locking out my tap ?..any ideas

Well it's finally happened.the other night i got home from work to find my 16 year old daughter..passed out naked on the bathroom floor in a pool of vomit!!seems she had figured out how to connect the lines on my kegs and enjoy the fruits of my labor..and before she has some of her friends come over and get bombed and go out and kill their self or someone else..i need to get this thing locked up...iv'e found some tap locks online but them things are $40..seems to me a person could make something by himself a hell of a lot cheaper...anyone got any ideas on this one? i'm sure i'm not the only one that has dealt with this issue...thanks to all who reply...

 

Aside from the tap locks, I'm curious as to anyone elses solution also. I only have a 2 year old, but that day is coming...

 

You may want to try a search as you are not the first to have this problem. I bet that how she will feel for the next day will be a good reminder for her. That being said, if you feel that it will be an issue in the future, 40 bux isn't too much to spent for some piece of mind. I imagine that the people who sell them figure most parents think that and take advantage of it.

 

Couldnt you put a U bolt on the top of the freezer and a U Bolt on the bottom and attach a padlock? Of course you'd have to disconnect the coupler's, but, it should be inpenatrable. Also, you can try "tricky" things like putting penny's on the tap handle. When they fall off, you know someone's tried using it. Chances are though, after tonight she will not be too excited to pour a draft. Sorry to hear about that though!

 

Just locking the taps won't stop a resourceful teenager. It's pretty easy just to open the top of a corny and pour out the contents. I'd disconnect the keg lines and lock the whole fridge up.

Alternatively, start using and abusing her prized possessions...cuz that's what she did to your beloved homebrew. Ok, maybe not.

 

My keg system sits on an unlocked porch. I dont have any kids, but i sometimes worry about the neighborhood kids getting in so I am interested in this too, to a point.

 

What is your setup, can you please clarify? Are your cornies all inside of a fridge or chest freezer or small kegerator? Do you have other cornies conditioning with beer outside the fridge or kegerator?

For anything outside the fridge/kegerator, keep it where she can't get to it while it is conditioning. Neighbor or relatives house (as long as they don't have kids who might be inclined to do what your daughter did), a locked room or cabinet or closet, etc., as long as it is really secure.

For the kegerator, I agree with MIke-H, you should be able to use padlocks on the door to keep her from getting inside of it. Put an inline ball valve (e.g., a small cheap plastic one) on each beer line inside the kegerator to cut off the supply to the tap from the inside.

I don't have a kegging setup, but it seems like that would work.

 

beatings, a hards day work on a hang over, and a real greasy breakfast lunch and dinner durring the hang over . . . yes my parents were sadistic bastards

 

I'm sorry, but I just got to ask.
Why was she naked?

I did a lot of stupid drinking in my youth (and not so youth) but I've never ended up passed out naked.


On a more serious note.
I don't think a lock is the answer here. Kids can get alchohol just about anywhere. Lock out your taps and she'll just find another source.

Sounds to me like you need to teach her some responsible drinking. Maybe 16 is a little young, but if she's already drinking on her own there's not much you can do to stop her.

PS
The wife wants kids. I told her only if she can promise me they won't become teenagers.

 

ok it's a kegerator,i'm a single parent,i live about 3 miles from any house in the country and i work second shift...i was just wondering if anyone had made something that worked...guess i'll have to buy one..

 

I think so, I'd buy a good one. Better not to screw around with this. I'm sure I'm not the only parent who cringed when reading this, my girl's not even two but I know she'll do some stupid stuff before all is said and done (unless she's a lot more like her mom than her dad). Still need to have "The Talk," I'm sure you've already had that with her, she clearly doesn't or didn't know how to handle drinking. Just be glad she didn't end up poisoning herself.

 

Did you read my suggestion? It is a very low cost option.

Put a nylon ball valve (they are very cheap) in the beer line between the keg and the tap *inside* the kegerator. Buy a hasp lock hinge like this one and affix it to the door. (You can get them for less cost at a hardware store.) Lock with a pad lock. The screws are not accessible while it is locked, so she can't just unscrew it to take it off.

When you are home and plan to enjoy a few brews, unlock the box, open the ball value, and you're in business. When you're done, close the ball value, lock the kegerator, and your protection mechanism is in place.

Anything, even a fancy expensive keg lock, can be defeated by someone with ample time and desire to do so. Any solution you come up with needs to be coupled with sound parenting strategies for dealing with the core issues, but I'm sure you know that.

 

I wish I had a dollar everytime I swore off drinking the next day. :cross:

Seriously though, I hope you find a good solution to your problem. I'm lucky my little one is only three months old. I still have a few years before I have to worry about that.

 

This is a good, simple, and inexpensive plan that I would invoke if I ever found my 17 year old daughter passed out in front of the tripple tapper.

 

I keep mine in the basement , with the faucets just out of reach of my two and four year old. LOL!

Beer4breakfast's solution coupled with some sound parenting strategies may keep things in check. Respect beer.

 

[

Seriously though, I hope you find a good solution to your problem. I'm lucky my little one is only three months old. I still have a few years before I have to worry about that.[/quote]


Time passes very fast seems like just yesterday my son was that age he will be 22 in a month! We each had a pint of chocolate Porter last night working on his car now he want to start HBing...

 

(kinda)
This thread really hits home to me even though my girl's only 5. My daughter calls herself my "helper" during brew day. (I have to shoo her out of the kitchen when it comes time for transfering wort though.) She's seen me drink beer, but shows zero interest in trying it (no real suprise there) and even says that hops "stink". On one hand I want to lock everything up to ensure something like this never happens and on the other hand... My parents were pretty open about alcohol, left the cabinet open, always had enough beer in the fridge that they'd never miss it. I distinctly remember my dad saying that if I ever wanted to get drunk all I had to do was let him know, but that he would get me drunk enough that I would remember the experience. I never really drank all that much growing up; first time (and only time) I got drunk was at the age of 23. Sometimes I wonder if the openess and relaxed attitude my parents showed took away the forbidden "thrill" and led to my general disintrest in getting wasted. Now, of course, I'm older. I love homebrewing, beer, and everything related to them. So what do you folks think is the right attitude to have concerning this sort of thing? I don't mean to hijack a thread, but Barney Fife always did advocate bud nipping...

 

First off, I think that it must have been too long since some of you were teenagers...what you make taboo is exactly what becomes coveted. By avoiding true education you force your child to go elsewhere...
What concerns me about your story is not that your daughter was drinking your beer; hell, I did the exact same thing. But the concerning point is that she showed no limits on her intake. Would you rather get a call from a police officer that your daughter was found passed out in the bushes of a friends house? This is a wake up call alright, but not that you merely need to lock up your alcohol. This case calls for good parenting...which is sometimes difficult. I don't profess to know how you should approach this issue. But I adamantly believe that only locking up the kegerator is only a bandaid. Just because kids are misguided doesn't mean that they are bad overall...they just need more attention.
Limits are the important thing here. Legal limits, personal drinking limits, limits to drive under the influence...these are all important LIFE lessons and this is a perfect opportunity to make a huge difference in your child's life.
There is no right answer to this issue. Good parenting is being a guide through this special time in every person's development.

Marc.

 

It depends on the kid, but I plan on being pretty open and European about drinking, but you HAVE to keep a close eye on the situation. Having two daughters, I don't want their first experiences with drinking to be with some pimple-faced douche bag that's trying to take advantage of the situation

 

Marc - you may know him better by his real identity...

 

Good thread topic. As my bar nears completion I too at times wonder what i will do when my daughter gets to be an age where beer and curiosity meet. Forunately right now i have convinced her that only boys drink beer and girls drink milk water and juice. Being only 4 she is still pretty innocent...........not looking forward to 12 years from now

 

to the op, in order to prevent it happening again your approach has to be parenting... locking up the tap makes it more desireable for the youngin's to break in and sneak a drink. it also, imho sends a message that drinking beer is bad, and shouldn't be done.

16 imho, is not too young to sit her down and give her a half pint and teach her to responsibly enjoy it... it's looked upon as dodgey in todays society, but my dad gave us beers at sixteen, hence my love for his crap taste in beer, and for generations beer has been embraced as a social drink, not something to get smashed on...

good luck.

 

All the "right" parenting in the world isn't necessarily going to keep a kid from doing something stupid. I sure as hell don't think the way my folks raised me was the root cause of my getting absolutely trashed when I was 15/16 years old. Kids are kids, you can teach them to be responsible, you can be a good role model, you can do your best to teach and re-inforce positive behavior - but sometimes, they're going to have to learn the hard way.

In other words, revrand65, don't kick yourself for your daughter getting into the homebrew. Please, though, teach her to keep her clothes on before the boys in school learn what she does when she gets a couple drinks in her...

 

Tell her if she ever does it again she will have to go to church every Sunday. That should do the trick.

 

How many men of the cloth do we actually have here? I never figured homebrewing would figure so prominently with that demographic, but it doesn't not make sense to me...

As far as you know...

 

really? monks have been brewing beer for centuries man!

 

I was just going to say that!

 

Ok Ok, I've never WAKEN UP naked.

Rethin

PS
Let me add without intentionaly removing my clothing the night befoe. But that's a different story

 

When I was growing up, drinking Daddy's stash would have been stealing. I didn't drink until I could get it on my own.

I think padlocking the refer, with a valve inside, is the best alternative. Double check the hinges too, kids are as smart as their parents were.

 

The only thing locks might may help with is to save your bacon when you need to explain what have you tried to prevent your beer is not readily accessible. Hope you never have to.

 

16 years old is the legal drinking age in Germany. My daughter went over as an exchange student and came home a beer drinker.

We allow her to occasionally have a glass of beer or apfelwein. She knows how the tap works (and that comes in handy...Can you get Daddy a refill please..thanks sweetie).

We tend to have a German attitude toward alcohol in our household. Moderation and individual responsiblity is the key.

When she goes off to college, beer won't be such a big deal.

 

EdWort has it right. When I was in college, the kids who got drunk the most, who really got blitzkrieged all the time, passed out and woke up at a bus stop or drunk tank, the ones who really just took it to the extremes and could never handle their ****...they were, by and large, the ones whose parents had put a strict clampdown on drinking during their teen years. Look at it this way: in a few years, she's going to have pretty much unlimited access to booze. Now, who do you want to be the one to introduce it to her: yourself, or a bunch of partying college frat boys?

Sorry to pile on, here, but I don't think a tap lock is the end of the story here. Unless, of course, you only care about saving your beer, and not about your kid's safety...in which case, yeah, just lock it up...let her get her own booze. I'm sure the winos outside the 7-11 will buy some for her .

 

Solution is to put a hasp lock on both sides of the door, the side that opens and the hinge side. Then it doesn't matter if the hinges can be removed.

 

As for teaching the girl to appreciate the finer points of good beer and drinking responsibly by letting her drink a half pint with you on occasion, I was thinking the same thing myself. But that wasn't the kind of advice you asked for, so I didn't. Since others have mentioned it though, I will say that I agree in general. It also depends on the kid. It might not be a good strategy with all kids.

I'd lock the kegerator anyway, regardless of anything else you might do. There's no sense in taking chances with your daughter's safety.

 

Ok here's the deal some of you may have misunderstood.i was wanting to know if any of you knew of a way i could make a tap lock a little cheaper than ordering one..so far iv'e recieved a lot of answers commenting on parenting skills...anyone here have teenage boys with access to the internet...trust me you can tell them all you want to not look at the porn but hey they are gonna do it..think of a tap lock like parental controls..

 

You are right, no amount of education/talking will prevent your kid from doing something if they really want to. I think the best method given is to add a nylon inline shutoff to the beer line in the kegerator and add a padlock to the kegerator door. Its a tiny bit more of a pain to use but its cheaper.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of explanation did your daughter give you the next day and how did she feel?

 

I just told ya to lock the bottom half rather than the top. Has nothing to do with parenting skills, it's just plain cheaper and easier. If it were me, I would machine a tap lock, but I'd probably charge you $40-$50 if you wanted me to design and machine one for you, so you'd be better off buying one...or locking the fridge door like most of us suggested.

 

Just curious. Do you actually read all of the posts, or just selected ones?

 

I guess it is the nature of internet forums; when you ask a question you get answers and opinions which you may or may not like. You take the ones you like and be done with it.