Can't get my saison to carbonate

About three weeks ago, I kegged a saison. I’m in the “set it and forget it” group, so I set my regulator to 15 psi, which has always worked for me in the past. Chest freezer temp at about 40 degrees F, full tank of CO2, not seeing any leaks in the keg. So after a couple of weeks, I figured it should be good to go, so I tapped it… and nothing. I got some foam, as expected, but once that dissipated, no carbonation at all, flat as can be. So I tinkered with the fittings, checked to see if I could find a minor leak and couldn’t, and hooked it up again for another week.

Fast forward to this evening, figured I’d try again… and same result. Initial burst of foam, then no carbonation whatsoever. I am just not seeing a problem. I’m going to check again for leaks this evening, but I’m getting plenty of pressure out of the pressure release valve and I can hear the gas coming into the keg after I release pressure, the gage on the regulator is showing no drop in pressure at all during this whole period, and my other kegs seem to be working perfectly. In fact, the last beer I had in this keg was perfectly carbonated.

I’m at a loss and beyond frustrated, to the point where I’m beginning to question whether or not kegging is worth the effort. Any thoughts are more than welcome. Thank you!

Just a stab… One of yer check valves in the wrong direction?
Right now, try hooking the keg up through the liquid line to the gas fitting… You should turn on the gas and hear it gurgling in the keg… Hoping you have “threaded flared” fittings… and a 9/16" wrench?.. Could also keep shaking the keg… force carbonation… :yum:
Sneezles61

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The fact that you’re getting a burst of foam seems unusual. Is this also happening with all your other taps/kegs?

Thats why I think the back flow is in backwards… or the gas line on the wrong end (:sweat_smile:)… Might be just a bit seeping through as the keg was way more pressure… OR… (doubt this) the yeast is slowly fermenting just enough to push out a schooner amount… Investigating stuff…
Sneezles61

Well, that’s a good point, I did recheck the poppet valves last night, and one of them didn’t seem to sit in the gas post quite right. So I swapped out that post for one on a similar keg and I’m hoping that will help. I disassembled the gas post with the poppet valve that didn’t look right, and it looks like I may have misassembled it when I cleaned it prior to kegging. Turns out that, even though the keg is nearly new, it uses those “universal” poppet valves which I’m not a big fan of. So I think I’m going to replace those if I can. Either way, I think the gas post is the problem, but hopefully I’ve got it fixed.

I should probably elaborate: When I say “foam” it’s not excessive… just enough to create an initial appearance of carbonation, when it’s really not. I’ve checked all the lines and posts in and out, the gas line is connected to the gas post, which is connected to the correct dip tube. Same for liquid out. Argh. I’m hoping that fixing the issue with the universal poppet valve solves the problem. I’ll repost how it comes out…

So leave the gas hose hooked up to the gas tank/manifold… Pull off the quick connect… turn on the gas… it should be very evident that gas is coming out…
If so… the poppet stopper is the culprit…
If not… then the back flow valve is hosed up (:joy:)…
It takes a bit of disassembly to find the whats not doing what… Crack the gas valve briefly as you remove one piece…
Sneezles61

Try unhooking the QD from your keg and depress the little post inside it with your finger to see if CO2 is released. That should prove the gas is getting to that point.

Also with the CO2 connected try pulling the pressure release on the keg if it’s a ball lock. It should release gas and the gauge will move while the regulator is trying to reach the set pressure.

Don’t give up on kegging yet. There are always some quirks to work out but in the long run it is well worth not having to screw around with bottles.

Since you said your keg is new, I just want to share that I’ve found that new kegs these days aren’t very good quality (unless they’re the Italian AEB kegs). Personally, I try to stick to used kegs made in either USA or Italy. I have one newish keg made in India that always gives me trouble.

It’s been awhile since I followed up on this one, but for a quick update, it looks like the saison has finally carbonated. I haven’t had a chance to try it in the last few weeks for various reasons, but will be checking again this coming weekend.

But I did notice something interesting this morning while cleaning out the chest freezer I’m using as a kegerator. While I’ve got the gas and liquid posts set up according to the marked “in” and “out” ports in the keg, I noticed that , with the keg in question, the “in” and “out” labels themselves are on the opposite side of where they are on my other kegs. Is it possible that the manufacturer inadvertently reversed the “in” and “out” labels, and might that make a difference in how the keg carbonates, and make it more prone to leaks? Sorry if this is a silly question, I’m still trying to get the whole kegging thing figured out.

OK… the threaded connections ON the keg will accept either post… The only way it matters… the long dip tube that goes clear to the bottom is the liquid side… the gas side has a very short tube…
Getting them mixed up was the whole reason I went to pin locks…
If yer brew is carbed… release all the pressure… keeping it as cold as possible… quietly remove the top and verify which is which…
THEN… ifn its wrong… you can remove the posts and remove the tubes and get them to match the markings on the keg…
A NOTE: I have carbonated through the liquid post many times… Don’t tell any one… but there are times I need a bit more gas in one keg… I’ll hook up the gas ONLY to that keg… crank the pressure up to 40 PSI’s and shake the keg vehemently, let it stop gurgling… remove the quick connects… and return them to serving configuration… I have all flared gas fittings on all my beer lines…
Sneezles61

A little late on this but… It’s good you mention removing the QDs and have flare fittings. The gas and liquid look the same but as we know are not. It’s possible to damage them by connecting to the wrong post. So long story short, to shoot the CO2 down the dip tube you need to swap your QD to a black one.

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Ummm, what I do, having pin locks… is just use the 9/16" wrench remove the lines and reboot the gas line onto the liquid post… then reconnect and apply gas… For sure… remove the disconnects and do the swap off the keg…
Sneezles61