Clogged Keg Dip Tube

[Figgy15]

Hello fellow Brewers!

I'm back with a new issue lol. Two days ago I keg my Vanilla-Coconut Porter. I used coconut flakes in the secondary and when I raked to the keg, some of the flakes transferred over. Today I went to take a sample and the beer was flowing out very slowly. I believe the liquid out tube might be clogged with the flakes. Any advice on what I could do would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WarmGas]

I just went through this with a dry-hopped in secondary IPA. The first thing I suggest you do is release all pressure in the keg. Take a small wrench and unscrew the "Out" post. If beer or foam starts to come out as you are unscrewing it then just open up the keg to release all pressure.

Take the post off and clean it, the spring and the poppet. You might find that is where your problems are, as I did. Re-assemble - remember the SHORT side of the poppet goes into the post first. The LONG side fits sungly into the small part of the spring. This is assuming you have corny kegs and the same kind I have. Sanitize all that stuff tho' before you reassemble.

Try again. It may work. If not, then take the post off again and pull out the long tube. Clean and sanitize. Try again.

If she keeps clogging you may have to rack it again to another keg like I eventually did this morning.....!

 

[jcav]

You probably have a partially clogged dip tube. If you take out the long dip tube and clear it with a dip tube brush, or if you don't have one flush it out with water, you should be good to go. It might clog again if you have more flakes in the keg though.....

John

 

[Figgy15]

Thanks for the fast response. I just connected the liquid connect to the gas line and connected it to the out side. My hope is that pushing CO2 through the tube will unclog it, but I'm sure it will get clogged again. If I'm force to move it to another keg, will I lose any chance of carbonation being that I've had it going on CO2 for the last two days now?

 

[pvpeacock]

Don't worry about losing whatever carbonation you already have. You can make up for any losses by temporarily increasing the pressure in the new keg for a day or two. I typically set my new kegs at 30-40 p.s.i. for 24 hours and then reduce to serving pressure (12 - 14 p.s.i.) and the beer is perfect after an additional day or two.

As for clogged dip tubes, I recommend buying an extra dip tube and cutting a half inch off the end. When you know you may have a clogging problem due to dry hopping, yeast, or other things in the keg, just use the shortened dip tube. They are cheap.

 

[Figgy15]

Sounds like a plan...

What about oxygenation? Any risk there?

 

[WarmGas]

Sounds like a plan...

What about oxygenation? Any risk there?

Yup. Purge the empty keg with CO2 first and very carefully siphon the beer into it. I make sure the siphon hose lies at the bottom of the keg so it is quickly covered by beer and hope that this results in less bubbling/agitation of the precious liquid.

When done I spray Star-San on the keg lid, close it and then purge it again three or four times, releasing the pressure each time except for the last. This positive pressure helps the seal sit better.