Jammed Hops In Keg?

[jimi]

I kegged an IPA last night a threw in 2 stainless steel tea balls with about 20g of EKG (total). Force carbed the keg as per usual (all normal so far) but when I went to get a pour it stopped altogether after a very short pour of mostly head!!
There was still about 100kpa in the line which should have been plenty to move the beer so I decided to switch which tap that it was connected to. As I took off the beer line I got hit with a perfectly guided stream of beer to the face as the widget inside the beer post was jammed a little. I tried my first carbed sample of the beer by licking my face and then without thinking further continued to swap the tap it was connected too, safe in the knowledge that the keg had ample pressure When I went to try the second tap the same thing happened ... the pour stopped quickly. When I reconnected my other kegs to the taps they were also no longer passing the beer.
I tried depressurising the kegs and then gassing to pouring pressure a few times, but to no avail. Can't get a pour from any keg through my two taps nightmare !!
After a bit of thought, I'm starting to think that maybe my tea balls have broken open and the hop pellets have gone up the line and into the taps jamming them up. The little latches on them were not the sturdiest and this would explain the stream that came from the beer post!!
What do others think?
If this is the case I guess I'm going to have to take apart my celli's and through fridge shank somehow. Any tips?
I'll then have to degas my keg and syphon into another keg and remove the hops.

I'll also have to start working on one of those keg hopping cylinders Pumpy made up.

 

[cdbrown]

Checked all your beer lines for blockages? Pull the beer line from the tap, turn it on and blow through the tap - you'll soon find out if it's the tap that's blocked. Good luck

 

[newguy]

This has happened to me a few times. On every occasion I eventually had to actually remove the keg's dip tube while it was still full. You'll have to dislodge the lid so the keg isn't pressurised, then unscrew the liquid out fitting and remove the dip tube. The hops that are in it are usually pretty easy to dislodge (usually just by blowing on it). The poppet/fitting may have to be taken apart, depending how bad it is stopped up. If you work quickly, you can fix it in 5 - 10 minutes.

Hope this helps.

 

[KGB]

It wouldn't surprise me if the tea balls did open up, those things aren't that strong and the pellets swell up a lot

 

[kabooby]

Maybe try putting some c02 down the beer out post. Should dislodge anything thats there

Kabooby

 

[jimi]

Yep it was the hops stuffing up the taps.
Just wondering now what's the best way to filter out the hops now in the keg without a filter?
The taps are now cleaned and running but there'll be more loose hops in the keg that will probably just clog the taps again. I guess I could syphon the beer into another keg and put some filtering mesh at the bottom of the syphoning tube but it would need to be good mesh to stop the small pellet bits.
Any tips folks?

 

[gibbocore]

syphon into a sterilised hop sock, or stocking, with a big baggy bit at the bottom to allow for ample flow but still collecting all the hops.

 

[jimi]

syphon into a sterilised hop sock, or stocking, with a big baggy bit at the bottom to allow for ample flow but still collecting all the hops.

Just what I was thinking Gibbo. Would it be more effective to have the hop sock on the end of the syphoned tube in the original keg or the keg its being racked into?

 

[kabooby]

I would try it for a while. With a bit of luck the hops may have settled on the bottom away from the dip tube. If you can keep the keg still you might not have a problem.

If it keeps blocking then look at transfering

Kabooby

 

[youngy]

+1 hop sock, I have had to do this.

 

[Jase71]

Question on the stockings/pantyhose as an el cheapo hop sock. Are there any issues with synthetic nasties leaching from them if theyre floating around in the mix for a week or more? They are made of around 80% nylon, 20% elasine.

 

[flattop]

Probably depends who's wearing them at the time Jase..

 

[GMK]

yes - big problems - even boiling them for an hour - and brand new still have a flavour you dont want.

 

[Jase71]

Probably depends who's wearing them at the time Jase..

Well extra large in female size is still a bit to snug for my muscly, manly calves - which is why I have a spare pair laying around.

 

[kook]

yes - big problems - even boiling them for an hour - and brand new still have a flavour you dont want.

I think it depends on what you're looking for :lol:

 

[jimi]

I syphoned out the keg which had hop bits clogging up my taps assuming one of the tea balls had come open, it hadn't. apparently I put just a bit too much in one ball and the swelling effect was forcing the hop bits through the ball.
I syphoned through the hop sock and the beer is now clear - no obvious hop bits in glass and tasting very nice

anywho lesson learnt - don't try and put too much hops in your tea ball.

Now back to work on the Pumpy keg hopper

 

[FreemanDC]

I've had the same problem, it was a shitty larger and i decided to put some open hop bag in there, a good 40-60 psi in the inlet done the trick.... didn't make the beer any nicer, but done the trick