Keg Pouring Mystery

I'm having some problems with an Amber I've kegged. Here's the down and dirty, any solutions would be appreciated.

I carb'd at 14psi for about a week, turned it down, and bled the keg a few times over the course of another week. What confuses me about this problem, is the symptoms don't seem like they should occur simultaneously.

These are the symptoms:
1) Pours in drips. Literally individual droplets.
- I tried upping the PSI (had it set on 8) to like 14-16
- I tried pulling off the beer line to see if it'd flow and it came out fine once I depressed the plunger in the beer disconnect and held it in the air. Poured out fine, so I don't think it's a problem between the disconnect and shank.

2) Beer line was all foam.
- I've included a picture, but you can see it's very foamy. I thought maybe over-carbbed, and I tried bleeding off the Co2. This doesn't make sense to me because I would expect it to come out very fast and foamy, not in individual drops.


3) Beer tastes completely flat.
- It has a head on it, I've included a picture of that as well, but it tastes as if it's totally flat.

I can't make heads or tails of it because all three of these problems seem like they shouldn't happen if the other symptom is happening.

I also tried a range of PSI from 4 to 20. I've reset it back to 8 after bleeding it off some from the 20 psi.

I don't see or hear any leaks, and I would think the total lack of flow wouldn't occur unless the leak was significant which I believe I'd be able to hear if it was that big.

Thoughts?

Have you checked to see if there is something in the dip tube or poppet? If the beer is pouring flat, there is likely something in there that is stripping away the carbonation as the beer is being poured.

concerning the pour,
Are you sure you don't have some sort of problem in the faucet?

Concerning the carbonation.
My kegerator is usually about 39 degrees and it usually takes more than a week at 14 PSI to fully carbonate a keg (with none of this purging activity you referred to)

hope that helps

Could your beer line be laying against the evaporator and freezing up? I had that happen before and it confused the hell out of me. Disassemble your tap and clean it. When beer pours foamy most of the carbonation comes out in the foam and the resulting beer is flat. There are only so many things it could be...

brdb said:

Have you checked to see if there is something in the dip tube or poppet? If the beer is pouring flat, there is likely something in there that is stripping away the carbonation as the beer is being poured.

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How would I pull the dip tube with a keg already carb'd? I've never had to do that, and I could foresee a foaming disaster?

In regards to the faucet, like I said, I disconnected the beer line from the keg, raised it straight over head, and depressed the pin with my finger with the tap open. Beer flowed like normal, in my mind eliminating the tap from being clogged or something. I clean my shanks thoroughly after each keg.

It was under pressure for over a week. 14 PSI for about 8-9 days, and been at 8 psi since then, 2 weeks in total.

Still no idea why the tap would pour in only drips.

It's quite easy for bits of hop debris to clog up the poppets. Unfortunately the only solution is to take apart the post and clean it out.

So your saying regardless of the PSI it still pours in drips and foams up?

If thats the case, id say something is blocking the flow and its prob the dip tube in the keg or poppet. You already confirmed the blockage is not after the keg so it must be in it. Just release all the pressure and then take out the poppet and replace with another clean diptube and poppet.

FiddlersGreen87 said:

How would I pull the dip tube with a keg already carb'd? I've never had to do that, and I could foresee a foaming disaster?

Click to expand...

Just vent off pressure like normal, then you can unscrew your liquid out post and check the poppet and post for any blockages.

Alright I'll give that a shot tomorrow. I was kind of wondering if some trub could of clogged it, but wasn't sure how to keep it from turning into a foaming mess.

If you don't overtly disturb things and work quickly there shouldn't be a problem removing the Out post and pulling the Out diptube. I watched a couple of half-drunk bastids do it on a hot afternoon to stick a screen on the dip tube end to get us all through a badly dry-hopped brew and it went as well as one could have hoped

Anyway, as already stated, shut off the gas to the keg/remove the gas QD. Have your post wrench at the ready, remove the Out QD, release the head space pressure using the keg PRV (if it has a manual PRV) or via the gas post poppet. Then quickly unscrew the Out post so pressure doesn't have a chance to build, then remove the Out dip tube.

Sanitize all parts (and your hands) before reinstalling and you should be fine...

Cheers!

You say you have your kegerator set at 39*? Amber Ale should be 2.26-2.78 vols, so you should have your pressure set at around 11-14 psi according to this chart:
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

I have an amber going into the keg in about 2 or 3 days. Temp set at 45*, and 10 ft of line, I want my vols to be around 2.4 (good middle ground), so I'll be setting the pressure at about 13 or 14 psi.

Thank for the help guys. There was a mashed up filter of hops at the top of the dip tube. I never thought they'd get that mashed up in there like that, but that's what it was. It's pouring like a champ now.

In regards to the PSI for an amber, my lines are only about 5ft. I don't see the point of having 10ft of hose. That being said, my beers require significantly less PSI to get a great pour.

Thanks again!

the reason many of us use 10 foot lines is so we can reach proper carbonation levels (at 12 PSI for example) without the the beer gushing out of the faucets from the higher pressure.

I have the same problem. I was 99% certain that the poppet was clogged. I reversed the lines and tried to blow out the hops with co2. Gas went through fine, but still won't pour. Is it possible to blow out the hops? Or should i just disassemble?

mgudmastad said:

I have the same problem. I was 99% certain that the poppet was clogged. I reversed the lines and tried to blow out the hops with co2. Gas went through fine, but still won't pour. Is it possible to blow out the hops? Or should i just disassemble?

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I recently had this same issue. Mine turned out to be my dip tube had turned when I tightened the post so that the end of the tube was flush with the keg wall. CO2 could get in, but nothing would come out. I transferred the beer into another keg and both are working properly, now that I fixed the dip tube issue.

FiddlersGreen87 said:

In regards to the PSI for an amber, my lines are only about 5ft. I don't see the point of having 10ft of hose. That being said, my beers require significantly less PSI to get a great pour.

Click to expand...

At lower pressure, you will eventually have an under-carbed beer.
Serving and carb pressure should be the same, then adjust the pour rate with beer line length.