My first keg & something’s not right … hooked it up to CO2 @ 11psi, room temp 10 days. lots of foam, no carbonation.
Moved to fridge, increased to 20psi. it’s been there a MONTH. still lots of foam, just a little carbonation.
CO2 tank level is staying steady, so I don’t think anything is leaking. please help… running out of patience… and beer.
Thanks
What’s your beverage line length? That sounds like a short line issue, in my extremely limited experience…
Temp of fridge?
if you’ve had it at 20 psi for a month it will be extremely over carbonated. Personally, I never tried to force carbonate at room temp, I always put it into the kegerator before hooking up the CO2 because it will absorb better at colder temps. Here is a really good article on how to set up a kegerator that I used in setting up mine. Your line length and height will determine what your serving psi is for your system. These calculations will get you close but you may have to fiddle with it to determine where you want it on your system.
My typical scenario is to put two new kegs in and set it at 30 psi for a day, then drop to 20 psi for 4-5 days. Then I drop to my serving pressure (which on my kegerator is 8 psi) and sample. I determine from there if it needs any more. If it is overcarbed, I unhook the gas, and pull the pressure release valve to bleed the keg. You will likely have to do this over a period of several days to get the keg to settle down at this point.
I assume that when you’re saying you’re getting loads of foam with little carbonation that your beer is rushing out of the tap at the 20 psi setting? Ideally you want a pour to take about 10-15 seconds. If it is rushing out too fast you are forcing all the CO2 out of solution and will have loads of foam with little carbonation. Take a read through that article and I’ll be happy to answer any additional questions that you may have.
Rad
radagast, you might be on to something. it’s probably very carbonated, but gets flat when I pour - yes i’m pouring @ 20 psi & it’s flying out - looks like good beer until it hits my pitcher.
My line is ~6 ft, and fridge is normal 40oF, so I think they are ok.
I’ll take a look at your article, then try bleeding it & lowering the pressure & see what happens.
Thanks so much!
Yeah you are WAY over carbed. The colder the beer the more readily CO2 is dissolved into the beer. At 40° and 20psi you are at about 3.2 volumes of CO2 which is quite high. Most American beers are around 2.5-2.6 depending on style.
Update: I released pressure, kept psi just hi enough to get a slow pour & it worked! Amazing! I’ll keep adjusting as it stabilizes, but can’t believe the difference. Had no idea over-carbonated beer could still be flat 
.
Thanks so much. Wish I’d joined the forum weeks ago. Cheers
Well in your case you had very little carbonation as your beer wasn’t absorbing CO2. If say your room was 70° and the psi was 11 you really only had about 1 volume of CO2.
When you cranked it up to 20 it got over carbonated as it absorbed all that CO2. Its flat because when the beer comes out that fast the turbulence releases the CO2 (that’s what the foam is), thus, leaving very little in the left over beer.
Me do keg my beer. Use forced carb at 20 psi. 3 days. Move it than true the fridge more carbonation at 11 to 12 psi. Wait 2 weeks. Perfect. But this could be as well the beer line what gives you a issue. Might be to short. Mine about. 8 feet long. Just did a guess if this is right. But you can calculate as well i do think
