is my beer tap faulty ???

[luke]

i have a 5 gallon beer keg , with 1 tap , and co2 injected, all good till my 8 th (beer) refill , i clean the lines everytime , the problem is that the beer leaving the tap is squirting out and frothing up my beer , tho if i place my finger under the tap and stop the flow for a second and release , the squirting problem stop, this is annoying, is this a common problem home brewers face , if so is there any tips to stop this problem, my dispense pressure is set at 40 kpa.

[Chris]

I'd look for a leak. It may be in the hose, or possibly around the fittings. Once you find it, let me know.

[munkey]

what sort of tap is it, and can you dissasemble it to look inside/clean ect.??

you say 8th beer, do you mean 8th fill of the keg, or 8th fill of your pintglass.

also, injected co2?? you mean bulbs or bottle??

[Stangas]

i have a very similar problem.. i find that while pouring it is fine.. but during shut off, the beer sprays as you said.

Things i have done..
check for leaks
i over carbonated a couple of kegs, and they did it
tap operation technique... i find flicking the tap closed works well

My problem that i have at the moment, is that after filling a glass, the beer runs back down the beerline and into the keg. Then when i come back for another glass, there is a large air pocket in the line which splashes and farts until the full flow if had again.

That was only on the one keg, so i am going to change the o-rings on the quick connectors.

[Shaun]

I don't think your tap is the problem as it has worked for 7 other kegs. Have you tried bleeding the keg to see if the problem is an over carbonated keg? Or is the tap warm when you start pouring the beer and cold by the time you use your finger to stop the flow?

[luke]

ok , this is what i did , i loosened the bolt and turned the tap upside down , disconnected the beer line , poured hot water down the spout and probed around with a cotton bud stick , it seemed to work, i guess there was a build up of gunk , all great , i will give you one tip , before placing the beer line back on , make sure that the tap is turned off & not facing upwards , as my beer almost hit the ceiling and beer went everywhere , thanks for the replies and great advice.

[Chris]

A beer fountain!!!

Good to hear that you are back in business.

[BeerFrenzy]

As Stangas said, flicking the tap on and off might have been the problem. Its the first thing they teach you about pouring beer in bar schools- always flick on and off very quickly.

Good luck! And hey....beer on the ceiling? Thats not a major problem..it can always be licked off!

[Aussie Claret]

Stangas,
Sounds to me like you might have your pouring pressure too low if beer is able to run back down into the keg.
The beer should completely fill the line from keg to tap. After a while you may see co2 coming out of solution in the line which creates co2 pockets, but you should never see beer running back into the keg.

What pouring pressure you at?
AC

[luke]

Stangas,
Sounds to me like you might have your pouring pressure too low if beer is able to run back down into the keg.
The beer should completely fill the line from keg to tap. After a while you may see co2 coming out of solution in the line which creates co2 pockets, but you should never see beer running back into the keg.

What pouring pressure you at?
AC

my dispense pressure Aussie Claret is set at 40 kpa, i know for sure that there was a build up of gunk, but after a clean, the flow is now running even when leaving the tap ###...........................

[Aussie Claret]

Hi Luke,
Pouring pressure could be abit higher, I have mine around 60-80KPa. You should on a regular basis stripe your taps down and soak in a cleaning solution, I learnt the hard way.

Make sure that you've disconnected before hand unbolt the tap and you should be able to screw the tap apart, you can get heaps of grimme and gunk build up over a shortish period of time, I'd clean them down every month. I leave my taps soaking over night in neo pink, they come up a treat.

Ac

[Stangas]

my pressure is usually between 80 and 100 kpa..

it is only that keg.. i think it may be rooted.. the rubberised handle is pulling away from the stainless cylinder.

i think i got ripped when i bought it... but too late