Problems with kegged ale not carbonating

[wardcband]

Hi Guys

First time poster so please excuse any mistakes I might make )

Ive now done two brews, and have been brewing with a somewhat experienced brewer so Ive been kinda trained but not a lot.

My first brew was a coopers aussie pale ale, and my recent brew is a coopers real ale kit.

Both times Ive fermented for a week, then racked it to a standard keg with s30 valve and left in the same warm place for a further week before transfering to a very cold shed. Both brews although very tasty (especially after the addition of some steeped fuggles and dry hopped cascade after 4 days) have lacked any real fizz. Yes, theyre slightly carbonated, and obviously we dont want fizzy ales, but there is no real head to speak of, and what is there is gone pretty quick. Now my two brewing compadres have used similar barrels and kits, and have lovely creamy heads and great body.

From reading a few threads on here Im thinking it might be due to the fact that Ive always gone straight from my mates warm brew room to my cold shed, and therefore they havent had time to fully carbonate, is this the likely cause? I have been and bought an s30 cylinder and have been gassing every night int he hope that i could force some carbonation through, but so far ive had no joy.

Its been outside now for a week, will bringing it back inside have any effect or is this brew doomed?

Thanks in advance guys

matt

[At. Ailbhe's Brewery]

I've had somewhat the same problem with my Cooper's Stout, though it is admittedly still very green, only 2 weeks in the bottle. I primed with a half teaspoon of light muscovado.

The beer tastes grand but, like above, no head. The carbonation I am happy enough with though.

I've rinsed out glasses with water but to no avail. Like Marie Antoinette, no head.

I put a Coopers real ale on the brew last night and she's going to get plenty of glucose in the bottle!

[wardcband]

stop press! )

I just decided to check the seal on the keg, just to make sure, and sure enough, a slow but definate bubble formed either side of the screw on cap when i squirted it with soapy water. The seal looks kinda misshapen, so im assuming thats the problem.
When I unscrewed there was no pressure release noise or anything

So. Im getting a new seal tonight from a mate, how do I now save this brew and get it slightly more gassy? carbonation from priming has obviously happened and gone to waste, so were thinking just get the new seal on, fasten her up and give it three squirts from the s30 and leave her in the shed nice and cold to get the co2 into the ale. Keep squirting everyday for a week and hope. Are we heading in the right direction?

Many thanks

matt

[lancsSteve]

If it were me I'd add a little priming sugar in liquid solution and bring it into the warm for a week or 2 and only then then cellar it (in the shed in your case)...
If shed is really cold may be worth keeping it inside in a cooler room rather than temp fluctuations and COLD temps at the moment...

[wardcband]

thanks for the reply mate, i was going to try something like that, but after finding me dodgy seal (it was misshapen, i think from me tightening it too much) i chucked it in some hot water, it went back to its normal state, and then i just put the cap back on less tightly, gave it 3 squirts from the s30 and ive just checked it and its like a dream, I could not be happier with the body, head, and retention. Overnight its gone from disaster to perfection, I cant believe it really )