Carbonation Problems~ The mysterious case of the tiny keg

[landonn]

Hello all, new on here, been browsing for a couple months l I am trying to diagnose a problem with my Cornelius Keg System. I have a 2.5 gallon keg with a carbonation stone and a 15 meter lineout hose. With heavy agitation and ice, we could make a great soda water that was slightly less bubbly and sharp than Perrier in 5-6 minutes with a vigorous agitation for 30 seconds before we hit 80 psi. We are not getting the same results for some reason; the soda is far less carbonated than before. As far as I know there are no leaks or problems. My buddy and I are very green, are we missing something blatantly obvious?! Much thanks for reading. If this comment is not thorough enough I can easily provide any information I missed!

 

[164BrewingSoda]

Hey! So a few quick questions...do you chill you drink before carbonation? And do you agitate your keg for only around 30 seconds? Also...have you ever seen a carbonation chart that is used for beer?

Personally...when I make soda I tend to get the beverage to around 40-35 degrees. Then I can carbonate at around 30psi (carbonating at around 80psi would scare the crap out of me), and I shake for around 10 minutes.

A cold beverage can hold onto carbonation easier, and shaking it for an extended period of time helps the liquid hold onto more CO2.

Hope this helps!

 

[landonn]

Thanks for the response 164BrewingSoda! Yes, we have a beer carbonation chart but do not know how to transfer the information on the chart to soda. We watched a ton of youtube videos and read a lot through this website and have had a hard time finding any consensus on directions or methods on force carbonating, especially with a carbonation stone, so we landed on 80psi out of trial, error and a video of an old man. We use ice water but until now have not gotten a read on temperature, ill add that in. We are agitating during most of the carbonation time, vigorously for the first 2 minutes and slower thereafter.

Could the high psi have messed up our carb stone?

 

[164BrewingSoda]

Gottcha!!
So for me when I make soda...I stick around to a 4.0 volume of CO2. It is a nice and refreshing CO2 level and wont agitate you like a Dr Pepper or something.

As far as the psi disrupting the stone...that will absolutely happen! When the psi is at a high level (especailly at levels like 80psi) it will be ineffective in producing the small bubbles wanted from a stone. An amazing guide to this would be this It talks a bit about this on page 13.

For me...if you have the space to store the keg in a fridge, or even in a nice big ice bucket I highly encourage it. What ever you can do to get that temp down so that you can achieve a lower, constant psi the better.

 

[landonn]

Great! Thank You! we will adjust and report back soon :fro:

 

[164BrewingSoda]

Sounds good!! Best of luck, and I hope that that helps!

 

[landonn]

We got our temperature down and followed your advices and are happy to report some major improvements! We are in the process of cleaning our carbonation stone very thoroughly. I think during vigorous agitation the carbon stone hit the sides of the keg and banged it up so if ours is still troubling us after the clean we have a new carbonation stone on the way as well. I am wondering how to solve this problem. Is there an accessory to either keep the carbonation stone in a fixed position with a small wand for a Cornelius Keg (like in the picture)? or perhaps a plastic cone to protect the sides of the stone? at the moment it is attached to typical flimsy tubing.

 

[jimmer]

Sounds like a good idea. I'd try making a disc from a piece of milk bottle, with a hole sized to keep it between the stone and the nut in your picture.