Laundry Day, a tale of woe and warning.

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JayH

Worker Bee
Registered Member
May 9, 2006
355
3
18
Corrales, NM
The closet in my bedroom is the only one in the house without an outside wall that the sun hits so it keeps the most constant temperature in the house. Because of this it has become my ageing locker so to speak.

Well going through and looking at everything last night I realized that there was an unlabeled keg in the back and I had no idea what was in it.

So grabbing my picnic tap I decided to pull a glass and see what it was. It has evidentially been back there happily fermenting away for quite some time. Even though I had a hose clamp on it, it blew the little black tap of the end of the hose. The next thing I knew I had 3 feet of plastic hose spewing out beer under enormous pressure, flopping around like a wounded snake. I have no idea what the pressure was, but would of given any fire hose a good run for the money.

I've bleed the tank 3 or 4 times to the point that foam was coming out of the bleeder valve and it still is under enormous pressure.

Well needless to say I was soaked, so was every piece of clothes I have. It sprayed all over the inside of the closet not only drenching all my clothes, but also all my linens. It foamed the front of my dresser eight feet away and beer ran into all of the drawers, it spewed like a demented porn star all of the walls, the ceiling, and my bed on the other side of the room. It got the computer, the filing cabinets and don’t even think about the carpet.

It sprayed out of the bedroom and all over the hall, bathing the dog in the process, at least beer is supposed to be good for hair. The dog then proceeded to run out an roll on the living room carpet. It continued across the hall and through the bathroom door the far wall of the bathroom was coated in beer and I measured it, 22 feet.

Today had been laundry day.

I’m just now starting to be able to laugh about it, maybe tonight the pressure will be low enough I can actually find out what I have.

Cheers, it think
Jay
 
That is quite an event!

And yes, the little black plastic picnic taps don't tolerate pressures above about 60-70 PSI. Above that you need a metal valve on your line. The pressure in your keg was probably higher than that, and if fermentation was occurring in your keg it could easily be at 120 PSI (the level at which the relief valve kicks in).

If you stick it in a fridge, it will reduce the pressure to a level where the picnic tap may work.
 
No fridge, unfortunately, one of the disadvantages to living near the coast in LA, not much room for things like extra fridges, but then you don't need them as badly our high for the year so far is 82 degrees, I doubt if that closet ever gets over 72 degrees. However repeated bleeding over the last 12 hours is starting to make a noticeable difference.
 
it spewed like a demented porn star all of the walls, the ceiling, and my bed on the other side of the room.


I’m just now starting to be able to laugh about it, maybe tonight the pressure will be low enough I can actually find out what I have.

Oh, man... the porn star comment had me laughing out out but the rest of it was more along the lines of "DEAR GODS! dear gods, now what, good heavens, what else, OMG"... what a mess...

I hope you got some photos before buckling down to the laundry and the rest of the cleanup, although I suppose you'll never forget the mess...
 
Well it is still a bit of a mystery beer, but I have named it Fire Hose Porter. I thought of other names, but I'll probably end up taking it to a club meeting so it had to be a family friendly.

I've gone through my brew log for the last year and I still have no idea what it is. Well I guess that will teach me to drink mead while I brew beer.

Unfortunately I wasn't thinking clearly enough at the moment to take pictures. All the laundry has been done, but I suspect it will be years before all the evidence is gone.


Cheers
Jay
 
Great Choice of Name.

Well it is still a bit of a mystery beer, but I have named it Fire Hose Porter. I thought of other names, but I'll probably end up taking it to a club meeting so it had to be a family friendly.
I love your choice for the name. Very creative.

My favorite name for a brew is "Polygamy Porter" from Squatters Brew-pub in Salt Lake City Utah. Their current ad campaign is "Polygamy Porter: Why Have Just One?"

In the past they also had "Polygamy Porter: When One is Just Not Enough."