Kegging woes

[Focus]

I've been kegging for about four months now and have three kegs filled, Porter, Honey Porter, and Oktoberfest. I went to tap them the other weekend for a party and met with disasterous results. Here they are for your entertainment value, commentary, and assistance:

Issue #1: Porter kegs not sealed correctly

So I was bringing my kegs down from the beer closet in the new upstairs man-cave. When I got it into the garage, I looked down to see porter streaming down the leg of my AF running suit. Go back in the house to find that I’ve dripped black-as-oil porter down my steps (which are at least painted, thankfully) and on the carpet in the hallway. s---. Not only is my porter flat and potentially contaminated, but I’ve got stains on my rug. Same damned thing happens with my honey porter. s---. s---. Luckily, the Oktoberfest is sealed correctly. At this point, I’m 1 for 3.


Issue #2: Ball-lock quick-releases leak like a madman

So I start trying to tap my one remaining carbonated keg. Attach gas, turn on, no problem. When I go to attach the outlet tap, it starts streaming beer constantly. Maybe I didn’t get it on firm enough. Release, wipe off leaked beer – which looks and smells great, BTW – and try again. Still leaking, more so if I actually squeeze the tap handle. It also starts leaking not only out the bottom of the quick-release, but from between the locking mechanism (the part you pull up before pushing down onto the post) and the part that’s attached to the hose. Maybe it’s just that one of my two tap handles has a bad ball-lock quick-release. Nope, other one leaks like mad as well. Maybe it’s just the keg post, o-ring, or valve…



Issue #3: Honey Porter outlet valve leaks – with nothing attached!

So I drag Mr Honey Porter over and re-fit the center cap & gasket. This freaks me out, obviously because I’m worried I’ll get all kinds of nasties in there. But I figure we’re probably going to drink it all at the party this afternoon, so no worries. Pressure on and it still leaks out the main hatch. Mess with gasket some more and it finally gets a good seal – around the gasket, that is. 2 sec after turning on the gas, the out-valve starts leaking beer right out the top. At this point, I call Midwest and talk to "Stoner" (why in hell am I in the AF and not running a brew & “hydroponics” store). He says the leaking might fix itself if I mess around with the valve a little. Detach gas cylinder, get screwdriver, press valve, get face full of beer. Obviously I missed the step where I was supposed to release the pressure before depressing the valve. Mess around with it some more, put pressure on, still leaking like before. Maybe I can just put the dispensing tap and the leaking won’t matter – Nope, quick release still leaks on this keg.



Issue #4: Porter’s a total mort

So, now I’m thinking “Maybe, just maybe, the porter won’t leak and I can actually have some kegged homebrew at this party.” I go to re-fit the gasket on the main hatch (like with the honey porter), and f--- if I don’t drop the gasket into the keg. Still on the phone with "Stoner" and he suggests that I may be able to fish it out with my 24” brew spoon like he’s had to do on occasion (which I’m sure he said just to make me feel better). When I go to fish it out, something totally unnatural floats to the top of the beer. Some gray, leathery, skin-looking material which I’m now sure was a mold layer. I fish it out for inspection and it looks pretty nasty. BUT the beer still smells okay, so I obey the Cardinal Rule of brewing: Don’t throw it out without tasting it first. Continue to fish for 10 min, then call it quits and declare the porter a mort based on too many contamination factors – and oh by the way, no gasket to seal it even IF the posts and quick-release work correctly.


Now, I have identified some corrective fixes on my own:
- No more beer goes in a keg until I successfully dispense water from it beforehand
- When you re-assemble a keg after cleaning, put some pressure on it to make sure everything works properly
- When you fill and seal a keg, put some pressure on it for a second to make sure it’s got a good seal; this won’t hurt the carbonation process either.
- I’ve got to fix whatever I’m doing with my keg sanitization – then again, the seal check may be the fix for this anyway. Currently, I'm taking the posts off. tube, and center hatch/gasket out and sanitizinng them in one-step, then I reassemble the whole thing and pour 5 gal of boiling water in to sanitize the inside of the keg (after rinsing and cleaning, of course)

Let the ridicule and corrective suggestions begin...
Focus

 

[Fingers]

Let the ridicule and corrective suggestions begin...
Focus

Ridicule? My god, man, that was the saddest thing I've read on this site. Maybe a little funny, but sad nonetheless. You have my sincere condolences.

I can't give you any suggestions for two reasons. I haven't fired up my kegs yet and you seem to have found your own solution. Thanks for posting it.

Guess what? You are now officially a warning to others.

 

[jayselle]

What a sad story, hopefully people will learn from it though.

I own 3 cornies and everyone of them has leaked. I end up buying new gaskets and relief valves.

With the keg empty fill it to at least 15 PSI. Spray glass cleaner or soap all over and watch for bubbles. Including around the base and on top of the post. Let it sit for several days and check to see if it's still under pressure. I then fill with a gallon or so of sanitizing solution and run through to the tower and faucet to check for leaks and to clean it up.

 

[dibby33]

Have started to accumulate kegging hardware. Ta for your post. You have made me aware of possible problems. Ridicule will not be in this thread I would think. Just plain bad luck and a great learning experience!

 

[david_42]

Some gray, leathery, skin-looking material which I’m now sure was a mold layer.

I doubt it. It is probably nothing more than yeast.

Keep a few gasket kits handy for emergencies like this.

 

[thebull]

And along with the extra gasket kits, keep some Keg Lube handy. Always grease any O-ring with Keg Lube prior to moving ahead especially the big one around the opening.

 

[Buford]

I had one lid that wouldn't seat, but with a little keg lube on the o-ring and about 10 PSI added to the keg it seals. I checked it with some leak checking goop and there were no bubbles. Keg lube works wonders.

 

[Chris_K]

Is this with new O-rings and Poppets (at least new within the past 4 months)?

Sorry about your loss.

 

[abracadabra]

Faulty poppets are the most common failure points provided all your o rings are new and lubricated. At least according to what I've been reading. And from reading your post it seems like that maybe 1 of your problems in addition to the faulty seal you had on your lid.

Once your cornies are sealed, consider brushing some sanitizer (star-san / sani-star whatever the stuff is called) on the top around the lid and posts. Then look for bubbles, if you see some you know you have a leak(s). Or you could op for a quick connect with a pressure gauge that would allow you to monitor your pressure

I think david may be right about a yeast cake instead of mold. And hope you have not thrown it away yet.

 

[Ol' Grog]

Even though beer can be sensitive, it's still pretty dang tough. Just think back in the "old" days and didn't have a big concern about sanitation, it was still good to go. I've had a couple of relief valves leak on me and from one particular lid. I ordered a bunch more for backup and even they leaked. Called Terry over at brewersdiscount and he told me to really, really clean the seating area for the relief valve and if that don't work, take some teflon tape and wrap the bottom rubber seat on the valve itself and then screw the post in the lid. The second method worked as I had brew in the keg and didn't want to take the lid off for the same fears and concerns you did, contamination. That worked. Worked so well I haven't taken the relief valve back off yet. If it ain't broken, I ain't fixing it. Hang in there, I've made a LOT of mistakes when I first started kegging, it's a learning curve. Here's one....in my jest to release the O2 from a freshly racked keg, I put the lid on, hooked the gas up and charged it up some. Instead of using the release valve for the same fears mentioned earlier, I pushed in the poppet valve on the "out" side. Guess what???.....ever been in a REAL brew rain fall event?????......what a mess to clean up.

 

[Kadmium]

Instead of using the release valve for the same fears mentioned earlier, I pushed in the poppet valve on the "out" side. Guess what???.....ever been in a REAL brew rain fall event?????......what a mess to clean up.

lol, I did the opposite! I force carbed my keg of apfelwein, and decided to release the pressure. So I crank up some pressure on the keg, turn the gas off (this is after shaking like mad) diconect the gas and give the corny another good shaking to absorb just a touch more CO2 (seeing I had cranked it up) then decide to bleed the pressure.. I didnt realise that the apfelwein had foamed up inside the keg, and as I released the pressure valve (I gave it one nice smooth pull to fully open) Apfelwein had gotten into the CO2 injector and sprayed nice two streams... I was holding the keg between my legs and got 2 legs full sprayed with "almost frozen it was so cold" apfelwein... not a good experience!! so be wary of the release valve too hahahaha

 

[gnef]

i can't agree with the OP more, you need to check your kegs before you actually use them.

now that i have over 30 kegs, if i didn't rebuild them myself and check them for pressure, it would be a nightmare trying to get the kegs to work.

and don't just check once, you need to check periodically, otherwise when something goes wrong, it will really go wrong... don't lose 5 gallons of your precious hard work!

 

[Hollow4]

or you could be like me and hook your co2 tank up to the out side crank the pressure up to 35 and back it down to 10 a day later. Guess what when you back down the pressure the excess has to go somewhere and it goes into the gas line. the beer hit my regulator and i just said F#*(.

Live and learn

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

Wow, thats a string of bad luck I wouldn't wish on anyone. Hey, at least you are learning something from it, right? Some pointers I saw from your story:

- +1 on pressure testing your kegs before you use them

- +1 on keg lube being your friend

- look up starsan for a sanitizer. I pour some in my kegs, shake it up really well to form as much foam as possible and cover all internal surfaces, hook it up to pressure and drain the starsan out a picnic tap. When I remove the top of the corny to rack, all the foam forms a kinda barrier while it is open, and as beer flows in, the foam flows out the top

- leaky ball valves makes me think that you are missing the gaskets on your post, check to make sure they are in place and in good condition. You can also put a little keg lube around the sides of your post to help form a better seal.

Kegging is the shiznit when you get it working properly. Good luck with future batches!