Last Straw Force Carbonation

I am advanced brewer.
Have the Last Straw.Have kegged for serving before.
I have kegged to bottle. First keg to bottle was ok. Since bottled 2 kegs that were flat.
I have now pressurized 2 kegs at 20 lbs. psi.for 7 days.
Initial pressurization rolled till no bubbling heard.
kept in fridge at 20 psi.
My question is do I now burp and pressurize at serving pressure ?
Or go lower higher ?
Kegs and co2 at 40 degrees.
Keith

If I understand correctly, you kegged and rolled at 20psi and the kegs have been in the fridge at 20psi for 7 days?

Yes I would disconnect and relieve pressure on the kegs then pressurize to serving temp.

Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if those kegs are over carbed. When I tried to quick carb by rolling or shaking I would then leave at a higher pressure for 24-48 hours before lowering to serving temp.

go lower after three days at 20 psi
the way i do once i keg the beer put it out side the fridge for three days at 20 psi first day shake it as well after three days into the fridge for four days at 12 psi and ready to drink works perfect nice head on the beer and you see the carbonation when you poor it in the glass

I don’t really understand the question. Are you force carbing for 7 days and then trying to bottle? If you are I think letting the keg carbonate for at least two weeks would work better. Also get the keg down to around 30 deg and carbonate around 8-10 psi. I learned this at a brewery that I was working at. They chilled the beer to just above freezing to bottle. It was explained to me that it helps keep the carbonation in the beer when bottling.

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I am trying to force carb then bottle.
Have already under carbed 2 batches.Got good flat beer.
I tried again an hour ago.
Kegs were at 20 psi for 7 days . I burped and reduced pressure to 10 Psi for 3 days.
Burped keg went to 8 Psi.First 12 bottles were good then went to foam.
Burped again then tried several pressures but finally stopped nothing but foam.
I have kegged and dispensed before with no trouble.
I realize there is a learning curve. I am going to bottle condition 3 more brews I have in secondary vessels.Don’t want to waste beer.

kegs were at 38 degrees with co-2 in fridge

Yea, it’s over carbed. I thought it would be with that method you used. Now you’ll need to leave the gas off and release pressure as it comes out of solution. May take a few days to get it where you want it.

To force carb and then bottle, I’d recommend set and forget until you get the carbonation level you want. That way the CO2 gets hydrolyzed, better absorbed by the liquid. Probably 2-3 weeks minimum.

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Keg back in fridge.
So where do I start ?
10 Psi for 2 weeks ?
Its giving me a pain where I sit !!

Don’t just burp the keg, purge it then hook it up at ten psi and give it a week or so to reach equilibrium.

Thanks everyone for input.
In an effort to advance my beer feel like I took steps back.
Keith

Keith, your method is over carbing your beer. For your next keg try this:

  1. keep your keg at 32°
  2. set your regulator to 9psi
  3. connect your gas
  4. LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 2 weeks… No shaking, rolling, etc… LEAVE IT BE!

Then when you go to bottle with your last straw do this:

  1. place the bottles, last straw, tubing, etc in the freezer the night before
  2. unhook regulator
  3. release the gas on the keg
  4. set regulator to 2psi and reconnect gas

Try that next time and see if your foaming issues decrease.

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i do about 8 days at 12 psi but before i put into the fridge outside carbonation for three days at 20 psi happy with the result carbonation

Thanks for all the input.
I pressurized my kegs like I would dispense directly.
Now have all 3 kegs purged and will now start over.
I didn’t think how much added time this would take.
Meantime I’m bottle conditioning so I have beer to drink.
I will keep you all posted.
Again thanks for all the input.
Keith

Almost what I thought this was about, but now I have a few tips ahead of time =)

I was going to ask, if I bottle from a keg, how long does it stay carbonated? Like, say if I was to enter a few into a homebrew competition, I know they will have the bottles a few weeks before they do the judging on them, dont want them to fizzle out before hand.

Carbonation will stay until you uncap it.

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That is a great way to enter your beer. Bottled beer from the keg will very clear

OK, I was just wondering ahead of time. Seeing as theres no built up pressure before its capped, itll lose a bit of the carbonation to build that pressure. Am planning on getting the last straw filler. Why I was asking.

Got my hands on a CO2 tank and a single regulator. Just need the hoses and a keg before I start. Just thinking ahead… The clarity dont bother me, as I just did a competition, I only lost 1 point for some chill haze. I got 37 of 50 for an IPA extract kit. I did it mostly for the feed back. 1 more point, would have made it to the semi final judging. Not bad for just starting this past Jan.

If the beer is carbonated correctly and bottled properly you won’t lose enough CO2 from solution to make a difference.

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Correct. You need to bottle at the correct co2 level. You can get away with a little over carbonation in the keg because you can dial it back release pressure and pour some pints it will rebalance itself. Not so with bottles. I tend to carb around 14 to 15 in my kegs. Sure the first pour is a bit foamy but after that its good. You will get some foamy bottled st that pressure. I bottle a lot of beer off my kegs with just a stainless steel tube in a picnic tap. I would try that before buying a bottling wand.

I wasn’t aware of what the “last straw” is when I responded to your post. I have a blichman bottling gun. I’ve used it a few times but like @brew_cat I find a piece of hose off the end of the tap works just as well if I dial back the pressure and it’s much easier to clean. The Last Straw doesn’t appear to have the ultra-annoying little rubber stopper that the beer gun has(which falls off all the time!!) so there’s that. Still it’s just one more thing to clean.