Trouble with first kegging attempt

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by ajaxivan, Mar 17, 2012.

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  1. ajaxivan

    ajaxivan Initiate (0) Jul 3, 2008 Pennsylvania

    We brewed an Irish Stout and kegged it 3 weeks ago. I don't have all the details in front of me right now but we followed Beersmith's guide to kegging and used half the priming sugar that Mr. Malty suggests when bottling. From what ive read i didn't think we needed to prime but i was just covering all bases, so after three weeks in the fridge and pressurized we tapped it last night and tastes good but a little flat and very little head. We are using my buddy's Guinness gas setup, no idea if that has anything to do with it, and we tried upping the pressure to above 30psi and all that did was produce bigger bubbles that disappeared quickly. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated, Thanks.
     
    #1 ajaxivan, Mar 17, 2012
  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Was it pressurize for those whole three weeks? At what setting and temp?

    Also, it sounds like you added sugar (you don't need it) and immediately put it in the fridge (so the yeast would not really be able to work effectively anyway).
     
    #2 VikeMan, Mar 17, 2012
  3. JHamm

    JHamm Initiate (0) Dec 8, 2009 Delaware

    This is more an addon question/comment to the OP's question but would the line length factor in much also?
     
    #3 JHamm, Mar 17, 2012
  4. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    In terms of the amount of foaming, yes. For that matter, so is line diameter.
     
    #4 VikeMan, Mar 17, 2012
  5. ajaxivan

    ajaxivan Initiate (0) Jul 3, 2008 Pennsylvania

    It was at my buddy's house so im guessing on the temp, around 40degrees at around 10psi i believe.
     
    #5 ajaxivan, Mar 17, 2012
  6. Homebrew42

    Homebrew42 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2006 New York

    40 degrees and 10 psi for 3 weeks should bring you to about 2.3 volumes of carbonation, which is actually considered the high end for the style, but if you're used to drinking bottled American craft beers could seem low. If you had the beer refrigerated the entire time then the sugar you added for priming likely did nothing in terms of carbonating the beer, and wasn't necessary anyway if you were force carbing.

    Here's a force carbonation table that helps you figure out how much pressure you need to achieve you're desired level of carbonation at a given temperature:

    http://sdcollins.home.mindspring.com/ForceCarbonation.html
     
    #6 Homebrew42, Mar 17, 2012
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