Very Slow Pour From a Keg

[David Woods]

Could use a bit of advice.

First go at kegging here - all the parts are brand new - including the kegs and a good quality regulator (I think) - 3/16 pipe at about a 9' length.

So had the keg at 30psi for a few days then in the fridge at 15 psi for over a week now and using a picnic tap until I set up the proper tap - trying to gauge the optimum pipe length for an IPA.

The pour from the picnic tap is very very slow. Started cutting the pipe down bit by bit to see if it would improve but no change.

Are these picnic taps generally slow anyway? will the "proper" Nukatap be much better? I could connect it but not quite ready to site it yet.

The beer tastes great though! bit low carbed still - could that be the issue? more pressure needed?

No leaks that I can see using soapy water on connections.

Any wisdom on this would be very helpful.

 

[MashBag]

You don't say if you have the gas ON when pouring and at what pressure?

 

[David Woods]

Yes gas is connected and ON at 15 psi

 

[MashBag]

I use party taps for bottling, and syphon flow takes just under 20 seconds per pint, how did that compare?

 

[David Woods]

As the beer is very young - and possibly still carbonating, I haven't pulled a "pint" yet but a few small glasses full which took ages - I would say a very slow trickle. I will try & put up a short clip.

 

[David Woods]

Just read a post elsewhere saying if the dip tube is not right in the middle (at the bottom) is can inhibit flow - is that a thing?

 

[DocAnna]

I suspect you’ve hop debris in your ball lock poppet …..I’ve had it happen a few times and it’s a faff to fix. If you’ve pressure on then it’s almost certainly that. The picnic taps on their own are usually too fast a flow unless you’re using a couple of metres of narrow tubing to slow the flow.

Before trying to clean the ball lock, if you can try the picnic tap attached via wider tubing just to make sure, but otherwise it’s depressurise, unscrew and take apart the ball lock and run it through again.

 

[DocAnna]

Just read a post elsewhere saying if the dip tube is not right in the middle (at the bottom) is can inhibit flow - is that a thing?

Usually the dip tube won’t fit anywhere else, since the length and bend is made to only fit the dimple in the keg bottom.

 

[phildo79]

Change the disconnect on your gas line to a black, liquid disconnect. Purge the line a little by pressing the dimple in the disconnect. Blast CO2 down the liquid dip tube. Set it high, like 30 psi. Then reverse the process and get your grey disconnect back on. This might clear any blockage in the tube or poppet.

 

[David Woods]

So connected my proper tap with a 2ft length of 3/8 pipe and beer came flooding through so maybe the picnic tap is poor. I understood I would need 10ft of 3/16 to get good flow with low foaming.

Doesn't seem to be any blockage!

 

[phildo79]

You don't need any length of line if you are using a tap with flow control. Just attach it directly to the liquid post. If you don't have a tap with flow control, the beer can come out rather quickly.

 

[phildo79]

I always found the picnic tap to be very slow. Ditched it after the first week and got a FC tap.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Change the disconnect on your gas line to a black, liquid disconnect. Purge the line a little by pressing the dimple in the disconnect. Blast CO2 down the liquid dip tube. Set it high, like 30 psi. Then reverse the process and get your grey disconnect back on. This might clear any blockage in the tube or poppet.

Just a heads-up, the grey disconnect will fit the Liquid out post, so no need to swap - might save some time. I.e grey fit both posts, black only the liquid.

EDIT: see response below from Phildo, that this may not be the case for all kegs.

 

[phildo79]

Just a heads-up, the grey disconnect will fit the Liquid out post, so no need to swap - might save some time. I.e grey fit both posts, black only the liquid.

Is that totally accurate? I seem to recall, a long time ago, hooking the grey disconnect to the liquid post in order to clear a blockage and it was a nightmare to remove. Had to use a massive spanner to pop it off. I think perhaps you are correct with the universal looking slim posts but maybe not the older variety, with the wide base.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Is that totally accurate? I seem to recall, a long time ago, hooking the grey disconnect to the liquid post in order to clear a blockage and it was a nightmare to remove. Had to use a massive spanner to pop it off. I think perhaps you are correct with the universal looking slim posts but maybe not the older variety, with the wide base.

I believe so. I have old and new-style kegs and have never had a problem (I transfer to kegs using a grey disconnect, just because it's what I had available at the time). Maybe there are exceptions and it might just be I got lucky.

I just checked on all my empty kegs - mixture of new(2021) and old (as far back as 1994) . A grey disconnect went on all with ease, with the exception of my newest tall AEB keg (about 3 years old) which went on, albeit felt a little stiffer than the rest. Maybe it is wise to swap out black and grey as you suggested.

 

[JockyBrewer]

The posts themselves can also expand/contract slightly with heat/cold, so there's always a danger of connecting the wrong kind of disconnect and then struggling to get it off again. I would stick to using the black disco for the OUT/Liquid post and grey for IN/Gas.

 

[JockyBrewer]

So connected my proper tap with a 2ft length of 3/8 pipe and beer came flooding through so maybe the picnic tap is poor. I understood I would need 10ft of 3/16 to get good flow with low foaming.

Doesn't seem to be any blockage!

10ft of 3/16" line is a lot - I think that may be your problem.

When I was using 3/16" on its own without flow control I'd use between 120cm and 180cm of 3/16" depending upon the beer's carbonation. For a 15PSI beer I'd start at 180cm.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

10ft of 3/16" line is a lot - I think that may be your problem.

When I was using 3/16" on its own without flow control I'd use between 120cm and 180cm of 3/16" depending upon the beer's carbonation. For a 15PSI beer I'd start at 180cm.

I was about to say the same thing: at normal serving pressures you’ll need at most about 75cm to a metre of 3/16” to get the flow rate down, and you should do the rest of your pipe run in 3/8 or quarter inch. In my experience flow control taps don’t work very well by the way, but YMMV.

 

[phildo79]

with the exception of my newest tall AEB keg (about 3 years old) which went on, albeit felt a little stiffer than the rest.

Does the black disconnect have any problem going on? If so, that could be an O-ring issue. Used to happen to me a lot and I was forever swapping out O-rings after a few months. I think it might have been the disconnect that was damaging them but if an O-ring is spent, it can affect the smoothness of the disconnect going on and off. Try rubbing a bit of Vaseline around the O-ring. If that helps, then consider replacing it.

 

[JockyBrewer]

I was about to say the same thing: at normal serving pressures you’ll need at most about 75cm to a metre of 3/16” to get the flow rate down, and you should do the rest of your pipe run in 3/8 or quarter inch. In my experience flow control taps don’t work very well by the way, but YMMV.

I've had a lot better luck with flow control disconnects, plus whatever length of 3/16" I need to get to the shank (usually about 60cm). Can successfully pour beer anywhere between 8 and 30PSI.