My keg isn't pouring - help? (Sometimes, I think kegging is harder than brewing...)

[Volk564]

Hi everyone. I think I'm making decent beer, but my kegging knowledge is lacking. I made what should be a delicious imperial saison and kegged it last week, pressurized (no leaks, checked), for a week at ~13psi. All day I've been trying to pour and gotten nothing but a disappointing dribble. The dip was blocked, and I've cleaned the poppit and dip tube. I've taken it apart a second time, and there is no particulate blocking the dip tube now. I've taken apart the poppit itself, and even replaced it, and still nothing. I have triple checked, and there are no CO2 leaks. I know the keg is pressurized - if I press down on the pin lock itself, beer sprays out. I am using a dual-regulator system, and the other keg works without issue.

So I have a pressurized keg, without sediment in the dip tube, a freshly replaced poppit, at 39F, in a kegerator...and no beer in my pint glass. What am I doing wrong?

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

Have you taken Apart and cleaned the disconnects? It is possible to reinstall the center pin upside down which will prevent it from opening properly. Just a thought to check.

 

[JohnSand]

When mine stops it's often a frozen line. Even though my beer is about 44f, the lines pass near the cooling coil, which is much colder. I can force it clear by upping the pressure, or melt it with hot water on a rag. But usually I just wait and it clears itself.

 

[NeoBrew]

What kind of tap are you using? If you had debris in the poppet there is a chance there is more stuck downstream somewhere. Likely points would be the disconnect as mentioned, it could also be at a fitting or at the tap itself.

If beer flows when you push down the poppet on the keg, the problem has to be between there and the tap.

 

[Volk564]

Thanks so much everyone! Here's how my Sunday went, as an update:
-Bleed CO2 from keg, disconnect everything. Remove the out poppet. A tiny amount of sediment is present. Surely not enough to block the line! Clean it and the dip tube anyway
-Reconnect.
-Pull tap. Experience soul crushing disappointment.
-Bleed CO2, disconnect everything. Remove the out disconnect, take it apart. It's clean.
-Remove the out poppet again. Another tiny amount of sediment.
-Rinse, repeat.
-Cry.
-Aha, it's the tap! Take the tap apart.
-The tap is clean.
-Screw it, hard reset.
-Re-rack the keg into a fermentation bucket, after cleaning and sanitizing (I don't have a third keg)
-Re-rack from fermentation bucket to the same now-re-cleaned keg.
-Reconnect.
-Pour a pint.
-Finally enjoy the hell out of this imperial saison.

Lessons learned - 1) no amount of grief is worth the extra quarter inch of beer you can siphon out of the fermentation bucket into the keg, even if you're *pretty sure* there's not that much sediment. 2) Carefully watch siphoning. 3) Consider investing in a conical fermenter...

Thanks again, everyone. Your help is very much appreciated.

 

[Knightshade]

Glad you conquered and are now enjoying!

 

[superiorsat]

Taps are just jerks like that. Wife drinks a ton of beers with fruit additions, Mine occasionally get clogged right at the end of the keg as the fruit sludge gets picked up. The sediment probably would have passed after a few pints had you got the tap up an running earlier. Seems like potential for a ton of oxygen ingress in all your adventures. Hit that keg hard and fast even if it is imperial before any ill affects from oxidation set in.

 

[passedpawn]

Lessons learned - 1) no amount of grief is worth the extra quarter inch of beer you can siphon out of the fermentation bucket into the keg, even if you're *pretty sure* there's not that much sediment. 2) Carefully watch siphoning. 3) Consider investing in a conical fermenter...

It'd be great to use a conical for fermenting. BUT, you can get very clean transfers by using a PET fermentor (e.g., Big Mouth Bubbler) and cold crashing with gelatin, and a bit of patience. If your spigot is high enough, you'll leave all the crud behind. I drilled my own fermentors for the spigots - they are right at the 1g mark. If necessary, i.e. with beers that have very little trub like pilsners, I can tilt the fermentor and get the last clear beer.