Keg Troubles - Frustating

I've been home brewing for over a year with this one particular keg. It gave me problems with the last batch of beer where I couldn't disconnect the gas line (ball lock) without it hissing because the poppet was stuck.

Well now I have a new batch in there, set to 12 psig one week ago, was out of town for the whole week and I come back to find my tank empty and the beer not carbed. Obviously a leak.

So I disconnected everything, put back together, set regulator to 12 psig and I can't tell if the leak is gone or not! Here's the question: I hooked up the liquid tubing and tried to pour off a beer, and nothing comes out! Shouldn't it? Even if it isn't carbed, shouldn't the CO2 be able to push the beer out if it's set to a positive pressure?

So you refilled the co2 and hooked it up and you got nothing coming out? I would guess even if there was a slow leak it should still dispense.

Did you inspect the poppets and gas tube? Liquid out tube? Is there a clog, maybe hops or other junk?

dbrewski said:

So you refilled the co2 and hooked it up and you got nothing coming out? I would guess even if there was a slow leak it should still dispense.

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Yes I refilled the tank. I've never tried pouring a beer right away like this but I have no idea why it wouldn't come out. I open the faucet head and nothing happens. Maybe something is clogged? But that wouldn't explain the leak.

I'm going to go fiddle with it a little more to see if I can figure it out.

dbrewski said:

Did you inspect the poppets and gas tube? Liquid out tube? Is there a clog, maybe hops or other junk?

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Yes I inspected, but maybe not good enough.

It's not a very hoppy beer, it's actually milk stout. I do a pretty good job of filtering my beer out on the way from the kettle to the fermenter and likewise don't usually have a lot of junk that makes it into the keg.

Yes, the gas in will displace any liquid. I clean my lines with kegs under pressure. I would replace the poppets and lube them up and make sure your connections are good. If you have the capacity and space hook it up and submerge the keg and see if you can find the leak that way. A spray bottle with some star san will work as well. You have a leak somewhere in the system or something is not turned on. Can you hear the gas entering the keg when you hook it up? I would start at the tank and check for leaks all the way to the tap. QDs could also be faulty or a bad reg. Check everything, kinks, bad shutoffs, try and isolate the issue by removing things like distributors and shanks and faucets if u can. Slowly add parts back till you find the issue. Cheers

Hi

I'd check the tubes and replace the poppets. They are a lot cheaper than loosing a batch of beer.

Leak check wise, if you have a kid sized swimming pool, fill it up with soapy water. Run the empty keg up to 30 psi or so and then roll it around in the water. If there is a leak you should see a growing batch of bubbles somewhere.

I'd bet on the pressure relief valve ....

Bob

It was clogged! So this is what happened I believe: Since it's a milk stout I decided to add the lactose when I kegged (since lactose is non-fermentable). I boiled a couple cups of water and dissolved the lactose into it, poured into my keg, and the siphoned my beer over the top of it. It appears as though the sugars from the lactose clogged the dip stick. It was so jammed that I am soaking it in PBW solution right now to unclog it. Hopefully I can get everything put back together and go back to enjoying beer! Thanks for the advice everyone.

Hi

Note to self - set up a CO2 to liquid port adapter to blow out clogged dip tubes...

Bob

carlisle_bob said:

Hi

Note to self - set up a CO2 to liquid port adapter to blow out clogged dip tubes...

Bob

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Ha! Yes now I am trying to unclog it wondering what I can stick up there!

So I fixed my problem, at least for now. It was due to the clogged dip stick that was jammed full of the lactose(sugar) that didn't dissolve into the beer enough. So I'm hoping this doesn't happen again. I think I'll routinely pour a beer every day (and drink it) for the next few days until I'm confident that the sugars aren't 'sticking' together in the dip stick. On another note, the milk stout tastes great!

Hi

Ok, now that the immediate problem is on the mend a thought:

If there is any choice, it's normally best to boil anything that goes into your fermenter. Sugar + water boiled and then tossed in. Obviously yeast and some additives are in the no boil category.

Bob