Hello and thanks! I have been trying to condition in an Ecofass keg http://en.ecofass.com/ - if you don't know them check them out. The beer goes into a plastic bag inside the keg so the beer doesn't actually touch the keg itself and you can use either co2 or compressed air to tap it since they don't interact with the beer in the bag... I have failed each time to get any carbonation at all... The first time I tried force carbonating it as usual with 2 - 3 bars and then letting it sit at 22 degrees C/70 degrees F and checking it every other day to be sure that the pressure remained the same (I started shaking the gas in at the end) But still after two weeks... nothing flat. Then I primed it with half the sugar needed for bottling and again after two weeks... nothing. Any advice? I asked Ecofass and it's their directions that I have been following for both ways...
First off, I am not sure what 2-3 bars is in PSI, but I usually for carbonate at 30 PSI for a couple of days. Secondly, I carbonate at about 34 degrees F. I am not sure why it would be totally flat after a couple of weeks, other than it may not have enough CO2. You may have a leak. A hole in the bag? Soapy water in a spray bottle does wonders for detecting leaks. Beer wasted is never a good thing. I wish you the best of luck. Cheers.
just took a look at their website. it looks like this bag system is designed for beer that's already been carbonated. the CO2 (or air) that's introduced to the keg to the outside of the plastic bag, so would never have a chance to 'see' the beer to be able to dissolve in to it (this is why you can use air to push beer without chance for infection). I couldn't say why the priming sugar attempt didn't work, unless you don't have a good seal on the system.
One bar is slightly less than standard atm. pressure. That means 2 bar is around 29 PSI, and 3 is around 42.5 ish.
That's my impression as well. It seems like this system, designed so that the co2 does not 'interact with the beer in the bag' would be incapable of carbonating beer, unless I'm completely misunderstanding. There could be a variety of reasons the priming sugar didn't work. My first guess would be temperature: if this is a beer you made using ale yeast, and you're attempting to 'bottle condition' it at serving temperature, that's probably not going to work.
He only primed with half the sugar, and the yeast were already dead from the previous exposure to pressure. OP I suggest you prime, let it carbonate, then apply pressure to dispense. edit: unless he is describing two different attempts, then the yeast/pressure thing does not hold. could be either or depending on how you read the op.
