Kegged an IPA the other day , dry hops never fell couldn't see wth I was doing, alas lots of hop gunk in the keg. First several pours had too much hop matter in them to make them undrinkable. I end up getting to the point of poppet being clogged , clean that replace. Beer still won't pour. Pull out dip tube clean that put back. No pour slow trickle. Pull out post and dip tube clean again and this time put mesh bag over dip tube ended up with no pour and very slow trickle. Few days pass as I stew over what the heck is going on. Pull out mesh bag , thought perhaps it did more damage than good still no good. Dip tube and post are completely clean yet when I push on poppet just a really slow trickle of foam. I have no idea what is wrong at this point. When I look in the keg the top of the beer is a thick layer of foam most likely from all the agitation of out it through the last several days. I let it still overnight completely still and still get nothing this AM. I'm at a loss someone please help.
Pull the tube and post. Clean the tube with a dip tube brush, you need one if you don't have one. Push out the poppet and clean the hop gunk out of it. Clean the post. sanitize all and reassemble. If you have a 2nd keg I would rack to it to leave the gunk behind.
Came back to say that too. Disconnect the beer out fitting, disassemble and clean, check the line, disassemble the faucet and clean.
That was my thought, maybe the liquid-side coupler or the faucet is clogged. Although it kind of sounds like he is pushing directly on the poppet with his finger without the liquid line assembly connected and is still getting foam. Foam on top of the beer shouldn't make a difference since the liquid dip tube is pulling from the bottom of the keg. I'm inclined to believe it could be hop matter causing the issue. If it were me, I would probably rack the beer to another keg and leave as much of the hop material behind as possible.
Hop bag! (BTW this is something way better than those paint strainers a lot of people use) I'll certainly be using mine when I start dry hopping my Pliny clone.
This is true, I don't believe it to be anything above the post/poppet because foam is coming out at that point. I think I might have to siphon to another which is problematic in itself because this is my only ball lock, my other two are pin lock and don't have enough disconnects to make it work. Pain in my ass, next time I'll do things differently. Thanks for all the responses.
Cold crashing will make your life so much easier next time. I put my fermenter in a 36f fridge for 2 days and pretty much all the hops drop to the bottom allowing me to rack to keg with ease.
It sounds like there is some specific product you are recommending over paint strainer bags. What is the product?
I cut off a .5" of the dip tube last night and while I still get a little hop matter, I'm back in business. Thanks all! Next time cold crash or secondary all day
Have you tried taking off your faucet and and cleaning the back of it. It could be clogged with hop residue. Happened to me, same scenario.
Sounds like it's taken care of, but I have an amusing experience like this. Same thing was happening to me on an extremely hoppy beer, so I assumed it was clogged. I did nearly everything suggested, got it working, only to discover the next day the same issue. Did everything again, then the next day, same time... Then I discovered, finally, that my beer line was pressed against my mini fridge's freezer, freezing the line, and the "unclogging" was just the byproduct of me leaving the door open and the line off the freezer long enough thaw while I broke down the keg and faucet. It was like the Christmas Vacation moment.
A hop filter bag made by BSG Handcraft. I'll look at it when I get home, but I'm sure it's this one. It's a very fine, tight weave, much tighter than the paint strainer bags which I also bought when I was reading threads here. Also check out: Utah Biodiesel Supply. Look at their dry hop filters. I have this one, which works for small amounts. Since I'm doing a Pliny, I don't think I'll be able to use this. This one looks interesting, but I have to ask: how are you going to get it out of there? There has been a thread or two about this one. Even more: bag filters. Check out the video.
Thanks for all the links! I haven't actually found paint strainer bags that I pick up to cause me any problems when I dry hop, but these links look pretty cool. I like the longevity factor that may come with SS.
BTW, I have this as well. Very effective at keeping hop trub out of the kettle. I've asked them to make some minor improvements (and send me an 'evaluation' prototype) I have the 10" which is great for a 5 gallon brew kettle.
