Cleaning the Dip Tube

[Brew Engineer]

I've got a clogged dip tube problem. I kegged my first IIPA this weekend, and I can't wait to pull a pint. Last night I went to draw the first glass, and I get about 1/8" of beer in the glass, then nothing. I quickly figured out that my beer out dip tube/poppet was clogged with hop material. I thought I had managed to minimize the hop material transfer to the keg, but obviously, I didn't do well enough.

So, I had to de-preessurize the keg, take off the beer out quick connect, take out the dip tube, clean it all out, re-sanitize with starsan, and put it back together.

Obviously, some sort of screen on the end of the dip tube would help this situation, but I don't have one, and don't think I could assemble it while the beer is currently in the keg. My question is:

Is there an easier to way to unclog the poppet/tube without having to take it all apart and resanitize my parts? Or have I just learned the hard way how I need to get a dip tube screen, and will have this problem for a while?

Thanks guys-

[Bugeater]

A temporary solution is to hook up a black QD to your gas line and blow CO2 back through the liquid post. This should dislodge the clog and allow you to get at least a few more pints before it clogs again.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[Brew Engineer]

Brilliant!!! Thanks Bug!!!



I already have all the parts necessary to create a black gas connector.

[DannyW]

I solved this once by laying the keg on its side with the gas tube on the bottom and the liquid tube on the top. Make a jumper with gray QD on one end and black on the other. Push Co2 in the liquid side of the sideways keg and transfer the beer to a clean keg with your jumper. The liquid tube is just high enough to clear the sludge without wasting a whole lot.

Hopefully that is clear enough to make sense. If not I'll break out my mad MS Paint skillz and try a diagram. Maybe I should have the 4yo draw it with crayons - that will be clearer than my drawing!

[TastyMcD]

When I have this problem I replace the dip tube with a sanitized special dip tube that I've cut an inch off the bottom. I lose some beer but that's the price of using a keg as a fermenter (by dry hopping in it).

Tasty

[Henway]

3 individual replies and not a single one making a sex reference? That's a record!

I tried both cutting off an inch and using the full dip-tube. I think I prefer the full dip tube because all the trub comes out in the first "tapping" of the keg. makes the corny easier to clean later.

But yeah, pump CO2 in through the out and you'll be good.

[Brew Engineer]

I was able to pull the first pint today... YUM!!! Oh wow is that a good beer.

The first pint was VERY cloudy, and had hop chunks floating in it... but that will settle out over time.