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Draft Beer Troubleshooting

To diagnose a draught problem, hold a clean glass at a 45 degree angle under the faucet and open the tap completely. Use the troubleshooting guide below to find a potential cause and solution for your problem.

Problem	Potential Causes	Symptoms	Possible Solutions
No Beer is Coming Out	Keg is empty	Gas will rush out of faucet	Connect a full keg
	Gas tank is empty	Other draught lines will start to pour slowly, gas tank volume gauge will read “0″	Connect a full gas tank
	Gas valves are shut off	Beer pours very slowly and stops, but gas tank volume gauge shows that there is gas in the tank	Turn the toggle so that it is parallel with the gas line
	Beer line is frozen	Beer trickles out or stops in one tap or multiple adjacent taps	Turn the glycol system off for 1 hour, then try pouring
Beer is Pouring Foamy	Beer lines are dirty	Beer slowly becomes foamy over several weeks time and lines have not been professionally cleaned	Contact a professional draught servicing company to clean lines every 2-3 weeks
	Gas regulator set at wrong pressure	Beer pouring very rapidly or very slowly, with excessive foam	Adjust pressure – downstairs keg systems should be set at about 24 P.S.I., and direct draw systems (under the bar) should be set at about 10 P.S.I.
	Keg storage or coolant temperature is too high	Beer pours above 40°F with excessive foam	Lower the cooler temperature, limit traffic through the cooler door, and lower the temperature of the glycol reservoir to about 35°F
	Beer was just delivered	The first few pints in a keg pour foamy	Wait 1-2 hours, then pour again
Beer “Burps” or Sputters	There is a warm spot, kink, pinhole, or bacteria buildup somewhere in the beer line	The beer starts pouring fine, then “burps”	Check to see if a full keg could be sitting on a beer line. If not, check the insulation and seals on the line with a sponge and warm soapy water, and plan to get lines cleaned
	There is a bad seal around the faucet or keg coupler (sankee)	The beer starts pouring fine, then “burps”	Replace washers in the keg coupler and faucet or exchange for new equipment
Beer Tastes “Off”	Beer tastes metallic when running through recently cleaned lines	All beers on draught have a metallic taste	Lines cleaned with caustic acid can leave a faint metallic taste. You can request that your lines be cleaned with a chemical-free method, or just pour a few pints off and the taste should return to normal
	Beer has a strong buttery or butterscotch flavor	Diacetyl could have formed in the beer during fermentation, creating this off taste	The keg is filled with bad beer and should be returned to the distributor, with a request to notify the brewer
	Beer has a “creamed corn” flavor	D.M.S. could have formed in the beer during fermentation, creating this off-taste	The keg is filled with bad beer and should be returned to the distributor, with a request to notify the brewer
	Beer tastes stale, with a papery or “wet cardboard” aroma	The keg could be past it’s expiration date, or air could have been pumped into the keg	Ensure that you are pressurizing kegs with CO2 or G-mix from a gas tank, not with oxygen rich air. If the keg has been on tap for longer than 4 weeks, it can go bad, and should be returned to the distributor

Helpful videos, courtesy of Micro Matic USA

Keg to Glass Virtual Tour

Beer System Cleaning

Anatomy of a Kegerator