Beer in co2 Line

[mildeng]

I'm the guy who forgot to shake up his keg after turning psi up to 30 for 48 hours.

Anyhow, just went outside to reduce psi to 10. Noticed the adjustment knob wasn't responding super well so I simply closed the co2 main line, in anticipation of releasing line pressure and then manually adjusting back up to 10. When it comes time to do that - the valve just starts spraying foam until I release, so clearly there is now beer in the co2 line and likely the regulator. What the hell do I do now?! Worth noting that the keg is not yet hooked up to my tower/tap - plan was to get the carbing done and then hook up that coupling once process was complete.

I'm aware I've probably butchered some terminology here. TLDR; beer is in co2 line, can I still drink beer or is batch in peril?

 

[DVCNick]

You don't have to shake up the keg unless you are trying to drink it in minutes, not days.

Just because you have foam coming from the PRV doesn't mean there is much beer in your gas line, but there is probably at least a little. I would clean out the gas line after this keg is kicked to make sure there isn't stuff growing in it prior to the next one. Once you get the line off the regulator you can probably detect beer smell on the actual regulator output if it made it that far. If that did happen, I don't know what the answer is on condition of the regulator. But I'd definitely clean out the line with a good PBW soak

Shaking up the keg would be a great way to get beer in the gas line by the way.

I had beer back up into the line a couple times with stock length gas dip tubes when they were submerged in beer when the keg was really full. If that is the case, all you have the do is back the regulator side pressure lower than what is in the keg, and boom, beer is in the gas side. I never had it get as far as the regulator though.

What I do now is cut all my dip tubes flush with the top of the keg, so it is basically impossible to submerge them in an upright keg almost no matter how full it is. Also I don't shake the kegs, or do anything else that should generate a bunch of foam: Slow, near-equal-pressure transfers, don't tip them on their side or shake, have patience to carb over a few days, etc.

 

[mildeng]

You don't have to shake up the keg unless you are trying to drink it in minutes, not days.

Just because you have foam coming from the PRV doesn't mean there is much beer in your gas line, but there is probably at least a little. I would clean out the gas line after this keg is kicked to make sure there isn't stuff growing in it prior to the next one. Once you get the line off the regulator you can probably detect beer smell on the actual regulator output if it made it that far. If that did happen, I don't know what the answer is on condition of the regulator. But I'd definitely clean out the line with a good PBW soak

Shaking up the keg would be a great way to get beer in the gas line by the way.

I had beer back up into the line a couple times with stock length gas dip tubes when they were submerged in beer when the keg was really full. If that is the case, all you have the do is back the regulator side pressure lower than what is in the keg, and boom, beer is in the gas side. I never had it get as far as the regulator though.

What I do now is cut all my dip tubes flush with the top of the keg, so it is basically impossible to submerge them in an upright keg almost no matter how full it is. Also I don't shake the kegs, or do anything else that should generate a bunch of foam: Slow, near-equal-pressure transfers, don't tip them on their side or shake, have patience to carb over a few days, etc.

Interesting you mention regulator vs. keg pressure. I've done this successfully in the past (psi @ 30 for 2 days, then lower) - just asked a homebrew friend who works for draft services and he mentioned the same thing as you. Went so far as to recommend an app by McDantim which helps with that determination. Oddly enough, in his opinion 30 psi was way too high, but most of what I've read recommended something in that range for a quick carb. Live and learn I suppose.

 

[DVCNick]

It is definitely way too high to leave it for much more than 48 hours (cold) or you'll be overcarbed.

The main problem is the long gas dip tubes that stick 1.5" down into the keg and will get submerged in beer when the keg is full. Cut that tube to be flush with the inside of the keg and you should never have beer in the gas side again unless you are really trying hard to do it.

 

[Hayden123982]

I typically do your process... pump to 30, little shaking then 1-2d later will release pressure through the kegs PRV and drop the regulator down to serving pressure.
Not sure how you got beer in your line if you used the keg's PRV to release the pressure. One thing with using high pressure to get a quicker carb that Im cautious of is to make sure the keg is not overfilled or the keg is not tilted so the beer is touching the in post, because then if keg is 30 PSI and you drop your regulator pressure, then you will get beer suck back into the gas line/regulator

Anyways, if you have beer in your gas line and potentially regulator, then I would fix this now. Very easy to do. Just detach the gas inlet and then take off your gas line completely and clean, sanitize, dry. The regulators are pretty easy to disassemble, take yours apart, clean and dry. This way you dont risk rusting out your regulator. The beer will be fine off the gas for the few hours it takes for everything to dry

 

[mildeng]

It is definitely way too high to leave it for much more than 48 hours (cold) or you'll be overcarbed.

The main problem is the long gas dip tubes that stick 1.5" down into the keg and will get submerged in beer when the keg is full. Cut that tube to be flush with the inside of the keg and you should never have beer in the gas side again unless you are really trying hard to do it.

So off the top of my head I know there is the very long dip tube on the beer side, but I will have to double check what's on the gas side. Thanks for the advice.