Beer suicide

sigh, I went out to my keezer tonight after putting in a new keg and find it hissing gas out my ipa party tap,only then did I realize I had it all at the bottom of my freezer :-( the tap had gotten pinned open between the lid and the keg.

I attempted to slowly siphon it one pump at a time with my auto siphon back into the keg. this was supposed to be for a party in 2.5 weeks. I'm guessing it's ruined,but we will see,it was under a blanket of gas and it all happened in a span of 5 minutes I was away. anyone else do this? I'm going to start a new batch tomorrow immediately so it canhopefully be ready in 2.5 weeks and I'll force carb it quick. What a crap night!

I lost a few gallons of octoberfest that way one thanksgiving. I was using picnic taps and poured a pint, tossed the tap back in the freezer and shut the lid a walked away. Came back and heard that hissing noise, and realized I had a freezer full of ocktoberfest. We had guest so I couldnt really clean it up right then. Tossed 6 or seven full rolls of paper towel in the bottom, and cleaned it up later. I feel your pain.

Sucks Brah.

Karma.

Ouch.

Put it back in the keg? Be sure to check it before serving. I don't know many people who sanatize the outsides/bottoms of their kegs, nor the inside of their keezers. I would be a little wary before serving it to others if it was recycled to the keg that way.

I had a leaky coney keg. The gasket on the "out side" was going bad and i didn't have it attached to a tap so all the beer and co2 ran out into my kezer

That really stinks! This is one good reason to bottle v. keg.

I've opened a tap accidentally before, but only lost about 1/2 pint.

On the other hand, I've emptied my CO2 tank once or twice due to slow leaks. Losing 5# of Co2 is nowhere near as sucky as losing 5 gallons of beer.

Jayhem said:

That really stinks! This is one good reason to bottle v. keg.

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No it's not. Bottles sometimes blow up. Both have occasional mishaps.

DrunkleJon said:

Ouch.

Put it back in the keg? Be sure to check it before serving. I don't know many people who sanatize the outsides/bottoms of their kegs, nor the inside of their keezers. I would be a little wary before serving it to others if it was recycled to the keg that way.

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Yea it likely wont be for serving to the party, i'll be trying it myself to see if its worth drinking.

Just felt wrong dumping an entire 4+ gallons of beer without trying to save some.

Any advice for a light style i can get ready in 2.5 weeks? I think i can do an IPA, but it may be a bit green at that point ...

Its for a Party and i already have a Strawberry Blonde, a Vanilla Porter, and a Ginger beer....so looking for something to give variety.
Know that its for females, and i can force carb, so it can ferment/age for almost the entire 2.5 weeks.

Im thinking a Wheat beer of some sort? I know Hefe's and the like come out quick...

Your keezer and the outside of your kegs must be A LOT cleaner than mine.

kehaar said:

No it's not. Bottles sometimes blow up. Both have occasional mishaps.

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My point was that losing one or two bottles is better than loosing 5 gallons at once!

I have bottled over 2,000 bottles of homebrew and never once have I had a bottle bomb or failure to carbonate...I have lost exactly ZERO ounces of beer to mishaps. :knocksonwooddesk:

Hefeweizen would be done super quick and if you force carb there is no reason it wouldn't be ready in time for your party. Sorry about your IPA though, that sucks.

oakbarn said:

Karma.

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That's kind of a... what's the word I'm looking for... dickish thing to say.

NateLTB said:

That's kind of a... what's the word I'm looking for... dickish thing to say.

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I prefer the term "*********" or "*****ey" but I agree with you. Misfortune and Karma are not the same thing.

Sounds like a solid justification for going to installed faucets/taps and ditching the picnic taps.

Glad I ditched them a good while ago (not long after I started kegging). I like being able to pull a pint without opening up the brew fridge door.

Golddiggie said:

Sounds like a solid justification for going to installed faucets/taps and ditching the picnic taps.

Glad I ditched them a good while ago (not long after I started kegging). I like being able to pull a pint without opening up the brew fridge door.

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I have 2 months of Paid vacation starting Christmas week, i already have plans to bring the keezer into the house(instead of just as a freezer in my garage) and make a 4 tap coffin keezer.

Just sucks this had to happen before

I may just end up doing a Hefe so its ready in time, the IPA was a 2 Hearted Clone that got dumped too, was at like 7 weeks and just getting into that amazing stage....ugh.

I think the beer gods have given you a sign... :rockin:

blizzard said:

Your keezer and the outside of your kegs must be A LOT cleaner than mine.

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My god is this the truth. Sometimes I don't want my guests to see the inside of my keezer...

Basic Brewing did an episode on brewing a beer to serve in a week. It was a lower gravity ESB. I'd check out that episode, it sounded really doable.

You could brew an English IPA and dry hop it in keg. :rockin: Make a SMaSH, use strong yeast, proper temperatures for fermenting and such. Should be done in a week, or so, then you can keg it, dry hop (put the hops in a nylon mesh bag) and carbonate it up.

Tell me you're joking.
I would never serve beer out of the bottom of my freezer.
About a week and a half ago I came home and hooked up a full CO2 cylinder to my keezer, turned up the pressure to carbonate a full keg of black Butte.
I meant to leave it for about 15 minutes and then shut the gas off but it was late and I forgot.
The next morning I opened the lid on my freezer and saw that the picnic tap was hooked up to the keg.
The higher pressure pushed all the beer out through the picnic tap and into the bottom of my freezer.
Empty keg and CO2 cylinder.
I siphoned it all back out with the shop vac.
If you are planning to serve that, you better let people know the nasty conditions it was in.

Golddiggie said:

Sounds like a solid justification for going to installed faucets/taps and ditching the picnic taps.

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+1,000

You shouldn't leave party taps on your kegs anyways, IMO. They are just that, "party taps" meaning they are hooked up for a short period of time and taken off after the party. I have read several threads on here about them draining a keg.

Also, as far as a beer ready in 2.5 weeks? Check out Orfy's Mild or Ed Wort's Hefe. Both are simple, quick and delicious.

Yeah, but... "nothing that can hurt you can live in beer"!!
Don't worry "the alcohol will sanitize it"!! :cross:

Seriously though, that sucks. **** happens...
"no sense crying over spilled milk"... oh wait...
that was beer!!! Time to have a meltdown!!!!!!

I would brew a wheat beer, and have a story to tell...
(leave out the part about siphoning back into the keg)

OH... AND LETS BE CLEAR....

This was NO SUICIDE!!! You MURDERED the beer!!!!!!

You should be able to get a batch of Centennial Blonde ready in 2+ weeks....great recipe and most people will enjoy it. If you want something a closer to your IPA a simple Pale Ale can finish in time..as long as you keep the OG on the low side.

pwkblue said:

You should be able to get a batch of Centennial Blonde ready in 2+ weeks....great recipe and most people will enjoy it. If you want something a closer to your IPA a simple Pale Ale can finish in time..as long as you keep the OG on the low side.

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Already have a Blonde, strawberry blonde granted but i wanted something different.

And no im not actually going to serve it to people lol.

FuzzeWuzze said:

Already have a Blonde, strawberry blonde granted but i wanted something different.

And no im not actually going to serve it to people lol.

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I still vote for a SMaSH... Make it as an IPA if you like, or just an ESB... Love my MO SMaSH recipe/batches...

Golddiggie said:

I still vote for a SMaSH... Make it as an IPA if you like, or just an ESB... Love my MO SMaSH recipe/batches...

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I know Smashes can get done quick, but i'd hate to serve a green beer as all my others are going to be perfect, aged atleast 8+ weeks as Ales....so need something that will go quick and yet be a hit with the ladies...

So im doing Edworts Bavarian Hefeweizen since it can be done in 10 days and kegged, so i wont have to force carb it.

My Verdict: Involuntary Manslaughter By Picnic tap

This has happened to people with standard faucet style to, they get bumped and lock open or they aren't attached to anything and fall down or get stuck in the open position some other way.

I never leave my picnic tap attached if I'm not looking right at it, best case scenario I figure I will loose CO2 to a slow leak, worst case beer in the fridge and on the basement floor. And me inventing new and creative curse words, while the dog tries to 'help' me clean it up.

Question: does everyone else just leave beer in the line when they disconnect the tap or do they drain it out? I haven't noticed any carbonation issues but then again I drink lightly carb'd English Ales mostly. Kinda wonder what the best approach is sanitation wise. I leave the line/tap coiled up on top of the keg, my thinking is this is no different then a bottle of beer, keg its self or any other storage vessel. It should be fine as long as the temp is good and its mostly sealed. I spray starsan on the post and inside of the disconnect before hooking it up. The line is about 8 feet of 1/4 inch beer line. Thoughts?

the same thing happened to me aout 6 weeks ago. Pissed me off so much i changed my while system over to Perlick taps the next day.

I have lost a keg due to a faulty black beer out with a Perlick faucet. I replace them every year now and also replace my o rings on the posts yearly.

If you brew long enough, something like this WILL happen to you. I personally have (on more than one occasion sadly) left the tap open while hooking up a new keg and rained beer down my back and head. I may have been drinking when this happened, I can't remember though. Dry it up, toss it, and make another beer quick! You have time to get a good brew in the keg by Christmas.

FuzzeWuzze said:

So im doing Edworts Bavarian Hefeweizen since it can be done in 10 days and kegged, so i wont have to force carb it.

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So you won't have to force carb it? What?