Keg Disaster - Need advice

[briandickens]

I had ordered two kegs used. They came fully pressurized so I was under the impression that they were in good working order. I just got my co2 two days ago so i didn't have time to test much. today i kegged my beer. as i was cleaning the first keg, i put a bunch of water in there and then soap. i closed it up and gave it a few shakes. after a few shakes, the soap came out from around the main gasket (sorry if that's not the right technical term). Thsi worried me, so i hooked up the co2 and sure enough, even if i hit it with a lot of pressure it leaked around that gasket. Upon inspection it looks like the edge around the hole where the gasket seals is a bit misshapen. So I tried the other keg. This seemed better, so i cleaned it and sanitized it. Then I racked my beer into there. Before racking, I took a sample to measure the FG (1.020) and it tastes awesome. Really excited by this beer. Anyway, when I put pressure on the tank to seal it up, beer began to dribble from the out side of the keg! I finally just put the picnic faucet on it to give it a stop. I don't want to lose this beer. Anyway, eventually that picnic faucet will be changed out with a draft tower.

My question is, these kegs can be fixed, right? I know the second one can, once the beer is all gone. I will need to replace the gaskets or the posts or all of it, but it can be fixed. What about the first? Is it a bad keg because it's a bit misshapen? i'd ahte to think i bought a bad keg. But, when I got it, it was pressurized! I know it can hold pressure before, why can;t it now? Maybe I just did something wrong? Maybe if I replace all the gaskets on this one it will be better?

Any advice?

[batkins]

If it's not terribly deformed it will probably work with new gastket. Only one way to find out, good thing they are cheap.
Did you happen to try reseating the lid? Mine are a bitch to get in correctly sometimes.

Cheers,
Bill

[YamahaXS]

Where did you order these from?


You can buy new gaskets for fairly cheap.

I second the 'fiddle witht he lid' suggestion. They are particular about beng just so.


i don't understand the comment about the other keg. a leak out the side sounds substantial... i would return it if possible.

Edit: replace the gaskets from #2 to #1. see if you can get a seal. if so, transfer beer and pressurize. If you can't get pressure on either, then I would bottle.

[briandickens]

the other keg is currently holding my beer. it isn't leaking from the outside of the keg, it was leaking from the beer side? Not sure what to call it. it was like the post where you attached the faucet line to wasn't sealing correctly.

i am going to replace all of the gaskets and get keg lube and hope that helps. can't do a whole lot with the one keg until my beer is gone, but i should be able to get the first working before i have to rack an as yet unbrewed beer into it.

thanks for the advice. i was afraid the first keg would have to be tossed. i don't think returning them is an option as i got them from some guy on ebay a while back. thought i was getting a good deal. and like i said, they both came full of gas, so they can both obviously hold pressure. not sure what happened since then though.

[toneyc]

I third what the other guys said above. The lids are finicky and you may have to turn it 180 degrees. New gasket sets are less than $5. It sounds like the poppet valve needs replacing on the "out" side of the one that leaks. I have one that does that, too. One more thing that helps a lot, get some food grade silicon spray. Works great on kegs.

:)
Toney.

[danno]

another hint if your lid won't fully seal, the bar that holds them may be spread out a little bit. try putting a dime or a penny under each leg to give you a little extra lift. between that and keg lube, I've had no problems with getting lids to seal...

this one worries me more: when I put pressure on the tank to seal it up, beer began to dribble from the out side of the keg!
from where exactly is it leaking? if it's a pinhole in the outer keg wall, that's going to be a tough one to fix. I've heard various solutions, like drilling out the pinhole and putting a small stainless bolt with a gasket, but that only will work if it's on a flat surface, not any of the curved areas by the top or bottom...

if it's just leaking from under a post, then the small gasket on the dip tube needs to be replaced. In my experience, that's the one I replace most often...

[Richard English]

Well, what do you know - your kegs have turned into casks!

It's a pity they're not barrel-shaped or you could simply drill out the pinhole, put in a spile and some sugar to engender a secondary and enjoy real English style ale!

[briandickens]

i think i really would enjoy english style ale. i would not enjoy beer spilling out all over the place when the spile i put in didn't fit right.

i think i will leave the casked ale for sometime later in my brewing "career" and just try to get the simple stuff working first.

[Richard English]

You're quite right, actually. You'd never be able to get a seal in a keg since kegs are cylindrical. Casks are barrel-shaped (indeed, they are often inaccurately referred to as "barrels" whereas in reality a barrel is just one size of cask.

Casks are set up for dispense on their sides and the belly of the cask allows a space at the bottom for sediment to collect and at the top for carbon dioxide and foam.

One of the world's finest sights is an array of casks set up ready for dispense. Have a look at the first and third pictures here http://www.camra.org.uk/SHWebClass.ASP?WCI=ShowDoc&DocID=5275 to see what I mean. And have a look at the ninth picture to see how beer should REALLY be delivered. Oh, and take a sneaky look at the Budweiser logo in the last picture. If you see that in a bar - buy some - that's REAL Budweiser!

[briandickens]

Those are great pictures. First and third are impressive! (Second picture isn't too shabby either.)

I look forward to the day I can experience casked ale. It must be available somewhere around here, right? I will find it.

[YamahaXS]

nice, the real Budweiser (Prague?) was there!

[Richard English]

Indeed it was. There were around 500 UK cask ales, plus many UK Bottle Conditioned Ales (BCAs) plus good beers from all over the world, including the USA.

Czech Budweiser is sold in many pubs and supermarkets alongside the A-B rubbish.

There are a number of differences that are immediately apparent:

The Real Budweiser is cheaper that the A-B rubbish
The Real Budweiser has a taste
Most people buy the US rubbish in preference to the Real Budweiser.

In the USA the Real Budweiser is sold as Czechvar since A-Bullyboy have managed to stop Budvar from selling the orginal drink under its real name there.

[denver brewhoo]

that's one of my favorite bitters in the next to the last pic--McMullen Country. My wife can't stay out of the bazaars in Covent Garden, and just as you leave the tube station and walk down the hill where the street performers are, there's a pub on the left that always has McMullen Country and AK on the hand-pull...can't remember the name, but it's right across the way from the White Horse...funny, I never go in the White Horse but that's the name I remember...man I wish I were in London this very minute.

[Daren]

Anyway, when I put pressure on the tank to seal it up, beer began to dribble from the out side of the keg!

The same thing happened with a used keg I got. I just bled off the pressure and then used a scredriver to manually depress the poppet a few times. It re-seated itself correctly and stopped leaking.

[Tweek]

Yeah used (and new) corny kegs never work right all the time. You need to get the lid put in the same way that it has been for most of its life. when I get a good seal on mine I scratch a line in the lid to the keg body so that I can return to close to the correct position quickly next time. Also about the gas in and beer out posts, same thing sometimes they stick a little less than all the way closed, so if they hiss or leak just oush on them a little to get them to pop back out. If they were under pressure when you got them then they are fine you just have to get everything seated right.

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by briandickens
Anyway, when I put pressure on the tank to seal it up, beer began to dribble from the out side of the keg!Any advice?


whoa, i just realized i misread this. i thought you were saying that the beer was leaking from the outside. I interpretted this as the side of the keg. that would be a much more serious problem than the one you have. So I guess you can count your blessings?


All those parts can be replaced as needed.

[briandickens]

thanks guys. i just ordered two sets of replacement gaskets and silicone spray from morebeer. i'll get these babies working if it kills me. I feel a lot better about everything now after finding out that i can fix my problems for $5 instead of losing the money spend on the kegs.

Project: Kegerator is nearing completion, and the closer it gets, the happier i am.