Flat beer with tap system

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Joined
Feb 24, 2024
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Larbert
Finally managed to get CO2 for my tap system, but I've had another snag. Flat beer. I've got a keg of black lager and a keg of Irish red ale in there, both of which taste great, but are flat as the proverbial pancake. I've tried cranking up the psi on the regulator, checked for leaks, nothing. Can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. 😅 I've probably overlooked something vital... 'elp!

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How long have they been in the keg with the CO2 on? Did you use a calculator to work out what PSI to use for the temperature and desired carbonation level?
About half an hour... I feel like I've asked a silly question now! 😅 Since there are two different styles of beer in there, I just looked online and chose a middle-ground of 14 psi and the temperature at 4°C. 😬 I reckon I need to do some proper calculations and make adjustments before I complain any more about flat beer!
 
Is the gas getting to the beer? Is there gas left in cylinder? Or you have a leaking keg
Gas appears to be getting to the beer, yep. I tested the spare gas line on an empty keg, and it whacked gas into it no bother. There should be plenty of gas in the cylinder - it's brand new for this kegging and it's a 6.35kg one. I've had a good listen and I can't hear gas escaping anywhere. When I adjust the pressure on the regulator you can here the pressure building up and then the gas flow stopping, as expected... 🤷🏻
 
Last time I had Issues carbing in a keg I'd just installed a manifold and didn't realise it went off/on/off so inadvertently wasn't letting any gas through.

Doesn't sound like your issue though, 14psi at 4 degrees should do you ok - it's about what I do over a couple of weeks. Of course more pressure will be faster and if you roll the keg around too it'll be even faster still.

If gas is getting through to your keg and you're holding pressure then it should carb up just fine.
 
May be a silly question but not one that I have seen asked yet, are you leaving the gas constantly turned on? If you are gassing up to 9psi and then turning the gas off again that would explain why it has not carbed up after a couple of weeks. I normally set my pressure to around 12psi and my beers are always carbed in 1 week
 

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