Clogged dip tube?

In my first attempt at kegging I dry hopped my DFH IPA in the keg. I put the hops in a couple tea balls. It seems like one burst open and clogged the dip tube.

Are there any tricks to get it unclogged other than taking the dip tube out?

You could try hooking up the gas line to the beer out post. Force some Co2 down through it. That may break anything up if its clogged

you can try putting the co2 line on the out post and giving it a quick burst of high pressure. if your are right that one of the tea balls opened, then it will be likely to clog again.

if the blast doesn't work, take out the dip tube and see if you can unclog it from there. you could then put a hop sock or stainless steel sheet over the hole on the tube to filter.

I switched the beer out and gas in post and dislodged the clog, but as matt415 suspected, it got clogged right away again.

Should I rack to another keg?

thesanch said:

I switched the beer out and gas in post and dislodged the clog, but as matt415 suspected, it got clogged right away again.

Should I rack to another keg?

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you could do that, but let it sit for another day or so and let everything fall back to the bottom. that blast would have thrown everything back up into the beer.

i've racked to another keg before with a gelatin addition to the keg gone bad.

After it got clogged again, I switched the beer out and gas in post and pushed CO2 to dislodge the clog. I then opened up the tank and formed a 1 inch stainless steel mesh disc around the end of the dip tube. I was going to use a clamp to hold it on, but the pressure of the mesh disc around the end of the tube was enough to hold it in place.

funny, i hooked up a keg that had been carbonating and got 3 drops out. I plan on racking to an empty keg tomorrow night.

buffalobrewer said:

funny, i hooked up a keg that had been carbonating and got 3 drops out. I plan on racking to an empty keg tomorrow night.

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Installing the SS mesh disc was very simple to do and took about 5 minutes. I would recommend it vs sanitizing another keg and spending 20 minutes to rack it.

so how do you take the dip tube out? i'm the exact same problem with....the exact same beer!

You have to take off the beer out post. The dip tube just pulls right out. Good luck!

chirs said:

so how do you take the dip tube out? i'm the exact same problem with....the exact same beer!

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You just use a wrench and take off the post on the "out" side. And then there will be a poppit in the post (that could be full of gunk so make sure you separate it) and then the diptube. Pull it out through the hole.

Make sure you reduce the pressure and turn off the gas before you start!!!!! And then, pull the pressure relief again just to be sure. Otherwise, you'll get a beer geyser (if the diptube is actually unclogged a bit).

I take apart my kegs at each fill, as I think that the crud in there needs to come out. I think you'll be surprised at how gross it can be with yeast sediment and hops debris, even if it's not plugged. I have a set of 7/8" deep sockets that work great for the "out" posts.

Yuck, I did the same thing. It seems to be an occupational hazard with dry hopped IPAs. Crap.

This just happened to me with about 2 gallons left of my Pliny clone.

I just sanitized a new keg really well, got out my huge carboy funnel (with nylon mesh screen) and then opened the top of the problem keg and poured the beer right in. I then sealed up the new keg and set it to 20 psi for 2 days, purged and started pouring. The first two pints were murky, but now it is clear as a bell and no oxidation flavors.

I don't know if I would've done this if I had all 5 gallons were left. But seeing how there wasn't that much left, I'm glad i did it and it still tastes great.

As easy trick is to gently lay the keg on it's side and push the beer out the gas-in port (pressurizing the liquid-out port with CO2).

The hops will settle to the bottom on the keg, which allows you to rack off the top.

Greetings, I have had this problem with a recent 10 gallon batch of IPA that I dry hopped with pellets in the secondary. When I racked into the kegs, some of the hop particulate was also transferred. I thought this would settle into the trub at the bottom, boy was I wrong. In my experience, as it turns out, the ground hop particles plug the poppets, not the diptube. If your beer is carbonated, do not take off the poppets (duh right? I know, I have had stupider moments yet). Even if you bleed off the pressure, as I did, you can get a beer gusher. From the hop clogged tanks and one from when a teaball with hops popped open in a tank, I have found the best and easiest way is to rack to a new tank. Just let everything settle, bleed off the pressure through the valve in the top, open and rack over into a new keg. I had no flavor loss, no detectable oxidation, and no more stress.