cyclogenesis

Recipes 

Yikes... I would have thought, like many pressure containers, they would have had a engineered weak spot which would allow a controlled blow out rather than an explosion...

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Drinking: Dogtoberfest, Autumn Harvest Amber, Fire in the Belly Imperial Stout.
Fermenting: V for Vienna, 2013 Bock.
In planning: TEA for two, First Flakes American Brown.

Reno_eNVy

Recipes 

I've worked with pressurizing keg filling/cleaning equipment and they are serious machines. I can see how a minor malfunction or defect in the keg could make this happen.

My heart goes out to the man and his family. My heart also goes out to Redhook.... it must be awful to have that over your head. I'm hoping OSHA determines it was indeed a freak accident and not negligence. I also hope all parties deal with this tragedy with tact and dignity in order to honor the man properly.

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Primary: Sahti, Strawberry Banana Blonde, Caramel Quad

Kegged: Cascadian Dark Ale -- Punkin' Ale -- "Bitter and Rye" American-style Bitter

Bottled: English Barleywine (brewed 9/26/09 -- bottled 5/5/10)

LET'S GO LA!
LA CAMPIONE!
PLAY FOR GLORY, THE GLORY LA!

Jayhem

Recipes 

Terrible.

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Next up: Caramel Amber Ale (Chinook)
Primary #1 + 2: Red Zombie IPA
Bottle Conditioning: Centennial Blonde Summer Ale, Shmuck's Belgian Dubbel, Dry Irish Stout
Drinking: Honeybee American Wheat Ale

ChrisKennedy

Recipes 

Kegs are supposed to have a fail point, usually on the bottom, that will give before any sort of huge, dangerous explosion happens. This is terrible news, and I hope Redhook makes public what went wrong so that all the breweries out there can make sure this horrible event can't happen to them.

Bamsdealer

Recipes 

Very sad news. A painful reminder to be careful when brewing. Propane, fire, hot wort, glass carboys, heavy equipment, pressure, etc are all real and potential hazards.

JRems

Recipes 

I wonder if the spear came flying out, it was reported as face and head trauma. Maybe after it was pressurized and the tap removed the spear shot out when he was leaning over the keg. That seems most probable to me

jd3

Recipes 

Stories say it was cleaning beer out, so I would guess it wasn't new.

zachattack

Recipes 

Well said.

ScottSingleton

Recipes 

The news reportings coming out today are saying that the keg that failed was a plastic keg, not owned by Red Hook. I'm guessing they get the ocassional mis-packed used keg that comes in.

The tragic news includes the fact that he leaves behind a pregnant wife. They've setup a fund for the family here:

http://www.jvwoodfuneralhome.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1464439&fh_id=11813#.T5iDWewMiMW .facebook

thatjonguy

Recipes 

I have always been concerned about plastic kegs for this reason.