Stop Guests from Overpumping the Keg
Everyone who has been to a keg party will agree, that sooner or later someone will turn the beer to foam by over-pumping. A simple solution is to borrow an air compressor with a regulator, and connect it to the tapper where the hand pump is normally connected.
Steps
- Locate an air compressor with an adjustable regulator. Everyone has a friend somewhere who has at least a small compressor.
- With the tap out of the keg, remove the hose from the metal hand pump by unscrewing the hose clamp and pulling the pump out.
- Hook the hose you just removed from the hand pump to an air fitting (unscrew one from a tire filler, and push it into the tapper hose, if necessary. Tighten with hose clamp
- Tap the keg.
- Attach the compressor hose to the air fitting you just hooked to the tapper hose.
- Dial the regulator to no more than 7 pounds.
- Turn on the compressor. It will turn off when it builds enough pressure.
- Sample the beer, and adjust the regulator until the beer flows smoothly.
Tips
- Use the shortest hose you can find for the air compressor to keep the hose from storing it's own pressure, which will cause the actual keg pressure to vary.
- Once the beer is flowing smoothly, do not let anyone touch the regulator.
- Air compressors pump plain air into the keg. You will need to drink the keg within 36 hours, or it will go stale (the same way it does with the hand pump).
Warnings
- Do not connect the air compressor to the keg if you don't have a regulator that can adjust the pressure to below 7 pounds per square inch. It will not explode, but, you will never get anything other than copious amounts of foam out of the keg.
Things You'll Need
- Full Keg of Beer
- Keg tap
- 1/2" hose clamp
- Air Compressor with regulator
