I've been brewing and kegging for about 3 years now - and I have never encountered such a disaster... need your advice.
My keezer hold 3 kegs, and today I noticed that one of the "empty" kegs inside was actually full. Hmm, what is this pray-tell? It was gassed up, and when I tried to pour off of it, the memories came back. It was part of a 10 gallon batch from the summer, a super hoppy IPA with tons of hop sediment that made it into the keg. At the time when it was ready to drink, I had tried hooking it up only to realize the diptube was clogged, and opted to just pour off the other keg rather than deal with the clog at that moment. It just got forgotten for months...
Ok, no biggie. Just need to unclog and celebrate this 5 gallon bounty. After reinserting the tube, it was instantly clogged again with hops. Sigh, Ok. 3rd try. Clogged. So now me and my brewing buddy come up with a bright idea. "Let's stir the bottom of the keg because the hops must have compacted into a biscuit. If we can just get it flowing, we can draw off all these hops."
A few moments later I look over as my friend, who started mixing, is shouting "OH BOY!" as a literal eruption of beerfoam starts flowing out of the top of the keg onto the floor. No less than 3-4 beers worth of foam slide across the tile floor like a tsunami and we tried our best to sandbag the damage with nearby bags and towels.
Needless to say... the keg was still clogged after our 4th try with the diptube, and we decided to call it for the night. Aside from throwing the keg out of the 2nd floor window, I am out of ideas - and would appreciate yours (aside from mixing)
My keezer hold 3 kegs, and today I noticed that one of the "empty" kegs inside was actually full. Hmm, what is this pray-tell? It was gassed up, and when I tried to pour off of it, the memories came back. It was part of a 10 gallon batch from the summer, a super hoppy IPA with tons of hop sediment that made it into the keg. At the time when it was ready to drink, I had tried hooking it up only to realize the diptube was clogged, and opted to just pour off the other keg rather than deal with the clog at that moment. It just got forgotten for months...
Ok, no biggie. Just need to unclog and celebrate this 5 gallon bounty. After reinserting the tube, it was instantly clogged again with hops. Sigh, Ok. 3rd try. Clogged. So now me and my brewing buddy come up with a bright idea. "Let's stir the bottom of the keg because the hops must have compacted into a biscuit. If we can just get it flowing, we can draw off all these hops."
A few moments later I look over as my friend, who started mixing, is shouting "OH BOY!" as a literal eruption of beerfoam starts flowing out of the top of the keg onto the floor. No less than 3-4 beers worth of foam slide across the tile floor like a tsunami and we tried our best to sandbag the damage with nearby bags and towels.
Needless to say... the keg was still clogged after our 4th try with the diptube, and we decided to call it for the night. Aside from throwing the keg out of the 2nd floor window, I am out of ideas - and would appreciate yours (aside from mixing)