First kegged beers came out FLAT!!

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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skiboy53
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Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:19 pm
Location: Erie, PA

First kegged beers came out FLAT!!

Post by skiboy53 »

Hi Folks,
Long time brewer, first time kegger.

I recently kegged two brews for the first time, an Amber Ale and an IPA.
Up till now I have bottled with no carbonation problems.
Both of my kegged brews turned out flat!!
I followed all the directions in the recipe book for priming the newly fermented beers.
I didn’t try them till the day of a party that I planned just for the new brews.
It was too late to try forced carbonation, so the beer was served flat. :(

Both beers were primary fermented for 14 days.
The IPA was dry hopped in a secondary fermenter and the Amber was left to settle out and clarify in a secondary fermenter for a week each.
I’m sure the yeast was depleted by then.
They had been in a corny keg for 14 days after priming with about 10 psi of CO2 sitting on them.

My question is: Can I put them back into priming vessels, add yeast, re-prime and bottle them?
Both beers tasted great, but flat. I would not like to waste such good beers.

Can I salvage these tasty brews?
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brewmeisterintng
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Why did you prime?

Post by brewmeisterintng »

Normally when you keg, you put your new beer on line with 10-12 psi and let it chill and carbonate for a week or two. I am betting you had a leaker. The priming sugar was producing CO2 that was escaping through a poor seal... hence flat beer. I have heard of folks naturally carbonating in the keg but never tried it myself. I keg because its simple and I end up with a clear properly carbonated brew. Sometimes priming is unpredictable and end up over carbonated. Just food for thought.
Why not leave it on line and see if it force carbonates.
yaturaz
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what he said^

Post by yaturaz »

If you are kegging you might as well take advantage of the co2. I force carbonate @ 20-25 for 3-5 days or so and they turn out fine. After 3 days check it out and see it it is carbonated enough for you and when it is back off the pressure to normal serving pressure.

Priming your beer with sugar in a keg adds more particles to float around in your beer!!
manplant
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Carbonation issues

Post by manplant »

The key benefit of the keg is the use of force carbonation methods that dont introduce flavors from priming sugars.

I force at 50 psi and am ready to taste in 24 hrs. Its best to bleed excess off at that point at let sit for 2-4 more days at ~25 psi.
Manplant
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brewmeisterintng
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Forced Carbonation

Post by brewmeisterintng »

The problem with blasting at a higher PSI for a duration and then lowering it is that it is hard to control (balance) the carbonation level. I attach mine at serving pressure and forget it for a week before sampling. I have two taps so it's not a show stopper. It also gives the beer an additional week for the flavors to balance out. I have tried other methods but this one is easy and fool proof. Just my two cents.
manplant
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Post by manplant »

I agree. If one has the time, this is the way to go.
Manplant
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