Racking back to primary out of keg???

[boogiesnap]

Hi guys, so I've gone though 4 yes 4 2.5# bottles of CO2 on 2 corny kegs.
I know this isn't right, I can't find the leak.
Right now I have a full 5 gallons of beer in the keg without any pressure.

I'll bring the whole system to my lhbs where I got it to try and findthe leak, but might just return it completely.

Will the beer be OK?

 

[duboman]

I don't keg but I can't see why you can't siphon back to a bottling bucket with priming sugar and bottle up the beer while you diagnose the keg issue, at least you salvage the beer...

 

[spokaniac]

or if you have a picnic tap, just slide your bottling wand in it, mix the priming sugar into the keg and bottle from the keg to save a transfer step.

 

[boogiesnap]

thanks guys, how long do you think it can sit and be OK?

i'm not set up to bottle(um, no bottles).

or, should i leave it in the keg and bring the whole system in for them to diagnose? it might get warm though.

 

[jaytizzle]

As long as the keg is purged of oxygen and replaced with CO2 you can consider the keg like a secondary vessel. The beer would be fine to be stored in that and if you've got CO2 inside the keg you won't get O2 in even with a leak.

 

[boogiesnap]

As long as the keg is purged of oxygen and replaced with CO2 you can consider the keg like a secondary vessel. The beer would be fine to be stored in that and if you've got CO2 inside the keg you won't get O2 in even with a leak.

see, thats the thing. i don't think there is any C02 in there, so i'm concerned about oxidation before i can get this thing sorted out.

any thoughts? it's in the fridge staying cold, but for how long will she be OK without C02?

 

[gr8shandini]

There's plenty of CO2 in there, it's just at atmospheric pressure and it probably has a better seal than the airlock on your primary. I'd leave it in there for now. Or if it's carbed up, bottle from the keg as mentioned earlier. I think transfering back to the primary is probably your greatest chance for oxidizing the beer.

Have you tried soaking everything with Star-san? It bubbles pretty good if there's a leak and won't hurt the beer if it gets sucked back in. The obvious spots to check would be the lid, blow off valve, and posts, but I'd check every connection from the cylinder to the disconnect and all of the lines, too. There's a good chance that half a turn on a hose clamp will fix the problem. Good luck.

 

[landshark]

check your relief valves good. I lost a 5lb bottle of C02 to a leaky poppet, sadly, I had 2 kegs on the system w/ no backflow valves.

Also lost a 5lb bottle to a brand new air side fitting, make sure you have thread tape on your fittings where needed and gaskets for everything, including the regulator to tank.