Flat beer in a keg....

[Randalicous]

Hello.

I'm on my third brew. The first was a lager kit which I put in my economy 5 gallon keg. This was flat and tasted like vwp. The second coopers I bottled. This was primed with carb drops and fizzed up very well. Tasted a lot better and is now all gone.

Two weeks ago I made an extract IPA with cascade hops and 3kgs dme, which I really enjoyed doing. This has been kegged in the economy keg with 100grms of brewing sugar which I diluted in 3 cups of boiling water. I know the kegs are bad at holding carb but thought I would give it a go.

Two weeks in the keg the beer glugs out, during my taste tester pint. I know it's still early but I wanted to see what, if any carb there was and what sort of taste it was developing. The beer seemed very flat with one or two bubbles rising. Worried there was no co2 building up and putting a protective layer over the beer I put a co2 bullet in. I'm wondering a few things.

1 how long does an ale carb process take in a keg.
2. By forcing co2 in, will this filter into the beer and how long does this take.
3 I seald the rim with vasaline but may have over tightened the lid, how best to check for leaks.
4 can you add more priming sugar weeks later?

Thanks for your help.

Flat ale would not be totally bad, the beer is tasting really good at the moment and I'm not convinced I'll ever get good carb from this keg but some pointers would be great. I've seen the king kegs and wonder if spending 50 quid on this will really fix the problem.

Cheers :drink:

Steve

 

[charlie_mead_face]

king kegs are great if you want to splash out these are also an option http://www.brewsmarter.co.uk/brewferm-m ... 1272-p.asp. i wouldnt put any more sugar in it and if you have co2 there is no need to prime you can just gas that sucker.
PS try using NO3 (nitros oxide) it makes smaller bubbles and a smoother pint :drink:

 

[evanvine]

As you have one or two bubbles in your trial pint, it says you have produced some CO2, so you will have that protective layer.
Draught beer isn't fizzy, so enjoy what you have produced!
If you really want fizzy beer, either bottle or go to the expense of Cornelius kegs.

 

[klaus]

King Kegs are brilliant, I bought a top-tap model secondhand for £30, collected locally, has S30 valve, so got the gas bottle as well for £18. First brew wasn't fizzy enough so needed quite a bit of CO2 injection and when I finally opened it when empty, it was whistling noticeably (= good seal). Second brew in keg now, Gordie Bitter, primed with 100g sugar, maybe a bit too fizzy, but still great, no leaks. Well worth the investment. I would buy another one - there are lots of 2nd hand ones available on Ebay.