Filling one 5-gallon keg is easier than filling fifty or more 12-ounce bottles. But with that convenience comes a complexity in the form of hoses, fittings, and clamps. It takes time to check and recheck all the places where things can go wrong, but if you pay attention and learn from Michael Graves’s example, you’ll be in the clear.
One of the many joys of being a freelance writer is that one can work as one pleases. And sometimes one is pleased to enjoy a pint of ale in the afternoon. On-the-job refreshment was universally frowned upon when I was nine-to-fiving it as an engineer. But, as we shall learn from Michael Graves of Bellevue, Washington, much has changed since last I peered o’er that endless sea of beige dividers.
Beer Friday
Three years ago, Michael jumped feet first into all-grain brewing, and he continues to ferment homemade wort every couple of weeks. Like most homebrewers, he enjoys building his own equipment, experimenting with recipes, and sharing his beer with others.
Michael also happens to work as a software developer for employers who—bless them—sometimes allow beer in the workplace. And not just any beer. Homebrewed beer.
“Every three weeks I take a five-gallon keg to work to celebrate the end of our development sprint,” Michael says. “We call it Beer Friday.”
“Sometime around August 2012, I ran home on my lunch break to get the keg and cooler ready for Beer Friday. I poured a test sample to check that everything was right, loaded the cooler into my car, and took it with me back to work. My coworkers and I kicked the keg pretty quickly that day.”
“When I was packing up that evening to head home, I noticed that the cooler was still fairly heavy, even though we had drained the keg. And there was a curious sloshing noise coming from inside.”
Michael opened the lid and discovered that a great deal of perfectly good beer had leaked into the cooler. The disconnect that coupled the beer line to the keg had failed to fully engage, and nearly two gallons had met an untimely end. “I just assumed people were extra thirsty for some decent homebrew,” he says. “At least we were able to enjoy more than half of it.”
Couplers Therapy
Perhaps you’ve faced something similar. From flooded kegerators to midnight wet vac rentals, anyone who kegs his/her homebrew has probably encountered a leak at some point. There are only a few exits on beer’s journey from keg to glass where it might escape. Let’s consider them in turn.
>> Liquid Disconnect
The liquid disconnect is what got the best of Michael, and it’s the first place to look for leaks. In Michael’s case, the disconnect hadn’t fully engaged. “Always, always double check the tightness of line connections before turning on the gas,” he urges.
Those who own pin-lock kegs have it fairly easy because the liquid disconnect only fits the post with three pins. As long as the post and the disconnect are in good shape, you shouldn’t have any problems.
Those with ball-lock kegs, on the other hand, need to remember that even though the liquid and gas posts may look identical, they are, in fact, not. The black disconnect goes on the liquid post, and the gray disconnect goes on the gas post. And the collars on those disconnects need to snap all the way down when they engage the posts.
You can force the wrong ball-lock disconnects onto the wrong posts. This not only makes it likely that you’ll vent gas or leak beer, but it can also damage the disconnects themselves. Then, even if you properly configure things down the road, the broken hardware could cause leaky connections.
Also, be sure to reconnect the posts to the correct in and out ports after you disassemble and reassemble your kegs. Ball-lock gas posts always have a horizontal notch, while liquid posts do not. It’s entirely possible to install the wrong posts on the wrong ports.
Solution: Pay attention. Make sure those disconnects fully engage and that the right posts are in the right ports.
>> Beer Line Connections
Beer lines attach to a liquid disconnect at one end and to a shank nipple at the other. Securing these connections is merely a matter of using good hose clamps and ensuring that they’re properly tightened. Draft professionals usually prefer stepless Oetiker clamps, but a screwdriver-driven worm clamp works fine, too. Just make sure it’s tight.
Solution: Tighten those hose clamps and replace as needed.
>> Beer Line
The beer line is rarely a problem. Nonetheless, it’s worth checking in case your vinyl tubing gets caught on a nail. Spray the line with a solution of soap or Star-San: If it bubbles, you have troubles.
Solution: Replace the beer line. It’s cheap.
>> Shank to Faucet
A tight connection between the shank and the faucet requires good O-rings and firm pressure. The best way to create that pressure is to tighten the coupling nut with a beer faucet wrench. Think of it as inexpensive, indispensable (pun intended) dispensing insurance.
Solution:_ Buy new O-rings and a beer faucet wrench._
The next time your boss asks you to take part in a ropes course with your coworkers, consider suggesting a far more effective team-building activity: Beer Friday, and you’ll provide the keg! Fill it with the beer you brewed from Michael’s Bavarian Hefeweizen recipe (below).
Bavarian Hefeweizen
ALL-GRAIN
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.014
IBUs: 11
ABV: 5.5%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
6.75 lbs (3.06 kg) wheat malt
4 lbs (1.8 kg) Pilsner malt
HOPS SCHEDULE
0.75 oz (21 g) Hallertauer at 45 minutes
0.25 oz (7 g) Hallertauer at 15 minutes
DIRECTIONS
Ferulic acid rest for 20 minutes at 110°F (43°C).
Saccharification: 90 minutes at 153°F (67°C).
Boil for 60 minutes. Ferment at 70°F (21°C) for fourteen days.
YEAST
White Labs WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale
BREWER’S NOTES
Make a 1-quart (1-liter) starter using a stir plate.