Force carbonating with uKeg Troubleshooting

[JayZeus]

Hi all. So I am in the midst of conditioning my first home brew. I bottled most of it and am patiently waiting but I did fill up my 128oz uKeg in an attempt to force carbonate it. (I filled it prior to adding the priming solution)

I followed mfg recommendations and pressurized at 15 psi for 5 days. I then reduced it to serving pressure and waiting another 2 days.

The results are... underwhelming and conflicting to me. The brew had a strong "soda water" taste but there was barely any foam and very poor head retention. flavors aside, the body reminded me of champaign.

I decided to jack the pressure back up and give it a few more days.

What would you guys suggest?

 

[JayZeus]

Here is a photo, immediately after the poor. What little head there is would dissipate after a few seconds.

 

[dmtaylor]

That doesn't look bad. Probably literally only needs 1 or 2 more days then will be just fine. Enjoy.

 

[Mr. Vern]

I just tried mine out for the first time last weekend.. but filled from a keg. Turns out one cartridge will push one gallon of carbonated beer, maybe a little more.

You may want to see how much CO2 is left in that cartridge, you may have run out. If you are trying to achieve a 2.4-2.7 volume of CO2 I think you will need 2 cartridges and maybe a third to push the carbonated beer.

I might pressurize an empty Ukeg with a fresh cartridge just to see what the volume is in that little bugger.

**EDIT** upon more thought, if you have 15 PSIG on top of the beer you still have CO2 going into the beer, or it is at equilibrium. The gauge is not particularly accurate either. If this fits the pressure/temperature chart for your carbonation level then let it ride. If you feel it needs more Co2 then goose the pressure a couple PSI at a time until you get a better feel for that particular gauge.

 

[JayZeus]

That doesn't look bad. Probably literally only needs 1 or 2 more days then will be just fine. Enjoy.

The good news is, that picture was taken on Friday. It's been 4 days. I will give it another try later today. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[JayZeus]

I just tried mine out for the first time last weekend.. but filled from a keg. Turns out one cartridge will push one gallon of carbonated beer, maybe a little more.

You may want to see how much CO2 is left in that cartridge, you may have run out. If you are trying to achieve a 2.4-2.7 volume of CO2 I think you will need 2 cartridges and maybe a third to push the carbonated beer.

I might pressurize an empty Ukeg with a fresh cartridge just to see what the volume is in that little bugger.

**EDIT** upon more thought, if you have 15 PSIG on top of the beer you still have CO2 going into the beer, or it is at equilibrium. The gauge is not particularly accurate either. If this fits the pressure/temperature chart for your carbonation level then let it ride. If you feel it needs more Co2 then goose the pressure a couple PSI at a time until you get a better feel for that particular gauge.

I have no reason to doubt the guage. It seems pretty accurate in the 4-7psi range. I've never gone this high with it though so, we'll see.

 

[JayZeus]

Just sampled a glass. Much better head retention and a smoother body. Still had a bit of a tang to it but, it's drinkable.

I'm not sure I've ever had a Bavarian Hefeweizen so, I'm not really sure what to expect. (It was an extract recipe that came with my starter kit which was a gift)

I'm really curious to see how the bottle conditioned stuff compares.

 

[Huv13]

Hi all. So I am in the midst of conditioning my first home brew. I bottled most of it and am patiently waiting but I did fill up my 128oz uKeg in an attempt to force carbonate it. (I filled it prior to adding the priming solution)

I followed mfg recommendations and pressurized at 15 psi for 5 days. I then reduced it to serving pressure and waiting another 2 days.

The results are... underwhelming and conflicting to me. The brew had a strong "soda water" taste but there was barely any foam and very poor head retention. flavors aside, the body reminded me of champaign.

I decided to jack the pressure back up and give it a few more days.

What would you guys suggest?

I used to do this all the time before I started kegging. I'd fill the 128 oz growler, with no priming sugar. It would usually take around 4 days at 15 psi until it was ready to drink. I think what you did is correct because I did it exactly the same and never had an issue. I would first start by seeing how the beer in the uKeg compares to your bottles after they are conditioned.

 

[JayZeus]

I used to do this all the time before I started kegging. I'd fill the 128 oz growler, with no priming sugar. It would usually take around 4 days at 15 psi until it was ready to drink. I think what you did is correct because I did it exactly the same and never had an issue. I would first start by seeing how the beer in the uKeg compares to your bottles after they are conditioned.

Thanks for chiming in! I definitely noticed a difference between day 6 and day 10. (both in taste and texture) I have to admit, I did not agitate the ukeg as often as recommended. I'm really looking forward to doing a taste test...

How often did you agitate and did you ever do a bottle comparison?

 

[Huv13]

I would shake the uKeg once a day, maybe a second time if I thought about it. One of the reasons I started kegging is that my beer in the uKeg always seemed to be a little better than the bottled beer from the same batch. Also, my level of carbonation in the bottles was never as consistent as the uKeg.

 

[JayZeus]

Man... now I'm thinking of kegging. I actually have a kegerator I've just been using as a bottle fridge. I still have the regulator, tank, tap, and faucet.
hmm....

 

[goodolarchie]

My biggest gripe with these uKegs is how much CO2 is lost when you first puncture the cartidge, as the screw-cap doesn't form a good seal before that happens.

I've done some rapid carb tests in mine. I agree it's finicky. But I've had luck filling carefully after a quick beer gun purge, and then tipping the unit upside down so the spout pickup is sitting in headspace, applying a bit of pressure to let it bubble a second from the CO2 cartridge to push oxygen out of that headspace. After that a few days at its "15 PSI" reading while very cold seems to hit about 2.3 volumes well enough. I use it more for things like coffee immersions, since I can sample at intervals to decide where the sweet spot is before scaling up to 5-10 gals.