New to Kegging

I am new to kegging and believe I ran into an issue.  When force carbonating my batch at the recommended temp (37 degrees) and pressure (10 psi) for 3 to 5 days I ran out of CO2.  I am not sure when my tank went dry but on day 5 when I started to pour nothing came out.  So, I had my tank refilled and started over.  I am on day 2 now and have been testing it everyday.  It is obviously not fully carbonated yet but I am tasting a little bit of “keg” or “new metal” in the beer.  I also got a headache soon after the taste.  Is my beer ruined?  Is it safe to wait out the next few days to reach full carbonation?  Is it possible that my beer is saturated in co2 and possibly ruined?  Any advise would be helpful.  Thanks fellow homebrewers.

Well first it sounds like you had a leak somewhere.  Check your connections and seal on the keg. You can use Star San or soapy water along connections to find it.

As for the metal taste… I am assuming these are new to you kegs. Did you clean them prior to filling? If so how? There could have been residual substances in the kegs being new, reconditioned or just used.

brew inspector01 -

your right, when I changed the co2 tanks out I noticed my ball-lock connections were not secure.  I re-fitted the connections and re-clamped them.  All is good now as I did check them using Star San.  The keg is new from Northern Brewer and I cleaned it using just an oxy-clean soak, no scrub and then a couple minutes of Star San soak. Thank you for your reply.

In that case finish the carb process and then see how it tastes.  Just as with bottling, they may be harsh at first and smooth out with some age. Could have just been the early harshness and your own mind thinking metal.

You need 2 weeks @ 10psi to carbonate. Spray top of keg with soapy water or starsan with pressure inside to look for leaks (bubbles).

Here’s some reading material for your future brew: Carbonation Methods | Brülosophy

Thank you guys for the information.  I really appreciate it.  I upped the co2 pressure to 15 PSI the other night and tested it today.  The higher pressure is working faster and I am starting to see carbonation (finally).  It is also mellowing out the “mineral” or “new keg” taste I was getting earlier.  I just didn’t realize 10 psi would take 2 weeks.  I thought I read 3 to 5 days somewhere.  Now I know.  I found the article extremely valuable and look forward to kegging my next brew with a lot more confidence.

10 psi is not force carbing.  Myself, like a lot of others assume when you say force carb you mean setting the PSI at 30 for 24 hrs and then lowering to 12ish psi.  Beer will be carbed in 2 days.  The 10-12psi will be your serving pressure.

Maybe,

I do consider it to be “force carbonation”. It is not naturally produced by yeast consuming sugar.

“Burst” or “quick carbonation”  to me is the rapid carbonation with high pressure for a short time.

I put my filled kegs into my lagering freezer which is set at about 34 degrees.  With 10 PSI, I usually get the right about of carbonation in about a week (usually 2.5 volumes for most beers), based upon the carbonation charts found in many of the brewing books.  If I want to drink the beer sooner, I set it for 15 - 20 PSI for about three to four days and all is well.

I never “crank and shake” the beer.  I did that when I first started kegging but found that the beer tasted better if I just let it sit.

^^^^^^
Exactly

There are other varied opinions but even in this article both methods are discribed as force carbonation since it is not naturally derived.

I use the “burst carb” method often when kegging. Never shaking or rolling. I consider it force carbonation but refer to it as quick carbonation. A slightly more descriptive name

Good article!  I was interested in the handling of over-carbonated beer.  The writer’s method is good!  There is also another way if your beer is already in the keg.  You can relieve the pressure and use a rubber mallet to tap the side of the keg.  This will also cause CO2 to come out of solution.  I said “tap” the keg.  You don’t want to wail away on it because  A) you might damage the keg and B) your significant other will think you have lost your marbles and are punishing your beer!  Obviously, do not attempt this with bottles!!!

We used this method at the brewery on the sides of the brite tanks when we accidentally over-carbonated the beer.  It took a couple rounds of doing this but it worked.