

Fingers crossed it doesn't foam like hell when I pour my first pint next week.

I'll report back, but will likely revert to old carbonation techniques for the next batch.

 

[balrog]

DayTripper's right. You don't have enough volume space left (a quart maybe) at 30 psi to hold the vol of CO2 that will *EVENTUALLY* absorbed into 5G of beer.

I do this at room temp (yes, dear, I promise not to buy yet another freezer) and have to keep 30psi on for about 24hr before disconnecting. At 65F, 2.5vol, headspace has to be about 25psi.

 

[Monmouth00]

DayTripper's right. You don't have enough volume space left (a quart maybe) at 30 psi to hold the vol of CO2 that will *EVENTUALLY* absorbed into 5G of beer.

I do this at room temp (yes, dear, I promise not to buy yet another freezer) and have to keep 30psi on for about 24hr before disconnecting. At 65F, 2.5vol, headspace has to be about 25psi.

So, it went into the kegerator under 30 psi at 68, but dropped to 39 overnight.

When I recharged it back to 30 psi the next morning, it was at 39.

It held pressure for 24 hours, when I bled it completely, and reset at 12 psi where it will sit until Monday.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll have carbonated beer when I return.

We shall see!

 

[bracconiere]

i guess i'm pretty much irrelevant here, but i pulled the PRV valve this morning on that keg of water, and it hissed for a second.....

It hissed, but only a tiny bit.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll have carbonated beer when I return.

+1, confirmed

 

[Vale71]

So, it went into the kegerator under 30 psi at 68, but dropped to 39 overnight.

When I recharged it back to 30 psi the next morning, it was at 39.

It held pressure for 24 hours, when I bled it completely, and reset at 12 psi where it will sit until Monday.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll have carbonated beer when I return.

We shall see!

No you won't, especially if you keep on venting the headspace for no reason and then disconnecting the CO2.
It takes quite a lot of CO2 to carbonate that much beer and that is not going to manifest itself out of thin air. The regulator must be connected to the keg to keep pumping CO2 into the headspace for as long as it takes for beer to absorb enough CO2 to reach equilibrium. This will take more than a couple of days, especially at lower temperatures.

 

[bracconiere]

We shall see!

report back, and let us know!

 

[Jag75]

I think he said he was setting it to 12psi and leaving it . I dont think hes u hooking

 

[bracconiere]

I think he said he was setting it to 12psi and leaving it . I dont think hes u hooking

(and i have a hell of a time with regulator creep, so it might be over carb'd, if he set it to 12 psi. and it creeps up to 18-20)

 

[Monmouth00]

No you won't, especially if you keep on venting the headspace for no reason and then disconnecting the CO2.
It takes quite a lot of CO2 to carbonate that much beer and that is not going to manifest itself out of thin air. The regulator must be connected to the keg to keep pumping CO2 into the headspace for as long as it takes for beer to absorb enough CO2 to reach equilibrium. This will take more than a couple of days, especially at lower temperatures.

The CO2 is connected at 12 psi, where it will remain for the next 5 days.

 

[Monmouth00]

(and i have a hell of a time with regulator creep, so it might be over carb'd, if he set it to 12 psi. and it creeps up to 18-20)

it hasn't crept up since this am, but thank you for the heads up. I'll keep an eye on it until I leave.

 

[Monmouth00]

Poured a pint or two last night. It looks well enough carbonated for me!

A nice head, and some bubbles climbing up the sides of the glass after the pour. I'd say the experiment was a success.

That being said, I'm going back to carbonating in the keg using priming sugar. Or, in a pinch, chilling the beer to 39deg before charging with 30 psi and rocking the thing for an hour or so. There was too much back-and-forth and uncertainty in this method.

Thanks, everybody! Cheers!