KeyKeg - Why isn’t the beer pouring?
Basic troubleshooting on KeyKeg issues
Apart from obvious issues like wrong/blocked coupler, empty FOB detector and gas not turned on, see below for some issues that can occur and result in a KeyKeg not pouring. If you've got a "fobby" KeyKeg, check our guide here.
- Gas - Are your gas canisters full and turned on? To check there is gas going into the keg, take the coupler off the keg and push down the coupler handle as if to connect to a keg and you should hear the sound of gas coming out of the coupler. If not, check the coupler for blockages or ensure your gas canisters aren’t empty. Also when you connect the coupler to the keykeg, you should hear the gas squeezing the inner bag and make the outer plastic shell hard to touch. If the keg is very soft the gas isn’t getting into the keg properly
- Gas leak - if kegs are constantly being moved around when connected, the beer or gas lines can form ‘kinks’ or tears in the line causing gas to leak out and not have enough pressure to pour the beer. Best solution is to fill a spray bottle with water and some detergent then spray over the gas line. If you see bubbles forming at any point on the line there may be a leak in that area.
- Line Frozen - sometimes if you don’t pour beer on a line for a few days or your glycol chiller is working overtime and at a very cold temperature - a beer line can freeze and nothing will pour. This is more likely to occur on lower ABV beers as they have a higher water content. In order to fix this - you’ll need to turn off your glycol chiller for an hour or two. Be warned this may cause other beers that run through the same glycol chiller to warm up.
- Clean the line - Sometimes excessively hoppy or ‘yeasty’ beers may clog lines and only beer line cleaner can unblock this.
- Flow regulator - Sometimes flow regulators can become too tight and stop the flow of beer altogether. Firstly check that the flow regulator hasn’t caused the beer to stop pouring. Flow controls can also build up a ring of sediment around when the restricted beer line (super thin tube) goes into the flow regulator, this occurs if there’s a small leak. Best thing to do is to pour warm water around the flow regulator, this should loosen it and dilute any sediment build up.
- Blocked faucet - Sometimes the beer faucet (tap) can be blocked with cling film or any other end of night cleaning method. Have a look up the faucet and remove any item that may cause a blockage.