Carbonating problem

[Swifty]

Hi guys, new to kegging and not sure what I'm doing wrong. I was doing the "Ross" method of carbonating, turned to 300kpa and rocked for 50 seconds. After turning off the Co2 and rocking, the gauge dropped below 40kpa. I was too scared to carbonate anymore and thought I'd leave it and see what it came out like. Tried later and it was quite flat. So tried again and noticed when I connected the gas this time that the gauge instantly dropped from 300 to 200, rocked for another 15 seconds and again gauge dropped to 40 kpa so again I thought I'd wait and see. Same again, a bit better but still flat. It took another go for 20 seconds and tonight it's not bad. What's going on???

[drsmurto]

Been having a similar problem but its improving. Used the Ross method as well. Depends a lot on the temperature of the beer, the colder it is the more gas will dissolve. My kegs are at 4-5degC so i reckon thats why i need longer, Ross from memory has his at 1degC.

I would say keep going, its far better to have undercarbed beer than a keg of foam!

I also tried setting the reg to ~160kPa and leaving it overnight and ended up with foaming issues so had to vent the kegs and wait 15 mins before trying again.

Practice makes perfect so just hurry up and drink the leg dry so you can refill it and try again!

[lethaldog]

I leave mine in the fridge overnight at 50 psi/ 350 kpa and have never had any trouble with foaming or being flat

[Ross]

Hi guys, new to kegging and not sure what I'm doing wrong. I was doing the "Ross" method of carbonating, turned to 300kpa and rocked for 50 seconds. After turning off the Co2 and rocking, the gauge dropped below 40kpa. I was too scared to carbonate anymore and thought I'd leave it and see what it came out like. Tried later and it was quite flat. So tried again and noticed when I connected the gas this time that the gauge instantly dropped from 300 to 200, rocked for another 15 seconds and again gauge dropped to 40 kpa so again I thought I'd wait and see. Same again, a bit better but still flat. It took another go for 20 seconds and tonight it's not bad. What's going on???

Swifty,

As the instructions say, keep repeating until the kpa drops to just above 100kpa. the warmer the beer or the lesser the headspace, the longer it will take. The reading you want is as it slows right up, from dropping rather rapidly. Beware if carbing a keg low on beer, as it will carb much quicker. hope this makes sense.

cheers Ross

[drsmurto]

I leave mine in the fridge overnight at 50 psi/ 350 kpa and have never had any trouble with foaming or being flat

Lethal

What level of carb are you aiming for with this method? And what pouring pressure do you turn it down to?

Cheers
DrSmurto

[Swifty]

Thanks guys, as long as it's not foaming I haven't stuffed it atleast. It took a few go's but it's not bad now. I might give it another 15-20 tonight and see how it goes. Not much head but reasonable fizziness.

[lethaldog]

Not exactly sure on the exact carb level as i just played with it till i got the results that i wanted personally but at a guess i would say around the 2.7 mark and pouring preasure is dropped down to about 8-10 psi or around the 70 kpa mark

[Swifty]

Having more problems guys. Thought I'd carbonate the beer just a little more and again when I connected the C02 the gauge dropped to 40kpa but wasn't too fazed if it didn't fiz it up much so just finished and chucked it back in the fridge. Thought later I'd see how it was and turned the gauge to 80kpa to pour, but when I connected it it dropped to 10kpa and couldn't pour more than a dribble. Why does it seem like there's a leak or loosing pressure somewhere that isn't obvious (to me anyway). Please help, I need beer!!!!

[rwh]

Well, you may indeed have a leak. Try sponging some soapy water onto the seals and seeing if you get bubbles. I know that I had to replace most of my poppets, and it's always worth pulling everything apart and using a food grade lube on all the rubber bits.

[OldBugman]

Swifty.. it sounds alot like your bottle needs to be openned.(maybe its just me reading into it)

[drsmurto]

Slightly OT but another question directed at Ross/Lethal and other keggers.

I was playing around in the bar last night. Started with a pouring pressure of 15psi, poured a pint, very foamy, let it settle topped up.

Well, long story short i worked my way down from 15psi to about 8psi sampling a pint at each step. Seems for my system 6-8psi i the ideal pouring pressure, at least for my ales. I cant find info i thought i had seen that relates pouring pressure to keg temp, length of lines etc. Anyone know a simple trcik to this. I am happy enough to repeat this expereiment each time i put on keg on

So i have sorted that bit out for now and it was fun testing it out so now i need to play around with the carb levels.

[Ross]

Take a look at crozdogs excellent chart at the very bottom of this equally good wiki article from AHB http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/i ... article=24

Cheers Ross

[Swifty]

I checked for all leaks and ended up replacing all seals and then still had the same problem. I wasn't sure what was going on until I went to lift the C02 and thought it felt light. Weighed it and it was basically empty, after only 1 keg!! I don't know what's happened but it seems to have leaked. Holds pressure in the line no worries and I don't leave it connected, so now I've gotta get it filled. Not happy. Have I done something wrong maybe?? So OldBugman, you were kinda right. The bottle was open but didn't have anything in it.