Kegging Home Brew

[Rodney Watson]

I have converted a chest freezer to a kegerator. I have 3 taps, one for commercial and for home brew kegs. I cannot get beer to flow from my home brew but the beer flows freely from my commercial keg. I know I am getting CO2 to the kegs and when I connect the beer line, beer begins to flow. It seems the problem is with the faucet so I took it apart and cleaned it....still noe beer flow. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! I am thirsty!!

Thanks!!

Rod

 

[Konadog]

Have you check to see if your keg posts are clogged?

 

[Rodney Watson]

Have you check to see if your keg posts are clogged?

I know I am getting gas in the keg because I pulled the release valve and heard the hissing sound of gas releasing. Then I heard the keg refill with gas. When I attached the beer line, the line automatically filled with beer. So...I checked the faucet, cleaned it and still no beer! at a loss.

 

[day_trippr]

Have you tried using the same faucet that works with the commercial keg?

Cheers!

 

[Konadog]

I know I am getting gas in the keg because I pulled the release valve and heard the hissing sound of gas releasing. Then I heard the keg refill with gas. When I attached the beer line, the line automatically filled with beer. So...I checked the faucet, cleaned it and still no beer! at a loss.

Yes, that's gas in, but you need to check the liquid out post and dip tube, they may be clogged.

I guess I should ask "what type of kegs are the ones your having problems with", ball lock, pin lock, or a sanke type connection?

 

[day_trippr]

I'd think "the line automatically filled with beer" would indicate the problem isn't at the keg end...

Cheers!

 

[Konadog]

Well, even the first post says that "beer begins to flow" but I'm still thinking it could be crap in the popet or dip tube.

It also sounded like he may have tried the same faucet, switching from the commercial keg to the home brew keg.

 

[SEndorf]

the type of tap would help.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

I'm not sure I'm following what the problem is, or what you mean by "the beer starts flowing."

Could there were some particulates that made its way into the beer line and it's clogged somewhere very near the faucet? That doesn't really make sense though, since if it was clogged at or near the faucet, all of the air that was in the out tube would have to be displaced in so beer can flow.

 

[pvpeacock]

In my experience, it is most likely a clogged dip tube or poppet.

 

[gnef]

That definitely sounds like a clogged poppet to me. A quick way to check is to attach your gas line to a liquid disconnected, and push CO2 through the dip tube to see if that clears it.

As a forewarning though, this will only temporarily clear out the poppet (really, just to see if it is the poppet or not), and once you try to draw the from the keg, it will most likely clog again in no time. At that point, if it is the poppet clogging, you need to figure out how to keep it from clogging. If it is one thing causing the clog, it is easy to disassemble the post and clean it out. If it is due to copious hop debri or trub, your troubles could continue. You can either take out the poppets from the post and the disconnect and hope the faucet doesn't clog, or you can rack into a new keg, making sure to avoid transferring the debri that is clogging the line. Another new invention that could help if you bought it are the floating dip tube devices that pull beer from the top of the keg down, rather than from the bottom of the keg.