Anyone ever get a bad keg?

[jlopez77]

I picked up a 1/4 keg of Yuengling last Friday. I tapped it and it turned out to be flat. I won't go into details but I had a hell of a time returning it, I really wanted to exchange it for a different one. The beer guy was out on vacation and only the wine guy was there and he didn't think there was anything wrong with the keg. Everything is good now, but I was wondering if anyone else ever had experienced this.

[Scott Zuhse]

Every once in awhile quality control misses a keg and things happen. Next time you suspect an off-taste. Have the store take one of their picnic pumps and tap the keg. Dispense a sample and have then taste test. Try to time the return so that you still have decent temperature.

[WhiteToad]

So cranking up the CO2 would not have fixed this?

[jlopez77]

Every once in awhile quality control misses a keg and things happen. Next time you suspect an off-taste. Have the store take one of their picnic pumps and tap the keg. Dispense a sample and have then taste test. Try to time the return so that you still have decent temperature.

That was the first one in almost two years going there, I wasn't upset about that. The wine guy did tap it and said it was fine. He gave some to another guy that barely took a sip and he said it was fine also. I'm not a beer tasting expert but I know when a beer doesn't taste right and is flat, especially one that I get most of the time.

[jlopez77]

So cranking up the CO2 would not have fixed this?

I did not really want to mess around and take a chance. I heard force carbonating is hit or miss.

[cm11599ps]

My brother has his kegerator in the basement and had everyone over about a year ago. He usually gets bud.

Anyway, he knew his current keg was gonna kick soon so he got a 1/4 of Bud and had it outside during the party. Temp outside was in the 30's.

The keg kicked during the party so it came time to swap which took all of 5 minutes. A few minutes later he poured a pitcher and the beer came out with some black stuff floating around in it. Every single glass/pitcher had this stuff floating around in it. It's kind of hard to describe, but it was kind of like little chunks of black cellophane paper about the size of dimes.

We returned it about a day or two later and got our money back. He contacted AB and they gave him 2 shirts. lol

Anyone have any idea what THAT was? The next keg he got was fine.

[Mirko_S]

It seems like it happens more frequently than not. In July I got a bad keg of Lagunitas IPA, it tasted terrible. The store got a replacement keg for me. And just last weekend for a party I got a keg of Bells Oktober that was over carbonated.

[jlopez77]

The keg kicked during the party so it came time to swap which took all of 5 minutes. A few minutes later he poured a pitcher and the beer came out with some black stuff floating around in it. Every single glass/pitcher had this stuff floating around in it. It's kind of hard to describe, but it was kind of like little chunks of black cellophane paper about the size of dimes.

We returned it about a day or two later and got our money back. He contacted AB and they gave him 2 shirts. lol

Anyone have any idea what THAT was? The next keg he got was fine.

How well does he clean the lines, coupler and faucet? It may be a build up that was knocked loose when the old keg kicked and the new keg cleaned everything out before you got a replacement.

[russel58]

How often should you clean your beer line/coupler/faucet?

[cubby_swans]

How often should you clean your beer line/coupler/faucet?

Every 2 weeks is recommended.

But honestly, I (and probably the majority of people at home) clean between kegs, which is 4-6 weeks for me. Between kegs has always worked well for me.

[OSJ]

as mentioned before, quality control gets missed sometimes. all it takes is for the keg to not get cleaned propperly before they fill it.

[scottz5]

Bad Sam's Lager

I got a 1/6 and the seal on the tap was leaking.

[gregariousness]

we had a keg of coors light that i guess was over carbonated? but every time it was poured, nothing but foarm came out. we left it in there for two days at the temperature and pressure that had been working for the whole summer. eventually we just changed the keg and the next one was fine.

[Scott Zuhse]

This can be the result of a damaged seal on top of the "D" keg valve. A coupling washer that is used for the back of the faucet can be placed on top of the seal and it may compensate for the damage allowing you to dispense beer from the keg.

[scottz5]

Thanks, I was lucky/unlucky to find it leaking in my car and drove back to the store.

It was almost expired too only had 4 days left on the freshness stamp.

I am glad that Sam's puts it on there so I can refuse a keg if its old.