There is so much to learn, and we only have one lifetime in which to master it all. At my stage of the game, I’m picking my lessons. Some are more entertaining than others. Today’s learning-project involved beer kegs.
Luckily, I have some life-experts that I can count on for advice. I’ve learned the hard way that I’d rather not learn things the hard way. Ronnie let me know that I could disconnect a full keg without it exploding. That’s important knowledge.
When a keg ran out in the old days, someone would poke their head in the kitchen and call out that this keg or that keg had blown. I would dash into the walk-in refrigerator and start rocking kegs until I found an empty. Then, there is the little handle. Pop that up, then do the twist-on, twist-off thingy. Remove the valve from one and replace it on another with the same label.
And that was the extent of my knowledge. My partner kept track of that stuff. I had enough work to keep me busy in the kitchen.
These days, when the handle is pulled and beer doesn’t come streaming out of the spout, I’m the one who has to figure it out. I’ve learned that the CO2 container is important. When the needle points to the red area on the gauge, that’s not good. When a newly-filled container is attached to the line and still the beer isn’t pouring, that’s even worse.
I’ve always thought that – where beer is concerned – the frostier, the better. When I saw the thermometer at 29-degrees, I could not have been happier, knowing that the refrigerator was doing its job so well. The machine believes it’s a freezer. Turns out, when it gets too cold, beer freezes.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened.
The beer was so cold that it froze inside the small line leading to the spout. (It’s still difficult to get mad at anyone or anything for doing a job so well…) It was easy enough to open the door long enough for the line to thaw and then turn the thermostat a notch.
From the internet I learned that beer served from a keg ought to be chilled to 38-degrees. That’s still pretty frosty. Just not freezing-up-frosty.
So, that’s the lesson for today. None of the Boulevard Wheat went out at lunchtime. The line was frozen solid. But tomorrow is another day, and beer & corned beef on rye is a pretty good combination.
Or so I’m told.
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