I've got a mess. A nice Huckleberry Saison is just finishing secondary in my corny keg with strained huckelberrys and a fine screened container with the pulp. It has been sitting at room temp for about 10 days. Today I tried to sample and the outlet tub is plugged, no flow nothing. The keg is carbonated from the berrys. I bleed off some pressure and have put it into my fridge to chill hopefully absorbing some of the CO2. I know I will have to pull the outlet tube. I don't want to oxygenate my brew. Is there anything I am missing? Can I put pressure on the outlet tube to clear the blockage? Thanks in advance.
Outlet Tube Plugged
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It's not going to hurt anything if you do but whatever clogged it in the first place may find its way back to do it again, if you pull the dip tube you're not going to introduce enough o2 to make a difference if there is co2 in the headspace.
Thanks for the reply. I was thinging, The most resticted part is the valve in the post. If I took out the poppet valve and then jumpered my beer to another purged keg????
Lots of people do that.
stpug
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If I understand correctly, you have beer in your corny and in your beer you have a fine mesh container holding the huckleberries.
Technically, there really shouldn't be anything creating a blockage if the beer was clear-ish and the berries are contained. Is it possible the fine screened container is "leaking" your berries into the beer? If not then you may be able to get away with simply pushing high PSI co2 through the liquid tube. That should clear your blockage. Alternatively, you could put high PSI on the gas and try to push the blockage OUT but there is the possibility of getting it stuck in your poppet in which case it won't seal well. I would personally start with high PSI through the liquid side to see if you can clear it that way, then jumper the beer.
Technically, there really shouldn't be anything creating a blockage if the beer was clear-ish and the berries are contained. Is it possible the fine screened container is "leaking" your berries into the beer? If not then you may be able to get away with simply pushing high PSI co2 through the liquid tube. That should clear your blockage. Alternatively, you could put high PSI on the gas and try to push the blockage OUT but there is the possibility of getting it stuck in your poppet in which case it won't seal well. I would personally start with high PSI through the liquid side to see if you can clear it that way, then jumper the beer.
stpug, thanks for the reply. I boiled about 4 lbs of huckleberrys with about a cup of wort. I broke down the berry's as much as possible. I ran this through a screen and then put this into my keg, I racked my saison on top of this. I put the mash in a fine SS screw top cyclinder I use for dry hopping. What it looks like in the keg is a question. The brew tastes great, still young. I don't want to loose it.
MEPNew2Brew
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I had a heck of a time with a keg full of IPA that had way too much dry hop matter because I did a bad job racking. It repeatedly clogged the poppet. I let it sit for a few days in the keezer and just had to pull the poppet a few times to clean it.
For some reason that I couldn't figure out, when I pulled the poppet, out of the post, leaving just the post, no beer would flow. But, it seems that if you could pull the poppet out and drain off a few pints through the post with no poppet, then you should be good to go. I would be pretty surprised if your dip tube (as opposed to the poppet) was clogged.
For some reason that I couldn't figure out, when I pulled the poppet, out of the post, leaving just the post, no beer would flow. But, it seems that if you could pull the poppet out and drain off a few pints through the post with no poppet, then you should be good to go. I would be pretty surprised if your dip tube (as opposed to the poppet) was clogged.
stpug
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It sounds like you may have a huckleberry "sludge" formed in the bottom of your corny then (i.e. the fine huckleberry matter you pushed through the screen). That's a tough one because it's already carbed. If it wasn't carbed I recommend racking it over using a cane/siphon setup, but the carbonation ruins that option.
Based on the info you've provided, I'm suspecting the "sludge" problem. If my assumption is correct, and the particles were fairly fine and mushy, then you may be able to get away with pushing it through with forceful co2. I would set the gas on the gas side at a moderate psi (maybe 8 psi) and have a picnic tap connected to the liquid. With the picnic tap open (i.e. dispensing) I would slowly turn up the pressure on the co2 until either it flows or you get scared of what can come shooting out
(maybe 20-30 psi). The idea is to get the picnic tap flowing and run off the sludge into a waste container. Once you start getting clear-ish beer, then stop dispensing, switch to a jumper setup, reduce your psi, relieve the headspace in the corny, and commence with moving the beer over to another corny using the jumper setup.
At least that's what comes to mind after 1 beer
Based on the info you've provided, I'm suspecting the "sludge" problem. If my assumption is correct, and the particles were fairly fine and mushy, then you may be able to get away with pushing it through with forceful co2. I would set the gas on the gas side at a moderate psi (maybe 8 psi) and have a picnic tap connected to the liquid. With the picnic tap open (i.e. dispensing) I would slowly turn up the pressure on the co2 until either it flows or you get scared of what can come shooting out
(maybe 20-30 psi). The idea is to get the picnic tap flowing and run off the sludge into a waste container. Once you start getting clear-ish beer, then stop dispensing, switch to a jumper setup, reduce your psi, relieve the headspace in the corny, and commence with moving the beer over to another corny using the jumper setup.At least that's what comes to mind after 1 beer
I was finally able to transfer my saison out of my corny keg. I cold crashed the keg as cold as i could get it. The CO2 was absorbed and left no foam. The out tube kept plugging at the but was better with higher pressure but with the higher pressure brought mre foaming. I ended up removing the puppet valve out of the post as well as the guts from the connecter of one end of my jumper hose. I connected the full keg with a purged keg and stated the transfer. Went smooth and beer cleaned out nice. Thanks for the help. I learned something today.
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