3 Kegs Carbed, 4th Didn't Carb

[milo_leon]

Hello all,

My friend and I have a perplexing issue with one keg that refused to be carbed.

We have 4 kegs in the keezer, and 3 of the kegs carbed up nicely - they are a pale ale, porter, and coffee porter. The 4th keg is a keg hopped pale ale, and this beer is giving us trouble.

We usually pressurize at 8-10 PSI at 34-36 degrees depending on the style of the beer. We noticed the 3 beers were fine after a week, but the 4th was not so we shut off the co2 valves to the other 3 and boosted pressure to 20 psi to force carb the 4th keg, and we also checked for leaks with negative results. Two days later, beer is still not carbed and the co2 tank is showing it still has pressure/co2.

Last night, I switched to a different co2 line and boosted pressure to 30 and will be checking tonight (will also swap in a fresh tank and a new regulator that we already bought prior to this issue). I wanted to ask what could be causing a beer to not carb? We checked for leaks, and there seem to be none unless we are missing something?

Thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kh54s10]

You will have to keep checking things. There are only two answers - a leak, or co2 is not getting into the keg.

 

[milo_leon]

You will have to keep checking things. There are only two answers - a leak, or co2 is not getting into the keg.

How would co2 not get into the keg? what could block the co2 line?

 

[wstumper]

Ice formation?

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

That's what I was thinking too. Did you ever actually pull on the PRV to see if CO2 was actually making it to the keg? You may have a bad disconnect or possibly something that's not pushing the poppet in to allow the flow of CO2
Just a thought.
Based on the info you provided I don't think you have a leak. Wouldn't the CO2 tank have emptied during that time frame?

 

[CarolinaMatt]

Hello all,

My friend and I have a perplexing issue with one keg that refused to be carbed.

We have 4 kegs in the keezer, and 3 of the kegs carbed up nicely - they are a pale ale, porter, and coffee porter. The 4th keg is a keg hopped pale ale, and this beer is giving us trouble.

We usually pressurize at 8-10 PSI at 34-36 degrees depending on the style of the beer. We noticed the 3 beers were fine after a week, but the 4th was not so we shut off the co2 valves to the other 3 and boosted pressure to 20 psi to force carb the 4th keg, and we also checked for leaks with negative results. Two days later, beer is still not carbed and the co2 tank is showing it still has pressure/co2.

Last night, I switched to a different co2 line and boosted pressure to 30 and will be checking tonight (will also swap in a fresh tank and a new regulator that we already bought prior to this issue). I wanted to ask what could be causing a beer to not carb? We checked for leaks, and there seem to be none unless we are missing something?

Thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Have you tried taking about the CO2 post? See if there is blockage there or any issues with the rubber gaskets.

 

[lump42]

How would co2 not get into the keg? what could block the co2 line?

If there's no pressure (pull prv) after switching to a different gas line (that worked on the one of the other three), then there is an issue of gas getting into the keg. Poppet is blocked, clear the blockage. Poppet spring is too tight (happens more with universal poppets) and one or two turns need to removed. If there was a leak in the keg, the tank would be empty within few days, check with star san or soapy water in a spray bottle.

Good luck troubleshooting.

 

[lump42]

Also, because it hasn't been said, make sure the tank is open and the valves on any distributor/manifold are turned on. Never discount the overly obvious solutions!

 

[milo_leon]

That's what I was thinking too. Did you ever actually pull on the PRV to see if CO2 was actually making it to the keg? You may have a bad disconnect or possibly something that's not pushing the poppet in to allow the flow of CO2
Just a thought.
Based on the info you provided I don't think you have a leak. Wouldn't the CO2 tank have emptied during that time frame?

Yes, we vented the keg to test if co2 was flowing into the keg and it would vent then re-pressurize. Also manually pressed the co2 quick disconnect and co2 flows out normally, manually pressed down on the poppet on the keg and co2 comes out.

Am hoping its just a random situation and not an on-going issue.

 

[balrog]

Pressurize the keg (like 20psi or more), then REMOVE the gas-in line from the keg.
Wait a day.
Do you still have pressure?

I had a liquid out post that leaked where it met the keg. So it did not leak liquid, coming up through the dip tube, but it leaked gas where the post seat was on the keg. Was not terribly obvious. When I found a pressurized keg would not hold for a couple days, I simply took off both posts, used keg lube, and cranked them back on tightly to solve the issue.

 

[milo_leon]

Pressurize the keg (like 20psi or more), then REMOVE the gas-in line from the keg.
Wait a day.
Do you still have pressure?

I had a liquid out post that leaked where it met the keg. So it did not leak liquid, coming up through the dip tube, but it leaked gas where the post seat was on the keg. Was not terribly obvious. When I found a pressurized keg would not hold for a couple days, I simply took off both posts, used keg lube, and cranked them back on tightly to solve the issue.

Great tip - we will try this and see what happens

 

[balrog]

Actually what I did was to only have that keg hooked up to the tank, and I shut off the tank valve so I could see the pressure gauges, and what they did over time. But remember if the beer has not absorbed much CO2, some pressure loss will be due to absorbtion of CO2 into liquid. But if you have a real leak, it'll go down to ZERO instead of some headspace equillibrium pressure.

 

[milo_leon]

Update: the beer is starting to carb slowly at 30 psi, tank is still holding co2 so definitely not a leak. I am suspecting it is the gas disconnect/poppet that is restricting the flow of co2 (as others mentioned in the thread) as the keg does take longer to re-pressurize compared to the other kegs. Will continue to monitor and get new parts to test out my theory.