Help with My Carbonation Issues

[Quadrupled]

About three weeks ago I kegged three beers and a root beer. I set the regulator to 12 PSI, left it for about a week and a half and when I tried each, the Kölsch was really flat and had absolutely no head (two other beers seemed okay). So I left the porter and APA set at 12 PSI and cranked the pressure up to 20 PSI on the root beer and Kölsch, left it for a few days and checked it again and it was still flat.

Concerned that there was a small leak at a seal, I unhooked the Kölsch and let it sit for a few days to listen for a rush of gas into the keg when I hooked the CO2 lines back up. When I reattached the lines, I heard no CO2 rush in - as a check, I pulled the pressure release valve and after letting go, I heard the CO2 hiss when filling the keg.

Next, I cranked the pressure up to 30 PSI followed by 40 PSI for a few days each - tasting with each and still no head although some very light carbonation is now noticeable. To see if my regulator is grossly inaccurate, I built a corny keg gauge using a spare gas disconnect, piece of tubing and pressure gauge. The regulator gauge reads 39 PSI, and my rig reads 37, so again I haven't solved my issue.

I really would appreciate some good explanations on what is occurring and why this beer isn't a foamy mess and some suggestions as to what I can do to carb it up (I just did the CO2 burst two times tonight and it is was 10oz of foam and 2 oz beer).

It seems to me that the beer should have carbed up fully by now, following BobbyM's diagram.

I forgot to mention that somewhere in the timeline I switched gas lines and ports on the distributor to make sure these weren't the problem.

Keezer temp originally set at 41F and now set to 34F.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

(I just did the CO2 burst two times tonight and it is was 10oz of foam and 2 oz beer)

Can you explain exactly what you did here?

 

[Quadrupled]

Thanks for the reply.

What I did for the burst carbing:

I remove the corny with partly carbed beer from keezer (keg already charged with CO2 at ~40 PSI), laid it sideways and shook about 30 seconds. Recharged with CO2 (heard keg headspace fill with CO2) and repeated shake & refill once more (three times total). About an hour later, I took sample and it was foam. I took a sample a little bit ago and found it to still be very foamy.

Now that it's carbed up, I'm thinking about just lengthening the beer line to account for the foam. But I'd still really like to know why the set it and forget it method worked for two of the beers (all hooked up at the same time through a distributor) and the Kölsch fought me so much.

 

[duboman]

It sounds like you went from under carbed to ever carbed:

The pressure is dependent upon the temperature of the beer and it sounds as though your temp was originally high and your PSI was too low for the temp, now that you dropped the temp the psi should be more in line. I keep my beer at 38-39 and serve at 12 psi and use 10' lines.

Also, for the root beer, I learned that it should be at a much higher PSI with much longer lines. I have a keg of root beer at 30psi using 25' lines.

 

[Quadrupled]

It sounds like you went from under carbed to ever carbed:

The pressure is dependent upon the temperature of the beer and it sounds as though your temp was originally high and your PSI was too low for the temp, now that you dropped the temp the psi should be more in line. I keep my beer at 38-39 and serve at 12 psi and use 10' lines.

Also, for the root beer, I learned that it should be at a much higher PSI with much longer lines. I have a keg of root beer at 30psi using 25' lines.

Yeah, I decided to just go with the root beer conditions which is why I used 30-40 PSI. Now I've got to double back to repair the final "fix". I know slow and steady wins the race, but it seemed like it was going to be an eternal battle.

Do your beers all carb at the same rate?

 

[duboman]

Yeah, I decided to just go with the root beer conditions which is why I used 30-40 PSI. Now I've got to double back to repair the final "fix". I know slow and steady wins the race, but it seemed like it was going to be an eternal battle.

Do your beers all carb at the same rate?

For the most part yes and I'm new to kegging so I'm still learning but I get all my beers to proper serving temp and then force carb sort of:

I don't remember who made the suggestion but I set to 12 psi and roll the keg on floor for a few minutes, hook up the gas and let it charge, repeat a couple times until I no longer hear any gas flowing and then just put everything in the kegerator for a couple days and then serve. It seems to work pretty well and I don't get the chance to over carb because I stay at serving temp when I force

 

[Quadrupled]

For the most part yes and I'm new to kegging so I'm still learning but I get all my beers to proper serving temp and then force carb sort of:

I don't remember who made the suggestion but I set to 12 psi and roll the keg on floor for a few minutes, hook up the gas and let it charge, repeat a couple times until I no longer hear any gas flowing and then just put everything in the kegerator for a couple days and then serve. It seems to work pretty well and I don't get the chance to over carb because I stay at serving temp when I force

I like that - force at serving temperature/pressure and keep at it until it saturates. Seems to make sense.

 

[JuanMoore]

Do your beers all carb at the same rate?

Nope. The higher the FG the longer it will take to carb. I've also noticed that beers with a lot of oats or wheat tend to take a little longer. And if you want to get really technical, two beers with different ABV's will reach slightly different equilibrium carb levels even at the same temp and pressure. The higher the ABV the lower the carbonation will be at a given temp and pressure.

 

[ResumeMan]

Strange situation.

Have you tried swapping the gas lines from one of the kegs that did carb onto the Kolsch? Could there be some sort of blockage in the line?

Have you taken off the gas post for the kolsch and checked that for blockage?

 

[Quadrupled]

Nope. The higher the FG the longer it will take to carb. I've also noticed that beers with a lot of oats or wheat tend to take a little longer. And if you want to get really technical, two beers with different ABV's will reach slightly different equilibrium carb levels even at the same temp and pressure. The higher the ABV the lower the carbonation will be at a given temp and pressure.

Good to know. I figured gravity-dependence was a possibility from soda carbing time, but figured maybe not since my 8% Porter carbed up ahead of the 5% Kölsch.

 

[Quadrupled]

Strange situation.

Have you tried swapping the gas lines from one of the kegs that did carb onto the Kolsch? Could there be some sort of blockage in the line?

Have you taken off the gas post for the kolsch and checked that for blockage?

Yep, swapped the lines - no change. Also, I heard the rush of gas into the keg so I don't think the post was likely blocked; however, my current solutions point toward either that or me just doing something truly and completely stupid during my supposed trouble shooting.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

I run my kegerator at 37*F and my psi around 12 psi with 6 foot lines. This has worked for years for me. I just put the keg on the gas and around a week or so later it is carbed up.