Kegging for the first time - not getting flow

[dwizum]

I have the following setup:

- a new edgestar kegerator
- new corny ball lock keg
- a "homebrew conversion" kit from homebrewing.org for the kegerator (since it came rigged for commercial kegs). This was basically the two ball lock fittings needed for the keg. I cut the fittings for the commercial fitting off and put these on instead.
- freshly filled 5 lb CO2 tank, with the regulator that came with the kegerator

I brewed a pale ale and put it in the keg yesterday afternoon. It was room temperature. I did my best to "force carbonate" it by putting pressure up to 20 psi and gently shaking the bottle. Then I let it sit until this evening. I left it at 20 psi overnight and turned it down to 10 psi this morning.

This evening I tried pouring a beer, and pretty much nothing came out. After holding the handle open for a minute or so I had half a pint. The beer was cold and pretty close to appropriately caronated but the pour speed is way too slow, it barely trickles out.

Here's what I've tried:

- Checked that the gas was turned on, both at the tank and the shutoff on the regulator
- Checked the gas pressure was appropriate (I tried it at 10 psi and 20, no difference).
- Checked that there was pressure in the keg - if I pull the release on the lid, I get a strong rush of gas and I hear the gas flowing out of the tank. There's clearly pressure in the keg. After pulling the release, it gets back up to pressure in just a few seconds, so it seems like there's plenty of flow of gas.
- Took the pin lock fitting on the beer line apart and made sure it wasn't broken or stuck. It seemed OK, but I don't really know what I am looking at.
- Checked that the beer line wasn't kinked. It's about 5 feet long and gently coiled in the kegerator, no kinks.
- Emptied the beer line out to make sure there wasn't frozen beer in it
- Took the tower off the top of the unit to make sure there were no line kinks inside it. It looks fine.
- Took the faucet apart. No obvious issues, but I really don't know what I'm looking at.
- Checked the temp in the kegerator with a thermometer. It was 39 degrees.

Any ideas? I feel like I've checked anything I could think of but I'm also new enough at this that I don't know where to look and, to be honest, I don't really understand the equipment well enough to troubleshoot any further.

 

[day_trippr]

Greetings, @dwizum, and welcome to HBT!

Any chance you might have transferred some debris with your pale ale? First place I'd look is the keg Out post, to see if debris has clogged the post. To do that, remove your gas and beer disconnects from the keg, open and latch the PRV valve on the keg lid, then using either an 11/16" or 7/8" socket or wrench (please, do not use Vise Grips or Channel Locks!) remove the Out (beer) post. Give the inside a good look and flush it out with water. Then pull the long dip tube and flush that clear as well.

If you loaded the keg with a lot of hop debris the keg may seize up again, but once you've hit all the parts with sanitizer before reinstalling hopefully you'll be good to go...

Cheers!

 

[dwizum]

Thanks for the quick reply and the specific instructions. That does seem likely, I had the beer in a secondary so it was fairly clean but there was some hop debris in it. I'll take it apart tomorrow and check.

 

[dwizum]

Well that was it! I took the post off and it was clogged solid with hop debris. Cleaned the post and tube out, rinsed with star san, and put it back together, and now I can pour at an acceptable speed. Of course it's 6:30 in the morning on a work day, so I'll be waiting to actually enjoy a beer until tonight.

Such a simple problem after all, and now I know what to look out for. When I transferred to the keg, I guess I hadn't really thought about avoiding any solid debris, but I can see now that it will be important to do so in the future. Maybe I need to start filtering the beer as it comes out of the secondary? Is that typical for homebrewers who keg? I've been bottling since I started brewing about 10 years ago so I'm not used to having to be sensitive to solids in the final product since bottles don't clog!

Thank you again.

 

[McKnuckle]

It's important to keep hop debris out of kegs for the reason you discovered. Clogged poppets are a nightmare! In my experience, if there's a single blob of hops, it simply will find its way out and get stuck.

Easiest way to avoid hop solids is just to filter from kettle to fermenter. No need to go nuts - you're not worried about break material here, just the spent hops. A single straining step takes care of it. Use a funnel, a strainer, a bucket filter, etc.

If you are still using a secondary, then I'd think you'd be avoiding transfer of hop solids from the primary, where it's even less of a factor. Racking more carefully is key.

For dry hopping in the fermenter, look into stainless canisters and bags.

 

[TurnipGreen]

Cold crashing should take care of you.

I just had a rushed pale ale before Christmas that I did not adequately cold crash and I ended up having to slip some stainless mesh around the dip tube to avoid the hops.

I’m sure there’s a ton of solutions, but I’m pretty sure my commando dry hopping days are over. At least for kegged beers.

 

[brew703]

Get yourself a floating dip tube where it draws from the top. I have switched to these and never had a clogged dip tube or crap in a poppet.
Also beer pours much clearer.

 

[pvpeacock]

agree with Brew703. https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Top-Draw-Beer-Pick-Up-Tube-P4643.aspx

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Maybe I need to start filtering the beer as it comes out of the secondary?[...]

The solution can be as simple as rubber-banding some nylon mesh over your racking gear (cane, autosiphon, whatever) like so...

...and dip the whole thing in Star San before sticking it into your fermentor. Position the end an inch or so above the debris level and draw down to just above the end, then work the end down until you've racked all the beer. Ie: don't bury the poor thing in the trub and expect it to work

The SS washer is used to keep the small "bag" open and not get sucked into the cane...

Cheers!