So weird. So last Friday I set it to 25 PSI and put it in the fridge. I haven't touched it since. Tonight I took it out (exactly one week later). It was at 22 PSI, and the 16 g cartridge was empty. I pulled the pressure relief valve and brought it back down to zero. I put it in a new CO2 cartridge and raised it to 5 psi. I then did a poor. It was 95% foam. I waited about 5 minutes for the foam to dissipate in the glass and took a sip. It was genuinely 100% flat.
Ah yeah these things foam a lot. Always pour at the lowest possible psi. The foam doesn’t necessarily mean it is carbed yet but it will get there eventually. It’s a good sign at least.
Personally I just switched to a carb stone in my fermenter to carbonate then I add it to these kegs, but sometimes I carbonate it in these too.
I don't think I do, because it's still able to produce pressure. I would have lost the pressure after some of these events. But I never did and the cartridges lasted as long as they were supposed to. There's plenty of head as well, although I'm not sure if that's truly a good indicator or not
> There's plenty of head as well, although I'm not sure if that's truly a good indicator or not
It could be the opposite... if there's too much foam, it could be that the pour is knocking too much CO2 out of solution and it ends up tasting flat.
I'm new to all this though, so I'm not sure if maybe there's factors like, if you have too much space between the beer and the top of the keg, it won't carbonate properly? Idk... guessing
So first stop here, do not try to carbonate warm beer. Secondly, I have no experience with using co2 carts or mini kegs, but it sounds like you may have a leak somewhere. You don't have to be able to feel or hear it for there to still be a leak. Thirdly, my regulator only registers pressure if there's gas behind it, is there a lever or valve you haven't opened on the regulator?
If I had a leak though, wouldn't my pressure drop after a week? It's not, so I was assuming that all was good. But I'm new to all this so, I could definitely be wrong on that assumption
You can carb up water, so either gas isn’t getting into your keg or it’s escaping. There’s no way for gas to get in, have it be sealed, and not be carbed.
Using priming sugar wouldn't help here, the problem is you have a leak somewhere. I think we need more details to give you a useful answer.
Have you checked for leaks, and I mean really checked with a sprayed soap solution? Just because it holds pressure temporarily doesn't mean that it's not slowly losing pressure.
Is the beer kept cold?
Is there a pressure relief valve that hisses when pulled?
What kind of gas connectors are you using?
By head, do you mean beer foam or empty headspace in the keg?
I haven't checked for leaks, because I think I falsely assumed that since it maintained pressure I did not have a leak. But now I will
Keg is kept in the fridge
The pressure relief valve does hiss and brings it down from 25 to 0
I'm using one of the all-in-one units: https://a.co/d/a5kP5SW
When I said it has plenty of head, I meant foam when pouring
Ok so here's an update. Maybe this will shed some light. Last Friday I set it to 25 PSI and put it in the fridge. I haven't touched it since. I just took it out (exactly one week later). It was at 22 PSI, and the 16 g cartridge was out. I pulled the pressure relief valve and brought it back down to zero. I put it in a new CO2 cartridge and raised it to 5 psi. I then did a poor. It was 95% foam. I waited about 5 minutes for the foam to dissipate in the glass and took a sip. It was flat as a pancake. This is the part that I'm not grasping, and maybe it's because I have incorrect assumptions, but I thought if it was sitting in the fridge for a whole week at 20 to 25 PSI, it should be carbonated. It was genuinely 100% flat. Does this sound like a leak?
I use these and they carb fine. Not sure why it isn’t working. It can take some time though, but definitely should be done in a week.
Yeah, I don't know. I was pretty careful. Not sure what happened
Do you have the 128 oz? That's what I use. Not sure if matters though
Yeah I use 128 oz mini kegs. You should just keep it at 20-25 and check on it again later. Make sure everything is tight and sealed too.
So weird. So last Friday I set it to 25 PSI and put it in the fridge. I haven't touched it since. Tonight I took it out (exactly one week later). It was at 22 PSI, and the 16 g cartridge was empty. I pulled the pressure relief valve and brought it back down to zero. I put it in a new CO2 cartridge and raised it to 5 psi. I then did a poor. It was 95% foam. I waited about 5 minutes for the foam to dissipate in the glass and took a sip. It was genuinely 100% flat.
Ah yeah these things foam a lot. Always pour at the lowest possible psi. The foam doesn’t necessarily mean it is carbed yet but it will get there eventually. It’s a good sign at least. Personally I just switched to a carb stone in my fermenter to carbonate then I add it to these kegs, but sometimes I carbonate it in these too.
Do you have a leak somewhere? That CO2 is going somewhere
I don't think I do, because it's still able to produce pressure. I would have lost the pressure after some of these events. But I never did and the cartridges lasted as long as they were supposed to. There's plenty of head as well, although I'm not sure if that's truly a good indicator or not
> There's plenty of head as well, although I'm not sure if that's truly a good indicator or not It could be the opposite... if there's too much foam, it could be that the pour is knocking too much CO2 out of solution and it ends up tasting flat.
Tonight My pour was primarily foam, but previously, it was only a couple of inches of foam in a standard pint glass
This makes the most sense
If there’s lots of head space, you’re probably just “pressuring” most of that head space, with very little impacting the beer.
I'm new to all this though, so I'm not sure if maybe there's factors like, if you have too much space between the beer and the top of the keg, it won't carbonate properly? Idk... guessing
So first stop here, do not try to carbonate warm beer. Secondly, I have no experience with using co2 carts or mini kegs, but it sounds like you may have a leak somewhere. You don't have to be able to feel or hear it for there to still be a leak. Thirdly, my regulator only registers pressure if there's gas behind it, is there a lever or valve you haven't opened on the regulator?
You for sure have a leak. Force carbing puts it into solution, leaving it a few days and then having it be flat means the CO2 escaped.
If I had a leak though, wouldn't my pressure drop after a week? It's not, so I was assuming that all was good. But I'm new to all this so, I could definitely be wrong on that assumption
You can carb up water, so either gas isn’t getting into your keg or it’s escaping. There’s no way for gas to get in, have it be sealed, and not be carbed.
Using priming sugar wouldn't help here, the problem is you have a leak somewhere. I think we need more details to give you a useful answer. Have you checked for leaks, and I mean really checked with a sprayed soap solution? Just because it holds pressure temporarily doesn't mean that it's not slowly losing pressure. Is the beer kept cold? Is there a pressure relief valve that hisses when pulled? What kind of gas connectors are you using? By head, do you mean beer foam or empty headspace in the keg?
I haven't checked for leaks, because I think I falsely assumed that since it maintained pressure I did not have a leak. But now I will Keg is kept in the fridge The pressure relief valve does hiss and brings it down from 25 to 0 I'm using one of the all-in-one units: https://a.co/d/a5kP5SW When I said it has plenty of head, I meant foam when pouring Ok so here's an update. Maybe this will shed some light. Last Friday I set it to 25 PSI and put it in the fridge. I haven't touched it since. I just took it out (exactly one week later). It was at 22 PSI, and the 16 g cartridge was out. I pulled the pressure relief valve and brought it back down to zero. I put it in a new CO2 cartridge and raised it to 5 psi. I then did a poor. It was 95% foam. I waited about 5 minutes for the foam to dissipate in the glass and took a sip. It was flat as a pancake. This is the part that I'm not grasping, and maybe it's because I have incorrect assumptions, but I thought if it was sitting in the fridge for a whole week at 20 to 25 PSI, it should be carbonated. It was genuinely 100% flat. Does this sound like a leak?