An interesting keg problem- advice?

[Projectfdw]

Kegged my NE IPA on Wednesday. 4oz of whole leaf hops are in the keg in a paint strainer bag.

Tried to pull a sample last night to remove some of the yeast that built up. Here's the rub

At 30 psi it comes out just fine. Aggressive as you would expect.

When I dial it back to serving temp it just drips out slowly.

My thought is if I had a clog in the dip tube it wouldn't come out at all. Or the clog would be cleared when it comes out at 30psi.

Any thoughts?

 

[xpops]

i had a similar issue when dry hopping in keg the first time. got 3/4 way through bottling from the keg, and it ended it drips, while i still had over a gallon of IPA in there.

took apart the out kegpost, and it was filled with hop matter. at 30psi it might be enough to blast beer past the clog, but not enough to dislodge/breakup the clog, which would explain just drips when dialed down to serving. I'd start there.

 

[PartagasD4]

Agree with xpops, I had the same problem except I shortened the dip tube thinking I could dry hop without a bag...BIG mistake!

 

[StewMakesBrew]

Clogged dip tube, no doubt. One thought to clear it out - mount up a liquid ball lock fitting to your CO2 line, vent the keg of all Co2 (you don't want pressure differential to push beer into your regulator!), attach the line to the beer post, crank your C02 to 30 psi for so and turn on the gas - that burst of CO2 coming down the dip tube might just blast it loose. You'll want to vent off the excess C02 and don't do it for long as you don't want to overcarb your beer (as this is the same setup you use to force carb a keg), but this might work.

 

[Projectfdw]

Have an update. Did what stew said and still had no luck. Pulled the dip tube and not clogged.

Didn't Find any leaks but the co2 just wasn't doing its job. When is purge and then fill id hear the keg fill with co2.

Wound up racking to another keg and it's fine now. A bit concerned about oxidation but didn't know what else to do.

Keg was a brand new one purchased from AIH. I have no idea why it wasn't holding.

Thoughts on updated issue?

 

[day_trippr]

From what you've related that keg must be leaking pretty good.
Seal it up, put some gas in it, then submerge the top in a sink filled with water...

Cheers!

 

[EcuPirate07]

Did you check the post? I got hop matter in the post once and it jammed pretty good. I would assume if you took out the dip tube you checked the post....but you never know.

 

[Projectfdw]

I did check the post and it was clean.

I checked for leaks using a spray bottle. Will try the submerge try tomorrow.

 

[seatazzz]

Did you use keg lube on your lid o-ring? Also, one thing I've found with my cornies, the lid is only supposed to be installed one way. Just about every time I keg I install it backwards the first time, hear the hisssssss when I put the c02 on, then reverse it and all is sunshine and bubbles.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Did you check the valve in the beer line quick disconnect? those clog up too.