THis is a first for me. Not sure what the problem is at this point. I had a clean keg a week ago. I filled it with an English Brown and it’s been sitting for 4 days. I carbonate at 30F. So last night I opened the freezer and put a tap on the keg to take a sample and see how things were coming along. Nothing comes out. I grabbed another tap and tried it and still nothing. pressure was at 8 PSI. I cranked the pressure to 15 PSI and tried it. Still nothing. So I thought maybe there was some Star San left in the dip tube that maybe froze. I increased the temp to 36 degrees and let it sit overnight. This morning I went and tried again and still nothing. I cranked the pressure to 30 PSI. I know the in is working because I can clearly hear the CO2 going in. Tried again and still nothing comes out. WHat could be the issue here? Even if there is debris in the bottom of the keg, wouldn’t 30 PSI blow it out? So I guess i have to depressurize and remove the dip tube. What does this do to my process? If I remove the dip tube and find an obstruction, will I lose a lot of carbonation, how long should I expect to have to be on the pressure before it is ready again? Could this be a problem with the post? Anyone ever have this issue?
You may have frozen the dip tube
I wonder how accurate that 36F you set it at is…I’m also surprised that you haven’t frozen before at 30. You probably see where I’m going–despite the fact that you raised the temp, I still suspect freezing more than a clog.
One other thought…you sure you have the diptube in the correct side?
You shouldn’t lose much carb at all by opening up and checking things out, so IMO you should’t hesitate to do so. Just don’t agitate the beer or leave it unpressurized longer than necessary and you’ll be fine.
My first keg I had to clear the dip stick 3 times of clogged hops. I don’t feel that it hurt the beer at all. This beer had 3oz of dry hop to the secondary just got too much into the keg. I now us a muslin bag to help filter when kegging.
I have monitored the temp with both the temp controller as well as an RF thermometer in the freezer in the past and the controller is pretty accurate. The remote thermometer crapped out on me a few months ago so I don;t have it in there now, but regardless I raised the temp to 39. I am sure that I am above freezing now. I will try again when I get home. THis is a lower alcohol beer than I usually make so maybe the freezing temp is higher. I am hoping the dip tube is frozen. If it is not working tonight I will have to open it up. This is a beer where I poured the entire contents of the boil kettle into the fermenter. It’s very possible that I transferred some hop residue into the keg. But even at that I use hop pellets. They usually produce rather fine debris which I would think would pass right through the dip tube.
I also used hop pellets.
It’s really not a big deal to open it up and have a look as long as you maintain sanitation. I usually dry hop while carbing and sometimes even go in and add gelatin after carb.
I really wonder if maybe you mixed up your diptubes. I know I’ve come really close to putting the short tube on the liquid out side but caught it in time, but maybe I’m just dumb 
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Even if I mixed up the tubes I would expect something to come out. I would expect that when I tried to dispense I would get a flow of CO2. But I get nothing at all.
Yeah, true. See, I am dumb! 
Switch your posts and blow co2 through the dip tube. Ice or hops that will clear it
One thing to remember is that if you froze it solid and only raised the temp to 36° it is going to take awhile to thaw.
Crazy, but did you actually pressurize yer keg or perhaps not open the valve to allow gas to fill the keg? Even with a modest amount of alcohol, beer doesn’t freeze that hard at 30* in a few days…. Yes, do remove the tubes and see whats up… Maybe have to siphon off some tub off the bottom and reinsert yer tubes and try again… The gas tube is typically only 3/4" long…. Sneezles61
Seems like blowing CO2 in the liquld side would stir up all the sediment that’s settled. Maybe that needs to happen anyway if it’s a clog, but I don’t know that that’d be my first choice. Just my opinion though…
Took out the dip tube last night. It was heavy. Ran warm water over it and a long, cylindrical ice plug slid out! Awesome. It was clear just like Star San. I re sanitized it and put it all back together and all works well.
Why are you carbonating at 30deg anyway?
Cold temperatures allow for easier absorption of CO2. And also it my in the keg cold crash. THought it would help in clarification of the beer. Thoughts? I am not an expert so if I am off course in my thinking then let me know.
I cold crash in the fermenter so as not to transfer sludge to the keg. I carbonate at serving temp generally. It’s plenty cold for co2 absorption and I prefer set and forget.
Colder temps also mean you have more carbonation for the same pressure once it’s fully carbed…but then if you raise it back up to serving temp after carbing, that will tend to cancel out the time saved and also lead to carb level being in flux for a certain amount of time (I think).
Seems like more trouble than it’s worth to me, but to each his own
Funny thing… Me and my buddy planned a party this Sunday for the games. He called me late last night all frantic… His kegs are only pouring foam… And beer is backed up into the CO2 lines… WTF… I’m canceling the party!!!
After I got him to breath a little I asked him to tap the sides of the keg and see if it thuds or pings. It made a thud sound… Told him his kegs were frozen. Turns out one was a little over carbed so he turned the gas off thus the beer backing up as it expanded during freezing. Then he about went out today and bought new CO2 lines. I explained that he could soak them in PBW and sanitize them.
Looks like he’s lucky to have me as much of this place! 
Sneezles61
