Force carbonating problems

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Chris hamblin
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Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 2:39 pm

Force carbonating problems

Post by Chris hamblin »

Hi all

I recently tried to force carb an IPA I had brewed. I led the corny keg on its side and rocked it for 2 mins and 30 PSI. This worked well but 10 days to 2 weeks later the carbonation has escaped! The beer was kept in a temp controlled fridge and at 10 PSI. The beer is now completely flat again. Has anyone else experienced this and can anybody tell me where I may have gone wrong. Cheers
PMowdes
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Re: Force carbonating problems

Post by PMowdes »

Chris hamblin wrote:Hi all

I recently tried to force carb an IPA I had brewed. I led the corny keg on its side and rocked it for 2 mins and 30 PSI. This worked well but 10 days to 2 weeks later the carbonation has escaped! The beer was kept in a temp controlled fridge and at 10 PSI. The beer is now completely flat again. Has anyone else experienced this and can anybody tell me where I may have gone wrong. Cheers
Sounds like you have a leak. Force carb'ing can be a little troublesome until you get it right. Find yourself a carbonation chart and use that as a reference.

If you haven't been drinking it and you've got good seals then there is no reason for it to degas. I find that the more I drink from the keg the less carbonated the remainder becomes but I think that stands to reason.

I'd give the keg an overhaul. Check the poppets and the seals on the dip tubes and the lid, replace them regularly.

I have replaced the poppets on my kegs with universal ones which are much easier to clean and maintain.

It's also worth checking gas and beer lines, taps and fittings for leaks.

If you have another sanitised keg it might be worth transferring the beer to it, you wont loose much beer if you transfer keg to keg and you might be able to get the carbonation to hold.
60 percent of the time it works every time.
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steve crawshaw
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Re: Force carbonating problems

Post by steve crawshaw »

I find that a 50/50 solution of detergent and water applied with a paintbrush will find leaks well on a corny. It's also worth replacing all the O ring seals periodically, they are cheap on aliexpress and you can get silicone ones which are more durable.

Be thankful it didn't leak out of the liquid post, I lost a keg of baltic porter once to a slow leak.
steve
I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.
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I_used_to_brew
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Re: Force carbonating problems

Post by I_used_to_brew »

You did keep the CO2 connected, right?
Chris hamblin
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Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 2:39 pm

Re: Force carbonating problems

Post by Chris hamblin »

Thanks for the reply's, yes I kept the co2 connected and have already stripped the keg and replaced all seals and O rings. I also used a food grade lubricant from brew uk when I put everything back together. Before I filled the keg with beer I filled it with sanitiser and cleaned my beer lines. Whilst it was pressurised I checked for leaks with soapy water and all was well. My lines and taps are also new. I have probably drank around 8 pints from that keg over two weeks so am not expecting the carbonation to have dropped the way it has. Even if I did have a leak, the gauge on my regulator never drops so if I do have a slight leak then it keeps it topped up.

I'm a bit confused!!!
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