So I’m trying to keg my seconds keg beer. The first one I did failed miserably. I think I know what I did wrong the first time and have done a ton of research to make sure I don’t screw this one up.
Of course I’m now having an issue with this second try. I pressure tested the keg before actually filling it and it held pressure for a week. I filled my keg last night. I burped it a few time to purge the oxygen, I sealed it at around 8 PSI and put it in the fridge overnight to chill it for a force carbonation the next day. I checked it this morning and I’ve lost all the pressure. I took the lid of, dried the O-ring, resealed it, burped it and again brought it up to 8PSI to seal it. I had intended to force carbonate tonight but my keg has lost all it’s pressure again this am! There is a lot of condensation from moving it in and out of the fridge so much SO I’m wondering if the moisture is hurting my seals.
8psi is a bit low to seat the lid properly. Try applying a bit of keg lube to the lid o-ring and hitting it with 30+ PSI to seat the lid. After you seat the lid, turn the pressure down to your serving/carb pressure.
But at such a low temperature (35-38 degrees), my force carb will only need to be around 12PSI. So would I just bring it up to 30 to seal and let it sit for awhile then bring it down to 12 to force carb?
Correct. You don’t need to wait long, the high pressure helps to pop the lid up. Undo the bail on the lid and pull up on it, then attach the disconnect at the higher pressure. I usually wait a few minutes, turn the pressure down, give it a few burps and walk away.
this was my thought as well, at 8psi it will take a long time to actually carbonate fully and what little co2 is being put in is most likely being absorbed into the beer over night. Thus, the OP is assuming it’s losing pressure when it’s really not
It was never my intent to force carbonate at 8 PSI. Just to seal it over night while it got cold in the fridge. So it sounds like I need to seal it with 30 or so, leave it for a little while, burp it, bring my pressure down to my forced carbonation pressure(12PSI) and then use the shake method to force carbonate.
Typically for me a couple of weeks. If you want to serve it faster, attach the gas and shake until the regulator stops making noise, or shake from time to time. The longer you let it sit, the more clear the beers will pour, at least after the first pint or two.
You can also turn the pressure up higher and let it sit. It is very easy to over carb this way, and that is a pain in the butt.
So if you really are in a hurry I would suggest this: attach the gas at serving pressure and allow gas to flow in until you don’t hear anymore, disconnect gas and shake for 3-5 minutes or roll it on the floor, connect gas and repeat process at least 5 times. This is all done at serving pressure so there is no fear of over carbonating. Do not shake with the gas on as you can pull beer into your regulator and that would be a bummer.
Place keg in kegerator and leave for a few days on gas and to settle and after 3-4 days it should be ready or pretty close.
I personally don’t have any experience with the beer coming back but know a few that have, maybe it’s not exactly how I remeber it but I thought I would throw it out there as a possibility;)