Beer Forum

This Scotch Ale I brewed is the strongest beer to date I've made. It started at 1.090 and finished at 1.020. It has been aging for several months now at 38F and is connected to a manifold that has the same pressure going to 5 different kegs. As this beer has a much higher finishing gravity would it affect the amount of carbonation it can absorb? It seems flatter than all of the others beers, but the pressure is the same. It has had plenty of time to equalize and on the carbonation charts they only mention pressure and temp. Is the perception of carbonation different when a beer has more residual sweetness, or maybe I should check my lines?

I guess I could swap the air line for a week and see if it changes.

It's the additional body (viscosity).
Give it a bit more carbonation if it feels "flabby".

BDawg wrote:It's the additional body (viscosity).
Give it a bit more carbonation if it feels "flabby".

That makes sense given the higher viscosity. But never heard it mentioned before. I know wheat beers (especially the German ones) are typically carbonated higher, but never heard that you may want to add some pressure to beers that finish out higher.

Everything else pours out with a nice head at the same pressure only this one seems almost flat (is that what flabby means?).

Cool - i get to play with a second regulator!

Doc actually made this analogy for me when I asked him a similar question at NHC about my IIPA not carbing:

It's tougher too add more "stuff" to something has so much "stuff" in it to begin with

Makes sense to me. I have a 3 keg system with a 4 way manifold. I turned off the CO2 to my other 2 kegs and bumped up the pressure on the IIPA. It carbed up nicely. I also had this same issue with a RIS. I just left it alone and it eventually carbonated. Doc also suggested cranking it up and doing the "shake-the-shit-out-it" method.