BeerBorg

So yesterday, after work, I decided to keg the King Pin IPA, and I get my sanitizer and keg all staged, and siphon the Star San into the keg. I put the lid on the keg, lay the keg on the carpet, and start rolling it, like ya do. And it starts leaking.

So I figure I put the lid on slightly wonky, and I try again. Still leaking.

So I try to determine from whence this leak is emanating, and it looks to me as if it's not coming from the lid, but from the seam where the rubberized portion of the top (where the in and out posts are installed) and the central metal portion. It was a little tough to make it out for sure, but it sure seemed that way.

Fortunately, I had another empty keg, and I transferred the Star San to that, and everything went smoothly. And I figured I'd have to replace that leaky keg, unless my LHBS had some ideas.

But then it occurred to me: This is the same keg that had a slight dent in one of the posts, and I took it to the LHBS and asked if it was okay. Not only did Joe, the owner, assure me it was no big deal, and a fairly common thing, but he actually had one of his guys pressurize it and test it to make sure it was okay. And I vented it just before this leaking incident, and it was still holding pressure, nearly three weeks later. So it can't be leaky, since gas would escape more readily than liquid, no?

I must not have had the lid on properly, and just couldn't see exactly where the leak was.

You might also check your posts. Do you use keg lube?

Like Gymrat said, keg lube on the seals makes a big difference. Repeat what you did with some lube on the seal, plus hit the keg with some co2 to help seal the lid. Laying a non pressureized liquid filled keg on its side is a good way to get a lid leak.

Out of the 7 kegs I have, 2 of them that are the oldest will leak thru the leak until they are pressurized. 1 is very, very old and the lid looks to be hand made it's so crude. I've tried replacing the lid but this lid is made for this keg and this keg only. But, it holds pressure fine.
I think some of the older, used kegs were not taken care of very well and therefore, no amount of lube or love will help unless full of gas.

I sanitize my kegs by pouring StarSan into them until they're filled about half way then clamp the lid on and shake a shake shake so the insides are all coated and let them sit upright for some time. Then I gas them and run some StarSan out of the tap to get the inside of the pickup tube. Its better to find leaking StarSan than leaking beer any day though.

Actually, I did not lube the O Ring around the lid. Thanks for the heads-up. I know it wasn't leaking from the posts; I checked carefully, and it was definitely at a point nearer the lid, actually between the two post locations. It hadn't occurred to me to pressurize it before rolling it around, but I can see where that would help.

Vince, definitely better to leak Star San than beer! And I pressurized the second keg slightly after rolling it around, and ran the sanitizer through the beer hose and faucet. Then, once I got the beer kegged and the keg connected, I tapped a little until some beer came out, to flush the Star San out of the system.

I did the rolling thing instead of the shaking thing because I only used about a gallon of Star San, rather than filling the keg halfway. I figured rolling it would get all the interior surfaces coated, and I could see foam on the lid when I was done, so I figure job complete.

Anyway, I'll see how it goes with this keg next time I use it. At least I've got a nice batch of King Pin IPA to look forward to. It really smelled and looked great!

Looking forward to hearing how it turns out.
My bro and I were just discussing kegged beer and we definitely think our beers don't start tasting as good in a keg until 5-6 weeks. Not sure why. I understand the clearing and conditioning but there's a marked difference in my beers after 5 weeks or so. Seems like when I first started kegging, this was not the fact. Maybe it's our old taste buds.
Anyways, cheers Dave for the first kegged beer.

I learned a great way to ensure a good seal early on:

After you've filled your keg, connect your gas line but don't open it yet. Put the lid on (lubed) and pull it up with your hand but don't clamp it down. Turn on the gas (I use about 20 psi) and let the gas seat the lid for while you pull it up and wiggle it. Then clamp it down. This seems to help ensure a very tight seal and I've never had to re-adjust or had a leak using this method.

Awesome Ron. I remember reading that but completely forgot about it. Gonna remember this next time.

Yeah, good advice. It's, like, physics, or science, or something.

Beer-lord wrote:Anyways, cheers Dave for the first kegged beer.

Actually, this will be the fourth beer I've kegged. The first one had quite a few difficulties; the second was quite good, and the third was even better. I think I'm getting to the bottom of that particular keg, actually. I've been having difficulty waiting until the beer reaches its peak, and I've been readjusting the learning curve this whole time. They definitely improve with time, though, I'm finding out. I'm giving this batch at least ten days before I even tap the first pint, and then I'm going to nurse it as long as I can.

It's still a novelty for me, though.

Kealia wrote:I learned a great way to ensure a good seal early on:

After you've filled your keg, connect your gas line but don't open it yet. Put the lid on (lubed) and pull it up with your hand but don't clamp it down. Turn on the gas (I use about 20 psi) and let the gas seat the lid for while you pull it up and wiggle it. Then clamp it down. This seems to help ensure a very tight seal and I've never had to re-adjust or had a leak using this method.

Thanks for the hint. I have not had one leak but I use o-ring lub on every thing to seal them up easily. I usually pressurize with 30 psi at first to look for leaks and make a good seal, but I will try this way next time.

FedoraDave wrote:It's still a novelty for me, though.

Every keg is still a novelty to me, too!