Bottling from Keg

[UsernameTaken]

I am interested in the best way to bottle from the keg and maintain carbonation.

I have a counter pressure PET bottle filler thing from keg king and it's great if you leave it on the bottle until you want to drink it. But that is not practical for a dozen or so!

So I am wondering what the beer gun does differently between filling and screwing the lid on and if it has any advantage?

Cheers,
UNT

 

[Mr_Brewer]

maybe look at this one mite help
http://kegking.com.au/bottles-and-bottling-equipment/bottle-filler-beer-gun.html
and maybe you tube on how to use it

 

[UsernameTaken]

So is that little squirt of gas at the end producing better carbonation in the bottle then the counter pressure filler?

 

[tugger]

I have found that you need to aim higher in your keg to get what you want in the bottle.
If you want 5.4g/l in the bottle you need 6.0g/l in the keg.

 

[Ben1]

If after you fill with the carbonation cap you place in the fridge for a couple of hours, the carbonation goes back into the liquid. You can then quickly change to a lid without too much loss before heading out.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

I bought one of these last year (link below) and it works quite well. A bit messy though. Takes me about 45min to set up and fill a dozen bottles. Longest part is sanitising all the bits before and after... had to buy a gas splitter and extra hose.

http://www.brewmart.com.au/brewmart...74&SZIDX=0&CCODE=160150&QOH=9&CATID=371&CLN=2

 

[AJS2154]

I use one of these mate. Works very well.

http://kegking.com.au/counter-pressure-bottle-filler.html

I like using these. I force carb the finished beer in a corny keg. I then store the keg in a cool dry place until I am ready to bottle and drink it. You can store probably 4 cornies in the space of say 1 bottled batch of beer. It also cuts down on how many bottles you need to have in storage. Drink one or maybe 2 batches out and then refill the bottles. Can't be much easier than that.

I use Grolsch 450mm bottles, but it works equally as well on the 750mm size flip tops too.

See you, Anthony

 

[good4whatAlesU]

^ great minds think alike

 

[AJS2154]

ooops. looks like similar but slightly different perspectives with respect time / ease of use. We must have been writing at the same time, and you beat me to it, good4!

I don't bottle a dozen bottles. I do 2 full cornies at the same time. I couldn't be bothered messing around.

BTW, I push starsan through the bottler by putting it in a 9L keg then just pushing it through with some C02. Pretty quick. I also used these quick connects for both beer and gas lines. They speed up the process too.

http://kegking.com.au/push-in-8mm-x-ffl-fitting-to-suit-mfl-disconnect.html

Looks like I am an agent for Keg King.....just a happy user.

See you, Anthony

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Thats the go, I must start doing that too as the sanitation regime for filling my dozen bottles is a pain in the you know what.

Normally I drink half the keg and then bottle a dozen to keep for later. The ageing helps smooth out my bad brewing techniques!

 

[UsernameTaken]

I was talking about these things;

http://kegking.com.au/keg-couplers-...ine-cleaning-cap-counter-pressure-filler.html

Versus the gun style?

Does the gun maintain better carbonation?

 

[Grott]

As I see it the bottle gun at 74 bucks is just a transfer unit with a trigger. Wouldn't a picnic tap setup with a tube on the nozzle to go in the bottle work the same? And has the trigger.

 

[AJS2154]

If only aging smoothed out my bad techniques, good4.......aging seems to amplify them.

I agree with you though mate. When I have beer in a keg for maybe 3 or 4 months it always seems better.

 

[AJS2154]

As I see it the bottle gun at 74 bucks is just a transfer unit with a trigger. Wouldn't a picnic tap setup with a tube on the nozzle to go in the bottle work the same? And has the trigger.

No, not in my experience. You need to keep the beer you are putting into the bottle at the same pressure as it is in the keg. That way the C02 stays disolved and doesn't froth up and then create flat beer. The idea is to pressurise the bottle first, then keep the pressure within the bottle to stay constant as the beer flows in.

Beer bottled with the counter pressure filler is always at the correct carb level. I do find it works best if the keg is a little over-carbed though. It tends to create a better level of ccarb in the bottle. Maybe say 2 PSI or thereabouts.

See you, Anthony

 

[Lionman]

I was talking about these things;

http://kegking.com.au/keg-couplers-...ine-cleaning-cap-counter-pressure-filler.html

Versus the gun style?

Does the gun maintain better carbonation?

I use one of these. They work ok with the coopers PET bottles.

The other one linked can be used for glass bottles too.

As I see it the bottle gun at 74 bucks is just a transfer unit with a trigger. Wouldn't a picnic tap setup with a tube on the nozzle to go in the bottle work the same? And has the trigger.

You could probably do this, but the hose from the picnic tap to the bottle would need to pass through a rubber bung that could be pushed onto the bottle?

 

[Danscraftbeer]

I am interested in the best way to bottle from the keg and maintain carbonation.

I have a counter pressure PET bottle filler thing from keg king and it's great if you leave it on the bottle until you want to drink it. But that is not practical for a dozen or so!

So I am wondering what the beer gun does differently between filling and screwing the lid on and if it has any advantage?

Cheers,
UNT

I use a jumper lead from beer out to (carb cap with dip tube to the bottom of the bottle) As tugger mentioned in the #4th post.
Good to get your beer as cold as possible at the higher side of carbonation. So any loss will be close to what its supposed to be. I have done this with bottles and kept refrigerated for months and put in competition. There was no judgment of under carbonation.
Now I just do the same without worrying about carbing the keg higher but with well conditioned beer. The colder the better for transfer. You do lose a little carbonation so count that in.
You just unscrew the carb cap a little to (hiss) release pressure and see it fill. Let the froth out the seal until the you see the froth change when its liquid. Tighten carb cap, then quickly replace with PET cap. Deja vu I think I said this in another thread the other day.