HELP! Keg won't pour.

[MustGoFast]

So I have my first beers on draft today (dual kegerator set up).

One flows perfectly when I open the tap. The other dribbles a little and then nothing!

I can see beer in the line, and validate the keg is under pressure. I ramped the pressure in the input line up to 30PSI to see if it was just a thing that could be pushed past, still nothing. I took depressured the keg and undid the input output to see if I could see anything. I could manually actuate the locks fine.

I'm now thinking some sediment from the beer must have gotten into the feed tube somewhere and jammed it...

2 questions:
1) Is this the right conclusion? Would it likely be something else?
2) If 1, how can I resolve it without ruining/dumping my beer? (I've currently turned off the pressure to that side so I don't carbonate the beer while I have this problem.

 

[LLBeanJ]

If you pressurize the keg and use a Phillips screwdriver or something similar to depress the poppet on the liquid post, do you get a beer shower? A lot of the time when this situation happens, one of the poppets isn't seated right in the post and will not allow the disconnect to collapse and let beer flow past. Also, when you pressurize, do you hear gas entering the keg?

It could be sediment, but I'd say only if you dry-hopped in the keg with loose hops or somehow managed to transfer a lot of hops material into the keg. Yeast sediment alone won't do it (at least, not in my 3 years of kegging experience).

 

[TheMilkMan]

I've had this happen a few times. Crank up the PSI on the CO2 and hook it up to the OUTPUT and let it blow down the tube the opposite direction. This has worked for me when hop sediment was to blame.

Actually now that I think about it, I did have a time once where the hop particle clogged the poppet connected to the keg.

 

[MustGoFast]

Yes I hear gas entering the keg when I pressurize, haven't tried to get the beer shower yet or the reverse... give me a moment

 

[MustGoFast]

Well... I took off the liquid side and hit the button and got some beer foam spray...
I Depressurized the keg again, hooked the gas to the liquid side and could clearly hear the air running through again.

Reconected and got a perfect inch of pour into my glass.. then it slowed to a trickle then it stopped again.
Can repeat this... and am F'ing lost.

 

[afro_lou]

Could it be a kink in the hose in the tower?

Have you tried hooking the troublesome keg to the side that works?

 

[YeastMode]

Try moving the keg to the tap that is working and see if it works. If so, you know it's the tap/lines. If not you know it's the keg.

Report back.

 

[gtmaus]

I've had a keg that wouldn't pour. The feed tube spun when I tightened the liquid post and was up against the keg bottom. I loosened the liquid post and adjusted the tube. All was good after that.

 

[MEPNew2Brew]

My recommendation - take the post off and the dip tube out and be sure they are completely clear. I my experience, it doesn't take much hop stuff to clog a poppet.

 

[norcalhomebrewer]

Um sounds live the out flow tube is probably clogged. Take it out and check... Also switch lines and see if u can get the other keg to pour on that line.

 

[MustGoFast]

I swapped the output lines on the 2 kegs. My dark beer poured fine through my left tap now and my light didn't pour out the right one now.

So It's gotta be a problem in the keg.

Dumb newb question.. how does one take the post off dip tube out with a keg full of beer?
Is it just unscrewing the popit thing? I'm not actually sure how the feed tube attaches in their.
How might I adjust it up a little per the earlier post, and is there a recomendation on how to clean it out?

 

[GarageDweller]

could be a frozen beer line.

 

[Newsman]

I swapped the output lines on the 2 kegs. My dark beer poured fine through my left tap now and my light didn't pour out the right one now.

So It's gotta be a problem in the keg.

Dumb newb question.. how does one take the post off dip tube out with a keg full of beer?
Is it just unscrewing the popit thing? I'm not actually sure how the feed tube attaches in their.
How might I adjust it up a little per the earlier post, and is there a recomendation on how to clean it out?

depressurize the keg, get a box, adjustible or open-end wrench the proper size and just use the wrench to loosen the post on the keg, then you can twist it with your fingers. The dip tube just sits in the keg with an o-ring to keep it from leaking. You could try cutting off like 1/4 inch from the bottom of the tube as well if there appears to be some trub in there. That'll help prevent you from getting clogs again.
When you go to replace the post, make sure you have a little bit of keg lube on the o-ring on the dip tube.

 

[Teromous]

could be a frozen beer line.

I have had this happen. The beer sat too long near the coils at the top of the keggerator and it partially froze in the lines.

 

[Smooth_Hoperator]

This happens on my friends setup often, the kegs are beat to hell from many years of use. It's most likely the out tube as everyone else has said. Sometimes the tubes are bent slightly some aren't I guess just diferrent designs. Take it out and, clean it (if it's the bent one) rotate it then hold the tube with your hands (clean hands that is). Then tighten it again sometimes it rotates if you don't hold it. Also that little metal spring looking thing can get bent sometimes and not work correctly, replace it if it's bent.

 

[homebrewdr]

If you're really in a rut, depressurize, let sit, and get ready to bottle the finished beer. Or transfer it to another keg. It will be easier to fix and investigate with the keg empty. It might be clogged in the tube or the disconnect.

I used to have the opposite problem... beer would be pouring too much, into my glass. I haven't fixed it yet.

 

[Brewtah]

It is probably out poppet and or o-ring. Just had this happen to me.

 

[TheMattTrain]

My recommendation - take the post off and the dip tube out and be sure they are completely clear. I my experience, it doesn't take much hop stuff to clog a poppet.

This.

When I dry hop, I used to get a fair amount of hop pellet particles in my keg. I'd have to remove the post, flush with water, sanitize, then return to the keg multiple times in a row before my beer started to flow freely. I always removed the poppet from the post to clean it out as well. It takes almost nothing to clog that thing up real good.

 

[Ski12568]

Search for a YouTube video on how to clean and sanitize a cornelius keg and you'll see how it's done, really easy just don't lose any pieces

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I've had a keg that wouldn't pour. The feed tube spun when I tightened the liquid post and was up against the keg bottom. I loosened the liquid post and adjusted the tube. All was good after that.

I've had that happen before.

I find that some kegs seem to have more of an issue than others, so if this happens, I just saw 1/2" off the end of the dip tube. Problem solved!

Yeah, you might miss a few of those final ounces of beer in the bottom, but I'll trade properly-pouring kegs for ~4 oz beer...

 

[mergs]

If it is the dip tube getting clogged (because its sitting in hop trub and sucking it in and clogging it), BEND the dip tube gently and re-install it so that its up off the bottom of the keg. That extra inch off the bottom will help.

Since you already popped the gas onto the liquid out and that worked for a second then quickly re-glogged I'd bet this is your problem. I've had the same problem before, and it happened with a heavily dry-hopped IPA.

Its probably ok to saw it as other have suggested but to isolate the problem bending it will be a quicker attempt at diagnosis. Just don't ham fist it: bend it gently.

 

[darylwoodman]

This happened to me last week. All I could think of was a clogged tube. The answer: ICE.

The keg was at the back of the fridge and had frozen. Bring the keg into the garage OR drop the fridge temp.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Cheers-

 

[MustGoFast]

BOOO YA! Thanks for all the advice.

I did a bit of all of it. Emptied the keg, removed the poppit and the feed tube. Blew the feed tube clear, rinsed it clear, chopped a 1/4" off the bottom, cleaned it all, put it all back together, refilled the keg, and hooked up the pressure!

I can now stream beer on both sides! Now I have to wait for it to carbonate. Holding steady at 12psi @ 37 degrees right now (just adjusted the temp to target 39)

 

[MustGoFast]

Oh.. so how long does it typically take to carbonate? I thought it was a pretty quick process once on the gas, but my light is still only a tiny bit carbonated since Friday night... My beer that's been on since last tues though is about right now.

 

[day_trippr]

Two weeks.

Cheers!

 

[LLBeanJ]

Using the set and forget method it takes about 2 weeks to achieve decent carbonation and about 3 weeks to get all the way there. 48 hours @ 30 PSI will give you to about the same carb level as those first 2 weeks using set and forget.

 

[MustGoFast]

Aaahhh thanks. I don't need to serve till next weekend so all is well

 

[bragona71]

just drop it off here I have an empty line and tap!!!

 

[MEPNew2Brew]

I have settled on about 36 hours at 30 psi, and then down to serving temp. For me, 48 hours at 30 psi was too much. I keep my keezer at 37 degrees. Keep in mind, by beer is at about 37 when I start because I cold crash before kegging.