Redhook employee killed by exploding keg

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kjball
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Redhook employee killed by exploding keg

Post by kjball »

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/ ... -120429891


Be careful when cleaning and pressurizing kegs.
Bad people drink bad beer. You don't usually see an empty bottle of Rochefort tossed onto the side of the road
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JimPotts
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Redhook employee killed by exploding keg

Post by JimPotts »

Holy crap!!  I wonder what pressure the keg was taken to.

Regardless, it's a very good point: pressurized vessels can be quite dangerous.  If you've ever seen footage of a 2-liter bottle taken to the exploding point, it's quite impressive.  The force (and shrapnel) from a keg must be terrible.

On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 8:09 PM, kjball <brew-news@crbeernuts.org (brew-news@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120424-NEWS-120429891


Be careful when cleaning and pressurizing kegs.


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brownbeard
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Post by brownbeard »

That guy is no Kurt Russel Harrison Ford.
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quinton
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Post by quinton »

A lot of those semi-auto keg cleaners use compressed air, and not CO2, to push old beer and chemicals out. If the operator doesn't provide an outlet for old beer or chemicals (ie: forgets to open the dump valve), that Sankey keg pressure can go way up. Then it becomes a bomb if the line doesn't blow. When I cleaned kegs on a 3 station semi-auto, I was always within feet of the thing scrubbing and cleaning gross kegs. Always opened the dump valve first. Not saying this it what happened, but the possibility was something that always scared the shit out of me.

I would think Redhook would be more automated than my old brewery.

Gives me the shivers. What a horrible accident.

Corny kegs can handle a lot more pressure than a Sankey. And not many of us are purging with compressed air, I imagine.

But always good to have your wits about you when you are multi-tasking.
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Steven P
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Post by Steven P »

Per the below this was a plastic keg. The guy had a baby on the way too so it's a double tragedy.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/ ... -120429786
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kurtford
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Post by kurtford »

It's all about the duck and weave Tim, and how fast you can run helps too!
Beer! It's not just for breakfast anymore!
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