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I’ve got a Micromatic single pressure regulator connected directly to my keg – no manifold and only a non-return valve on the line. My problem is that after I’ve dialled in my pouring pressure, if left connected with the gas on, the pressure in the keg creeps up over time. The pressure gauge on the reg reports upward of 200 kPa after a few hours, when the pressure I set was 50 kPa and the keg was pouring beer perfectly. I was taken a bit by surprise when I tried to pour a beer the day after I got my shiny new system working beautifully (or so I thought) .

I’ve RTFM and found nothing useful. Am I stuffing something up, or does this sound like a faulty reg?

From seven to 30psi, sounds like you have seriously overgassed it or yeah it coud be the reg. How did you carb it? We need to know what method, temp and for how long? Mine will do the same if the fridge temp gets too warm and the liquid loses some of the disolved CO2. If I've overcarbed it will lose some gas as well. I generally serve at around 7-10psi and find that it settles after a few days(I carb for two days at 40psi if the keg placed in the fridge hot, gas for 1 day if keg is already cold). However, I talking about creeping from seven to say mayby 15psi tops! I simply pull the relief ring to bring it back down to the set serving pressure. As you drink more beer from the keg and you have more headspace, it will create a bit of a buffer. The one way valve is certainly a good idea. I guessing overcarbination, but it's a guess until you provide further info.

Cheers


Hirns

Thanks Hirns. Yeah, I guess I left out some important info there.

Keg was force carbed with the "Ross method" described elsewhere on this forum which is also what Craftbrewer told me to do. While carbing it was cold (maybe 6 degrees), at 300 kPa, shook for 50 seconds, then turned the gas off, kept shaking, pressure dropped to about 150 kPa. I left it for a few hours, released pressure, connected the gas back up, and was pouring perfect beers with the reg set at about 50 kPa.

The entire system including the gas bottle is kept in the fridge (that's ok, though, right?). Fridge has been set at 11 degrees for the last week (making lager in there), but the problem occurred both at the original temp of about 5 degrees and at the slightly higher temp. So I guess there would have been a release of gas from the beer as it warmed up to 11 degrees, but I've since released the pressure back to zero and set my pouring pressure only to have problem occur again.

The beer does not seem to be over-carbonated once it's poured.

The traditional method is to gas it at 7-10 psi for a minimum of 5 days. This method is good if you have two or more kegs in the fridge as once you have the first round gased you can introduce a new keg to gas and still have another/s all serving or gasing at 7psi. The next fastest method is 40psi for 2days (or less if cold). This is the method that I use as can only fit a single keg in my fridge. I rely on longnecks for two days. Ross' method or the 15-20min shake at 40psi I have found works if you want a beer Now but I find that it is not as consistent as everyone shakes at different rates and different beers absorb co2 at different rates.

I would guess that the Co2 has not disolved propperly into your beer.

Can you see bubbles in the glass or is it purely head foam that you're referring to. How do the bubbles compare to a bought beer or glass of softdrink?

I would try one of these other two methods with your beer. This may not give you a solution, but will at least help with elimination.

Hope that helps somewhat.

Cheers

Hirns

as athought what was your terminal gravity
@ 11 or so degrees there could be some keg fermentation happening
as a double check on your reg try attatching it to a empty keg set the pressure you open the bottle do the normal thing and come back later and see if there is any increase in reg pressure
if yes bummer reg!

I carb up with the Ross method and have a Micromatic regulator. I also keep my CO2 bottle in the fridge that the kegs are in. I force carb my kegs immediately after racking to them (after burping them, of course) so I would say they get carbed at about 6 degrees (they get racked to keg right from CC'ing, I estimate that it's not unlikely they warm up two degrees in that time) so our methods and equipment seem pretty similar. I have never noted my pressure creeping up. The only issue in pressure differences I've ever had is that I once had a small gas leak that caused my pressure to decrease.

I'd be calling Ross at CB (if that's where you got your reg) and asking him about it. In all likelihood he'll either send you a free regulator seal replacement kit or he'll replace your existing regulator.

Was the beer thoroughly brewed? And how old is your fermenter?

After many years of trouble-free brewing, I had a problem a few years ago with exploding bottles. This had never happened before or since (in my 17 years' brewing), and initially I didn't know what was causing the problem. I realised my plastic fermenting barrel, about 10 years old, was causing the problem. They are porous and, over time, begin to build their own culture of nasty stuff no matter how much you scrub it.

To keep beer pure and fresh - and prevent it from over carbonating - the advice I was given was to replace my fermenter every year.