Ever see a grown home-brewer cry?

[processhead]

Well after 20 years of brewing and dispensing beer, it finally happened....

This afternoon I got home, went downstairs to the bar, and drew a cool glass of dunkel weitzen from tap one.
I went upstairs for an hour, or so and then went back down for a refill.

Horrors! I got half way down the steps when I spelled the unmistakeable aroma of a lot of beer!

Tap two was just blowing out the last drops of an almost full corny keg of heffe-weitzen. It was cascading over the drip tray, down the bar and all over the floor.

I must have bumped tap two just enough to get it flowing as I was closing tap one. How I failed to notice it, I'll never know.

Now for as much as I like home brew, I hate the smell of spilled beer and hassle of cleaning it up. And I really hate the idea of 5 gallons of nectar going to waste.

Of course, it could have been way worse. Most of the beer ended up on tile and concrete, with just a bit on the carpet.

Lessons Learned: I am going to get a drip tray with a drain tube plumbed to the sink drain.

No point in crying over spilled beer.

 

[AZOTH99]

Well now you have the excuse to brew another batch.

 

[snccoulter]

Sucks I found 2 kegs empty and a 20lb tank of CO2 empty because my boys thought it was fun to play with the taps in the garage.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Condolences for your loss. I can't believe how many times I've heard of that exact thing happening. I figure when I eventually get in a situation where I can start kegging, tap handles get removed when not in use.

 

[SouthBay]

Duuuuuude.......

 

[paparker21]

that stinks man, i really do hate it for you. sounds like more reasons to either space your taps quite a bit apart, or use very small tap handles that you aren't likely to bump.

 

[Jayhem]

I guess there is one good reason why I like to bottle! Sorry for your loss of sweet nectar though!

 

[RyboFlav]

My keezer is just a freezer with some kegs with picnic taps on them right now, but this happened to me a few months ago. One of the taps didn't seal properly and leaked the 3/4 full corny all inside the keezer. So at least it was all contained in the keezer... but it was still quite the mess and waste of beer

 

[k1200rsvt]

I had a just tapped keg of Imperial Pilsner in a keezer and the disconnect didn't set properly and I came downstairs to hear the hiss of CO2. Upon opening the keezer the entire keg (2 pints drawn off it) had emptied into the keezer. Once I realized it wasn't my "favorite beer" I felt a little better. Solution...Drinking beer using 6 feet of 1/2" tubing for a straw. Probably drank another pint or so that way before clean up began.

My mess wasn't as bad, but I feel your pain.

 

[dgremark]

Sounds like you need to drink faster!

 

[Doed]

My keezer is just a freezer with some kegs with picnic taps on them right now, but this happened to me a few months ago. One of the taps didn't seal properly and leaked the 3/4 full corny all inside the keezer. So at least it was all contained in the keezer... but it was still quite the mess and waste of beer

This ^^^^ just happened to me. linky

processhead - I felt like crying too. At least my beer was contained in the keezer. It would really suck to have to clean up your mess.

 

[BadMrFrosty]

You cleaned it up with a straw right?

 

[processhead]

You cleaned it up with a straw right?

I actually did drink up what was left in the brimming full drip pan. Was a good 32 ounces there....It was a good batch, the drip pan had just been cleaned.... it was a no-brainer!

I guess it fortified me for the daunting clean-up task that lay ahead of me.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Hmmm....I wonder if you could rig a wetvac to deposit into a keg...:cross:

 

[smakudwn]

I have some taps that have a spring in them that return the handle to off............those help.

 

[Reeg68bird]

This happened to me last night. I have a keezer with 4 Perlick taps. Came down stairs to plug my lap top in, came back an hour later and could hear the hiss and sputtering of an empty keg. I have no idea how it happened. No one had used it in hours. Probably 4 gallons of root beer (thank God it was not my Maharaja) filled the drip tray and poured over the edges of the keezer. Mess. Tonight I rigged up an old smoke alarm with a couple wires that I am going to mount just off the bottom of the drip tray. If the tray starts to fill, the wires short out and the 104 dB alarm sounds. The wires are just soldered to the circuit board on the opposite side of where the test button is soldered to the board.

 

[C-Rider]

Sucks I found 2 kegs empty and a 20lb tank of CO2 empty because my boys thought it was fun to play with the taps in the garage.

How long before they could sit down w/out any pain?

 

[othevad]

Sucks I found 2 kegs empty and a 20lb tank of CO2 empty because my boys thought it was fun to play with the taps in the garage.

Yep. Now you know where child abuse comes from.

 

[scrambledegg81]

 

[bwomp313]

Tonight I rigged up an old smoke alarm with a couple wires that I am going to mount just off the bottom of the drip tray. If the tray starts to fill, the wires short out and the 104 dB alarm sounds. The wires are just soldered to the circuit board on the opposite side of where the test button is soldered to the board.

Wow. That's a pretty hardcore solution.


Reading this thread makes me very scared for my own children. And by children I mean my kegs. I don't have any human children yet.