Two days before the brew off I was talking with one of the other brewers about our preparations. I had my keg o' beer. I had my bucket. I even had enough red solo cups to host the largest game of beer pong ever. My brewing buddy asks, "have you tested your draft system?" Test? I've got a CO2 canister that hooks directly to my gas post, and a faucet that hooks directly to my liquid post? What is there to test? Well...
That night I was studying for my PE examination (kinda like the BAR). Behind me the hum of my kegerator called. I can be made pretty paranoid. And since my coworker mentioned my draft system it had been eating away at my confidence. So fine. I put down my materials and got together my parts. Hooked the gas up, no problems. I hooked the faucet up and before I knew it beer was bubbling up through the disconnect. Not out through the faucet, not from underneath, but through the disconnect.
I instantly thought about those crazy cooking shows. Every show there's someone who decides to use a pump. That pump never works. I always find myself pissing off at the television, saying things along the lines of "if you're going to compete on television why the F$%* wouldn't you test your $10 toy pump???" And there I would've been. Helpless at the competition, people gathering around for their first pour, and I would have beer shooting out of a seam I didn't know existed.
Well I fixed it. Turns out you can dismantle those disconnects. After about an inch of teflon tape (a recurring theme in the homebrew world) our leak is fixed. So then I tested my keg. Beer's good. Carbonated. But not hoppy... strange for an IPA... I study my system for a second and realized I tapped the wrong keg. Which brought me to my next revelation: my oak beer doesn't taste like rotten wood anymore!!! Joy!
If you have an idea how we should improve our competition, lets hear it! Post below!
Congrats!
ReplyDeleteI know it wasn't the intent of the article, but I like the seat belt on the corny lol. I usually just wedge it between the front seats and the back. But i guess safety should always come first, even for kegs!
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