Hi all! I’m new to this site and I recently brewed an all-grain english pale ale. Everything went cool and tasted good but the beer has been sitting in the corny’s for 2 weeks with 13PSI marked on the CO2 gage and the brew is still flat…
Can’t satisfy my urge before figuring out what’s happening with thy bubbles! Help!!! ???
How flat? you have checked all of your connections and valves for being properly connected I assume. How old is your guage?
everything is plugged. gauges are OK… there is definitely pressure in there, but not in the glass!
lines are adequate lenght, no leaks.
First of all welcome to the AHA forum!
You will plenty of responses.
My opinion: You have a leak or your gauge is whack. If I was a betting man (I am) then my money’s on the “leak.” Check again. The keg too. It might be the lid isn’t seated properly, the posts leaking or even the pressure release valve. Is it a single keg system? if not what about the other kegs?
Even if it’s leaking, if the gauge is accurate the beer will be picking up CO2. The beer doesn’t “know” if the 13psi comes from a single dose of gas or if it’s leaking out and more gas is flowing in to take its place. Just that there’s 13 psi.
Assuming you have it at a reasonable temp, I’m guessing the gauge is off. One thing I have often found with my gauges is that when I turn them down they are off by several psi. To fix it, I turn it down until the gauge reads below my desired set point, then turn it back up until the needle gets to the right point. Alternatively you can vent the keg and watch where the needle returns to. It’s worth checking.
You can also check the gauge if you know someone who has their own setup. Just take the keg to them and have them pressurize to 13 psi, if gas flows in then your gauge is off.
Oh, and just as a sanity check - the gas is really connected? And all shutoff valves leading to the keg are open? I’ve pressurized kegs and then turned off or taken off the gas for one reason or another, then forgotten to put it back on. :
I mean what is flat anyway. Some carbonation will have to occurred even if the gauge was off, right? I went to Tastybrew’s Keg calculator and 1.5 volumes would only need 1.4psi at 40F. For 2.6 volumes you’d need 13.4 psi. Is 1.5 volumes considered flat? Tom I’m deferring to your expertise. 
;D
Depends - are you used to drinking BMC or cask ale?
I haven’t seen a temp mentioned at all, so if 13 psi is accurate but it’s sitting at room temp in the OPs house it will be under 1.5 volumes. That could seem really flat for what you’re expecting from a cream ale. And if the gauge reads high then it will be even lower.
Hmm the onion being peeled. Now we need a response from octess to clarify some things. 
Thanks guys!!
really cool to read your responses, makes me feel like I’m not alone!!!
so here’s the info:
both the kegs are at 5 celcius degrees, they have been in the fridge since the kegging day (2 weeks ago) and the gauges do read 13PSI on both since then. I only have 1 keg linked up to the tap lines yet so I haven’t check about the fizz in the other one. I’ll check the gauge and vent the keg, thanks for the tip! yesterday I raised the pressure to 20 PSI to see, I’ll pour another glass later on today to note if there are any changes. the two preceding 40 litres batches sort of gave me the same lack of bubbles, though they were not completely flat like this one… REALLY starting to wonder about the existence of hobgoblins in my basement…
I’m just about ready to keg another 80 litres (40L dunkelweizen and 40L english bitter) so…
moreover, the gauge from the co2 tank (going toward the kegerator of course) now reads 20 PSI (since I’ve raised it yesterday) and so do the 2 regulators on each tap. I’ve tried a glass from the other keg and it doesn’t have any more bubbles than the first one…
still puzzled…
At 20 psi it’s not shooting out as a glass of foam? That’s a lot of pressure to be pushing the beer, especially if it was pouring at 13 psi with the same setup. What is your beer line length and diameter?
lenght is about 7 foot and diameter is a quarter inch…
Ok, I’m going to say you don’t have 13 or 20 psi in your kegs. According to morebeer, 1/4 inch PVC line restricts flow at .65 lbs per foot. Assuming similar tubing, at 7’ length and 1/4" you’re looking at less than 5 lbs restriction. The beer should be shooting out of the faucet at both 13 and 20 psi. Either your gauge is wrong or there is some obstruction in the system.
I’ll check and double check upon that, thanks for the tip!
pressure has been at 28 PSI for 2 days… when pouring a pint, it pours pretty strongly out! but the beer doesn’t seem to have much bubbles (in quantity and size) and after 5 minutes the foam completely vanishes and so do the bubbles in the beer…
could some kind of obstruction in the line or the keg itself be responsible for that? I haven’t check the accuracy of the regulators yet but guessing from the pressure the beer pour out of there, I’m assuming they are accurately reading. :-\
What you’re describing would happen if you are pushing it with too much CO2. I think you need to turn the CO2 down until you have a reasonable pour and see if that helps. Then you might need to swap out your hoses for longer or more restrictive ones to get the right pour at the right carbonation level.
It might help to read through this manual that Gary posted in another thread, it will help you balance your system.
http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/publications/draught-quality-manual
This is just my opinion, so don’t shoot me!
I had the same problem with a kegged Belgian Golden Strong Ale. Tried to get higher than normal carbonation, as called for by the style guidelines. But, when I poured the beer, I had the perfect moment to insert the ole trombone “whaa-whaa-whaa” sound…as in “no bubbles for you, sad sack. :'(”
What I later figured out is that I was serving the beer too cold. It was around 40 F…seems it kept the CO2 from effervescing…so no bubbles and flat on the palate. I brought the temperature up to 48, and started getting bubbles the next day; I also got more aroma and flavors.
I latered noticed the same effect when judging at a competition; really cold entries showed no signs of carbonation.
You could try this: get a bottle – either cap-able or swingtop – and chill it. Disconnect your CO2 cylinder and vent the keg until you have just enough pressure to s-l-o-w-l-y dispense beer into your chilled bottle, fill the bottle the the very top and cap or engage swign top.
Then either let the bottle slowly warm up to around 50 F, or store for a day in a fridge that stays in the high 40s. Then open and pour to see what you get bubble-wise.
I just think there must be a correlation between a beer’s serving temperature and it’s expression of carbonation. Too cold, seems flat; too warm, seems gushy.
Good luck.
+1 to the manual.
I would also consider using an indepedent gage (calibrated) and installing it on the keg. This test will ensure you are really getting the pressure that you think you are getting in the keg. It will also serve as a way to pressure test your kegs.
This and can be purchased from kegkits.com
That’s a useful gadget, thanks Ron. I’ll have to build one out of a spare regulator.
It certainly comes in handy. 8)