I had a disaster on my first brew in many years. The beer was tasting good, had 5 or 6 pints out of it (not all by myself) and then I came back to my keezer to find the entire keg had leaked out. I had been attaching and detaching the beer line to/from the keg whenever I needed to pour a pint as I could not get the connection to fit on properly. I'm guessing that this on and off action loosened the pole and allowed the beer to leak out. I had replaced all the rubbers recently so maybe I hadn't tightened things back up properly. Does that make sense? So I am now looking for some replacements for my old ball lock disconnects and notice that they are advertised as either gas or liquid. They look pretty much the same to me. What is the difference and how do I tell which is for which?
Here's a short video that shows a rebuild of the posts. The one on the left (below) with the notches around the base is the gas post. The beer-out post (right) has a flared bit around the middle. If you aren't paying attention (or can't see what you're doing!) - you can inadvertently push a gas disconnect onto a beer post. If you ever do this, you'll learn the hard way that it's more difficult to get off than it was to push it on there in the first place. As for which connections to buy? Beer = Black, Gas = Grey is an easy way to remember. It's also worthwhile use different colored o-rings on the posts with a similar convention (e.g. blue = beer, green = gas) because it's often easier to see the colors than it is to read the small print on the handles or near the posts.
Oh they go ON the keg interchangeably. But not OFF, not without hacksaws, torches, firearms, curse words, etc.
Thanks everyone. That could have been my problem (as to why it wouldn't fit on properly) I had the black connected to the gas and the white/grey to the liquid.
Lots of kegs also have the word "IN" or "OUT" on the black handles. The letters are typically engraved or stamped. Also black. Gas goes in to make beer come out. Along with the notches on the gas post, I've also got a handful of kegs that take a (12?) pointed lug instead of the standard 6. Not always, but often enough that I recognize the gas post right away.
Thanks. Recognising the in and out hasn't been a problem. It all stemmed from the equipment I purchased 20? years ago when I was living in the UK. I got 2 disconnects the black one was attached to a short tube and the grey to a longer tube. I assumed the longer tube was for the dispensing of the beer and had not known about the differences between the disconnects.
