My first foray into beer brewing turned into a bit of a disaster today.
I got a Mr. Beer a couple of months ago to try beer brewing. I got a Mexican Cervesa going late last month and was going to bottle it later this week. I kept the keg in the back of my clothes closet where it's dark and wouldn't be disturbed.
But when I went into my closet to get a shirt this morning, I noticed a rather strong smell of beer and discovered that the floor was damp. To my horror, I discovered the keg had sprang a very bad leak. When I tilted the keg slightly to check the tap, the spout half fell into my hand and the back half with the nut floated away in what little beer was left.
I quickly sanitized some bottles but was only able to fill two of the 750ml Mr. B bottles with the remains. I checked the spigot assembly- the screw part was split in half. At this point, I'm not sure what happened. I don't think anything hit the spigot, and I was careful when moving it to not hold it by the tap.
But I won't give up on beer brewing just yet. I've got a can of Czech pilsner I want to try next. And I also got a cooler to manage the temperature better, which should also help protect the keg from anything hitting it again.
I see that Mr. B sells replacement spigots. Should I just get another one, or are there more durable alternatives out there? I'm not ready to move to a larger more sophisticated setup yet. The small footprint and minimal equipment needed to use Mr. B is very appealing to me right now.