Uhmmmm.. what's wrong with my keg?

[MyCarHasAbs]

I have 2 kegs. Both have beer in them. I noticed the other day while shaking the newly kegged beer up there was a good liter or 2 of beer just sitting in the bottom of the chest freezer. No obvious signs of a leak anywhere. But I decided to place the suspected keg in a bucket outside the chest freezer to observe if any additional liquid would transpire. A few hours passed and no additional beer seemed to leak out. I drew some of the beer to test it out. It was def ready by now as it had been setting at 18PSI for a week (trying to get it ready for an office party next week). However.. later that evening I went to draw some more for a pint. It came out very very very very slow. I double checked the IN and OUT connections ensuring they're on completely. Both connections are very tight. Checked the bolts to ensure no gas is leaking. No humming coming from the dual regulator. I'm at a loss of words.. I have no idea what could be wrong. My only other guess is that there's trub in the keg clogging up the OUT line.

Any other thoughts?

The first keg has a failed Oktoberfest beer, it just didn't turn out good. Bad recipe. I considered dumping it only to transfer this other beer into it so I can at least still draw it out. Might have to replace my second keg if I can't figure out what the hell's wrong with it.


Any other thoughts?

 

[Carolina_Matt]

If you pull the pressure relief valve, does anything come out? If so, it seems that gas isn't the issue.

I've had issues where I tapped a new keg and nothing came out. It was almost always because there were hops stuck in the beer-out poppet. I took it off, cleaned it, and the problem went away.

 

[balrog]

I have had leaks at post-to-keg threads
I have had leaks at quick disconnect bits (not tightened after cleaning)
I have had leaks at quick disconnect to hose connection
I have had leaks at hose to picnic tap connection
I have had leaks at picnic tap bits (not tightened after cleaning)

Those are my first thoughts.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

If you pull the pressure relief valve, does anything come out? If so, it seems that gas isn't the issue.

I've had issues where I tapped a new keg and nothing came out. It was almost always because there were hops stuck in the beer-out poppet. I took it off, cleaned it, and the problem went away.

Oh yeah, gas came out. I turned the gas down last night to about 8psi.

 

[LittleRiver]

... I went to draw some more for a pint. It came out very very very very slow... guess is that there's trub in the keg clogging up the OUT line....

I think you're correct that there is a blockage in the OUT line. Bleed the pressure off the keg, remove and clean all of the OUT side, post & poppet included. If your second keg is identical, and its parts are already clean, you can just do a quick swap out with its OUT hardware.

 

[mulletmaster]

I have seen my picnic tap leak at high force carb gas pressures which may explain your mystery beer puddle.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

I think you're correct that there is a blockage in the OUT line. Bleed the pressure off the keg, remove and clean all of the OUT side, post & poppet included. If your second keg is identical, and its parts are already clean, you can just do a quick swap out with its OUT hardware.

Would disconnecting all the hoses, bleeding the gas and then shaking the living **** out of it unclog the OUT line possible?

This was a double IPA recipe that I brewed with a friend who's a professional brewer and I've never used 'this' many pellets before for a brew. I'd easily say a 1/3 of the carboy was trub and hops before it was carried to secondary. I want to say about 8 or 9 oz was used grand total.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

EDIT, I love how it auto corrected to Poopy. Classy LOL

 

[Yooper]

Would disconnecting all the hoses, bleeding the gas and then shaking the living poopy out of it unclog the OUT line possible?

This was a double IPA recipe that I brewed with a friend who's a professional brewer and I've never used 'this' many pellets before for a brew. I'd easily say a 1/3 of the carboy was trub and hops before it was carried to secondary. I want to say about 8 or 9 oz was used grand total.

No. You could try putting a black QD on the gas line, and putting that onto the "out" post, to blow it out, but it's just not that effective. Don't just stick the gray gas connect onto the out post, or you'll never get it off! (Trust me on that one).

Turn off the gas, purge the gas out, and then remove the "out" post. Clean that out well (sounds like the poppit in there is clogged), and pull out the long diptube. Eyeball it by looking through it, and clean it out if plugged. Sanitize all the pieces and put it back together.

And for heaven's sake, don't shake the keg! That will stir up all of the stuff that should have settled out, and then plug up the keg again.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

No. You could try putting a black QD on the gas line, and putting that onto the "out" post, to blow it out, but it's just not that effective. Don't just stick the gray gas connect onto the out post, or you'll never get it off! (Trust me on that one).

Turn off the gas, purge the gas out, and then remove the "out" post. Clean that out well (sounds like the poppit in there is clogged), and pull out the long diptube. Eyeball it by looking through it, and clean it out if plugged. Sanitize all the pieces and put it back together.

And for heaven's sake, don't shake the keg! That will stir up all of the stuff that should have settled out, and then plug up the keg again.

hmm, I was under the impression you're supposed to shake it a little bit to get the gas distributed faster throughout the keg.

But i'll def try and pull the whole OUT line out and clean it later. I haven't bothered trying to get it out in the past because my other keg is so damn tight. I'm not a small guy, I lift weights regularly and I couldn't budge the bolts at the top on the other keg. The way I normally clean my keg is just fill it with some sanitizer, run some gas through it to clean out the lines for a minute or two. Take it off the gas, shake it up, empty, rinse repeat.

 

[BrewInspector]

Before you pull the out post to check for blockage, check the beverage lines for freezing.

This will depend on your temp setting and kegerator set up. When I have what appears to be a blockage issue it is always a section of frozen line that got too close to the coils at the back of my kegerator.

 

[Yooper]

hmm, I was under the impression you're supposed to shake it a little bit to get the gas distributed faster throughout the keg.

But i'll def try and pull the whole OUT line out and clean it later. I haven't bothered trying to get it out in the past because my other keg is so damn tight. I'm not a small guy, I lift weights regularly and I couldn't budge the bolts at the top on the other keg. The way I normally clean my keg is just fill it with some sanitizer, run some gas through it to clean out the lines for a minute or two. Take it off the gas, shake it up, empty, rinse repeat.

You'd be surprised if you've never taken one off how much crud is in that poppit. I take mine off every time now- but I do make a lot of IPAs and things. The first time I took one off, I was like 'ewwwwww'. And if you're a keg shaker, you probably have a ton of debris stuck in there. And then when I held the long diptube up to the light the first time, and eyeballed through it, it was really gross. I know some people don't break down their kegs very often, but it takes less than 5 minutes. They even sell diptube brushes just for this purpose.

If I can take them off, I know anybody can! I'm a 135-pound middle aged grandmother, and just use my ratchet wrench to get the posts off. And put them back on with the same ratchet, nice and tight.

 

[LittleRiver]

Would disconnecting all the hoses, bleeding the gas and then shaking the living poopy out of it unclog the OUT line possible?...

Yooper nailed it, the answer is no.

You need to start looking into ways to limit the amount of solids that go into the keg. If you don't want to do that for some reason, you need to look at devices that draw beer from the top of the keg.

 

[bracconiere]

I noticed the other day while shaking the newly kegged beer up there was a good liter or 2 of beer just sitting in the bottom of the chest freezer. No obvious signs of a leak anywhere.

It must be a leak some where, or you're going to be a millionaire for inventing beer out of nothing!

a couple people mentioned picnic tap leaking at high pressure, i agree. are your taps inside the freezer?


edit: just re-read, my mistake. i had that slow pouring problem with a unvirsal poppet that needed to be trimed for the keg...

 

[RCope]

If cleaning out the poppet and the dip tube doesn't work, I'd try the clear beer draught system. This is what LittleRiver is talking about. It uses a float to elevate the pick up to just below the surface. Did that recently after I couldn't get flow from my Mango IPA. I had pitched 6 pounds of mango puree commando into the fermentor and the resultant high viscosity after cold crashing clogged the poppet. Literally "clear beer" with the switch. The shipping was quick if you have a time constraint (party on the horizon).

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

It must be a leak some where, or you're going to be a millionaire for inventing beer out of nothing!

a couple people mentioned picnic tap leaking at high pressure, i agree. are your taps inside the freezer?


edit: just re-read, my mistake. i had that slow pouring problem with a unvirsal poppet that needed to be trimed for the keg...

to answer your second question, yes everything is in the chest freezer. The chest freezer is temperature controlled and set to around...40ish degrees at all times. I have a probe that goes inside along side the two kegs. All the lines are kept inside. As for freezing?.. I've never had slushy beer come out.

I haven't tried taking apart my 2nd keg, but the first one I bought, hell I'm convinced the lines are soldered on at this point. I have numerous socket wrenches and not a thing was budging.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

I also do get the occasional "black gummy strand" that comes out. I always assumed it was maybe debris or pieces of left over yeast.

A better description of this stuff is... black tofu.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

Yooper nailed it, the answer is no.

You need to start looking into ways to limit the amount of solids that go into the keg. If you don't want to do that for some reason, you need to look at devices that draw beer from the top of the keg.

Lately I've been cold crashing almost all of my beers prior to kegging just because I was getting annoyed with the first few pours being a little hazy or cloudy.

 

[bracconiere]

to answer your second question, yes everything is in the chest freezer. The chest freezer is temperature controlled and set to around...40ish degrees at all times. I have a probe that goes inside along side the two kegs. All the lines are kept inside. As for freezing?.. I've never had slushy beer come out.

I haven't tried taking apart my 2nd keg, but the first one I bought, hell I'm convinced the lines are soldered on at this point. I have numerous socket wrenches and not a thing was budging.

on the bev out post does the poppet stick out a bit in the center? a sign of a universal poppet, in my case anyway. might want to try and tap your wrench with a hammer...

also you could try push the poppet down with something without the bev line connected....(release the gas first of course )

edit: have you taken your bev out QD apart? (or did i miss that somewhere)

 

[bracconiere]

I also do get the occasional "black gummy strand" that comes out. I always assumed it was maybe debris or pieces of left over yeast.

A better description of this stuff is... black tofu.

how long do you let your empty lines sit empty?

 

[bleme]

I haven't tried taking apart my 2nd keg, but the first one I bought, hell I'm convinced the lines are soldered on at this point. I have numerous socket wrenches and not a thing was budging.

I had one that was stuck pretty bad. I laid it on it's side and put a long wrench through the rubber handles so it couldn't roll. Put another wrench on and banged away with a rubber mallet. It was loose within a minute.

 

[day_trippr]

Pretty sure "black gummy strands" are never a desirable trait in beer...

Cheers!

 

[Yooper]

I also do get the occasional "black gummy strand" that comes out. I always assumed it was maybe debris or pieces of left over yeast.

A better description of this stuff is... black tofu.

Again, "ewwwwwwww". Clean your stuff. Take it apart, clean it, sanitize it and put it back together.
Use a hammer or rubber mallet on the ratchet if you have to, but you can do it. Like I said, I'm 135 pounds soaking wet and I do it all the time. Moldy crap isn't just bad for your beer- it's bad for you too!

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

Problem solved my friends. Unscrewed the very top from the OUT line and some beer came out. Cleaned out some funk from the top and screwed it back on. Flowin’ like a river.


Cheers everybody.

 

[JohnSand]

Glad you solved it.
I've had stuck posts too, even at 6'5" 230# and a big wrench. Mine were used kegs which had the rubber re-glued. I finally hit them with heat until the glue melted and the posts unscrewed.