Kegging disaster last night...need advice

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kerklein2

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So I went to dry hop a pale ale last night. Purged the keg and then tried to pull the lid off. Some foam was coming out but the lid wouldn't come off. I pushed down really hard and then finally...BAM! Beersplosion. Walls, ceiling, face, everywhere. Beersplosion is followed by beercano. Lost maybe 5 pints of beers volcano-ing out.

Why did this happen? The keg was frozen. I had my temp probe neer the top-ish of my kegerator and set it at 40. Come to find out the bottom of the keezer is sitting at ~25. Lesson learned.

Now that this disaster is over, I have a problem. The keg is now pouring pure foam and I've got a party to serve it at on Saturday night. Do I just leave it sit and it should correct itself by then? I've borrowed a carbonation lid from a buddy today thinking I could use that. So should I use that? If so, should I let it sit with no pressure for a while first, or what?
 
So you had this keg on gas before the beersplosion?
What pressure were you using - and for how long?

You definitely need to put a small fan in there to solve that stratification problem, and then you might want to reconsider your temperature probe location...

Cheers!
 
It's been on 12psi for several weeks, so it was fully carbed.

I had considered a fan before, but wanted to avoid it. I've put the probe at the bottom for now.
 
I would let it thaw under pressure. i think it will balance itself at serving temp. Once froze 6 kegs of pale ale. did not seem to hurt them. I have been wrong before, but that is what I would do.
 
Ok, so I'm betting the crux of your problem can be found in this carbonation table.

At 40°F and 12 psi for weeks, your beer would have been carbed to ~2.5 volumes, which is a good value for a lot of different beer styles. So far, so good.

BUT your beer clearly was a lot colder than 40°F for apparently long enough that the CO2 saturation increased considerably from that 2.5 volumes. If it was close to freezing then the carb level would be closer to 3 volumes.

I would straighten out the stratification issue, attach the probe to the middle of the side of the keg, cover it with something insulative (eg: a piece of packing foam) and strap it all tight to the keg, set the controller to 40°F, and leave the gas off until the beer temperature stabilizes.

Once it's down to 40°F, release the head pressure, attach your 12 psi gas supply, pour a pint, and see where you are.

btw: how long and what inside diameter are your beer lines?

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
Ok, so I'm betting the crux of your problem can be found in this carbonation table.

At 40°F and 12 psi for weeks, your beer would have been carbed to ~2.5 volumes, which is a good value for a lot of different beer styles. So far, so good.

BUT your beer clearly was a lot colder than 40°F for apparently long enough that the CO2 saturation increased considerably from that 2.5 volumes. If it was close to freezing then the carb level would be closer to 3 volumes.

I would straighten out the stratification issue, attach the probe to the middle of the side of the keg, cover it with something insulative (eg: a piece of packing foam) and strap it all tight to the keg, set the controller to 40°F, and leave the gas off until the beer temperature stabilizes.

Once it's down to 40°F, release the head pressure, attach your 12 psi gas supply, pour a pint, and see where you are.

btw: how long and what inside diameter are your beer lines?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I let the keg sit open while I was cleaning up last night and reattached it when I was done and put it back at 12psi. It should be thawed completely at this point (the keg I didn't open up seems to be pouring fine). If it was too high still, the pressure would be increasing on the regulator, right? It doesn't seem to be.

Beer lines are 6' 3/16".
 
kerklein2 said:
[...]If it was too high still, the pressure would be increasing on the regulator, right? It doesn't seem to be.
Click to expand...

Only if you don't have an anti-backflow (aka "check") valve on the gas line. If you do (and often they're built in to the gas stop valve, if you have one on your regulator) then the low pressure gauge won't see an increase in pressure on the keg side of the check valve.

And even then, if the beer only ever saw 12 psi, then that's the most pressure it could have at the same temperature. But as the temperature of the beer increases from its previously nearly-frozen state, it can't hold as much CO2, so you'll get gas breakout.

Beer lines are 6' 3/16".
Click to expand...

A bit on the short side, but if the other keg is serving ok with that length, then it may come down to just letting the 'sploded keg rest for a couple of days at temperature...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
Only if you don't have an anti-backflow (aka "check") valve on the gas line. If you do (and often they're built in to the gas stop valve, if you have one on your regulator) then the low pressure gauge won't see an increase in pressure on the keg side of the check valve.

And even then, if the beer only ever saw 12 psi, then that's the most pressure it could have at the same temperature. But as the temperature of the beer increases from its previously nearly-frozen state, it can't hold as much CO2, so you'll get gas breakout.



A bit on the short side, but if the other keg is serving ok with that length, then it may come down to just letting the 'sploded keg rest for a couple of days at temperature...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I do have check valves on the regulators, but I'm not sure that matters as it pertains to the pressure increasing on the gauge. If you hook up a line to a pressurized keg with no CO2 tank, won't the regulator show the keg pressure? No?

So you think I should purge them and let sit for a day and then see where I'm at?
 
kerklein2 said:
I do have check valves on the regulators, but I'm not sure that matters as it pertains to the pressure increasing on the gauge. If you hook up a line to a pressurized keg with no CO2 tank, won't the regulator show the keg pressure? No?
Click to expand...

No. The whole purpose of an actual check valve (and I'm not referring to anything with a lever or knob) is to prevent gas from flowing backwards from the keg to the regulator. You could have 100 psi in the keg, but the regulator would never know it.

So you think I should purge them and let sit for a day and then see where I'm at?
Click to expand...

Yup...

Cheers!
 
Seems tedious.

I'd personally purge the headspace five times at 5 PSI with the lid sealed. Set the regulator to the pressure you want it carbed to. Shake it a bit, and then vent until you can just hear the regulator groan. This is assuming you have check valves.

If you get good at it, you can un-over-carb beer in a matter of minutes. Of course, this will stir up any sediment you have.
 
So I've let it sit at 5psi the past two nights and then back to 12psi during the days. Both beers are now pouring 100% foam. Still overcarbed a ton? Keep letting it sit at 5psi?
 

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