Beer will not force carbonate in Keg

[Kbar]

50 batches under my belt in the 6 keg kegerator in my garage since going to kegging, and I have never had a beer not carbonate until the last batch. Help!!

Info;
Beglian IPA - WLP530
- sat for 3 weeks at 12 Psi, 38F, flat beer
- no leaks detected
- moved the regulator to 15 Psi for 4 days, still flat beer (Or the appearance of)
- then moved to 20 Psi and still flat after 1 more week

Read on one site where too high of pressures can cause a beer to appear to be non-carbonated. Sounds fishy.

Any thoughts?? Thanks!

[siwelwerd]

Assuming it is nothing silly like a clogged poppet or disconnected hose (if you pull the pressure release valve, do you hear CO2 filling the keg?), my money's on a bad regulator. Maybe take it apart and clean it, or borrow a friend's and see if that fixes it.

[Kbar]

yes, vents quite well, and the pour rate if high, of course, at 20 PSI the glass fills quite fast

No leaks.

Reg may be the culprit, but the pour rate alone would suggest I am at high pressures.

May need to shake the Keg.

PS - the keg was only half full. Small batch, 2.5 Gallons. Very cold out as well, but that actually helps. Garage has been as low as 17F.

[BDawg]

I'm pretty sure the laws of physics don't cease to function in your kegerator.
When you say it appears to not have carbonated, what do you mean? No head?
Close your eyes and take a drink. Does it feel fizzy to your tongue and palate?
Funnel a pint. Does it make you belch?

[Kbar]

As a mechanical engineer with many years of math and physics, I may be offended by your statements!!

No head
No carbonation
Body of tap water, color of beer
Imagine pouring a cider
Flow that casues the pint to fill in under 1-2 seconds due to the pressure from the Regulator.

I never cease to be amazed by the counter intuitive world around us, thus the question I posed and the purpose of this post. So many batches with no issues, then this one hits my world.

Thanks for trying!

[Stinkfist]

I remember someone having this trouble and issue was it was too cold and a layer of ice formed on the top preventing it from carbonating, just something I remember hasn't happened to me

[Ozwald]

I'm not getting head either & I frequently doubt the laws of physics in my house... more general guidelines than laws, I believe.

Do you use gelatin in the keg? That can do the same thing as a layer of ice - prevent the gas in the headspace from dissolving into the beer. It should be hard for a layer of ice to form in the first place, it's likely to go slushy on you first, plus it would create a slow pour rate. A floating mass of gelatin won't do that.

[Michael Kelly]

I had this happen once, it was ice! Transfer the beer to an other keg raise the temp. to 35F and put the gas at 30 psi for a day, next day 20 psi, third day 15 psi taste and dial it in to your taste. You have made a sort of icebock. Mine won 3rd place at the World Cup of Beer for Belgian Pale Ale. If your only working with 2.5 gal of beer lower these pressures. Oh and by the way don't melt the ice at this point. You'll like this beer enough to try and do it again, I do.