I recently started brewing again after a long hiatus. I brewed up a batch and it is now in the keg. The problem is that I can’t seem to get any carbonation into the beer.
The gas tank was filled about three years ago, and still has plenty of pressure.
I cooled the beer to serving temperature before pressurizing the keg about one week ago. I have been continuously raising the pressure until it sits at about 25 psi right now, but the beer is still flat.
Any ideas on why this is happening? I was a kegging novice three years ago, but I seem to remember setting the pressure to around 10 psi and being happy with the results in a few days.
My theories are: the gas is too old (although that shouldn’t matter I wouldn’t think), or maybe I should have carbonated before cooling?
BTW- the gas tank is in the keggerator with the keg, so it is cold. But again, that didn’t seem to bother before.
What kind of beer? Seriously. Sometimes beers with a lot of hop oils or whiskey seem to take longer. IIRC it has to do with the surface tension that can inhibit the CO2 from being absorb.
You actually want cold beer as it will absorb more volumes of CO2.
Have you tried pulling the pressure relief valve to make sure CO2 is entering the keg? Maybe you have a faulty reg?
Pressure is definitely getting to the keg, as it dispenses from the out line with no problems. I suppose the pressure gauge could be wrong and it is set at less pressure than it reads. Seems like it would have absorbed SOME carbonation in a weeks time either way.
If the beer is completely flat, like no carbonation at all, then you aren’t getting gas into the keg. There may be an issue with the connection of maybe the poppet is stuck on the post.
