Perlick tap growler fillers

[pilgrimspiss]

Hey Matty,
How does the pressure relief/ purge work and where did you get it from?
Cheers
Steve

Hi Steve,

Its a distillers needle valve, purchased from my local brewing store. About $20.

This is how my filler works:

Set Co2 reg to 10 psi.
One side of filler is connected to beer out on keg, other side is C02 feed, 'T' to the beer keg and up to the filler.
With the needle valve closed, open the gas valve, crack the needle valve for 5 secs and purge all the oxygen with C02. Shut the gas valve.
Bottle is purged and pressurized to 10 psi.
Open the beer tap.
Crack the needle valve to release C02 and which point beer will start filling the bottle. Quicker you open the needle valve quicker the bottle fills.
Once its full, I shut the needle valve, shut the beer valve and give it another short blast of C02.
Rip out the filler and cap.

You can use a normal ball valve instead of the needle valve. Needle valve is just finer control. Like this bloke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orpfub1Q-AI

Cheers
Matty.

 

[BlueMutt]

Cheers Matty,
Easy as.

 

[dannymars]

No good for crown seals though which is what I use.
I'll look at a CPBF.

Couldn't you push a hose onto the barb, then thread the hose through a bung all the way up to the top of the barb to fill a crown-sealed bottle?

I've used this cap for filling PET bottles for parties etc, works super easily, no foam and no loss of carbonation. I reckon you'd just need a bung for the glass bottles.

 

[leighaus]

i have both CPBF caps (thanks to YOB!) and a perlick growler filler for my 650ss (from the USA)...

Caps are so much better, but you obviously have to keep the cap on... SO good for storage, but not so good for taking to a party etc...

The perlick filler is better than just pouring into a bottle of course, but you still get a bit of foam, so your fills are never massive.

CPBF is a must if its for storage. Purely because you can purge out the o2 and maintain strong seal.

 

[buckerooni]

Good to know the caps are better, I think I'll expand my CPBFs instead of investing into the growler/filler solution, even though they look great. Primarily it's for parties so the ghetto 2.25L PETs are good for a 1-way option.

CPBF is a great tool, wish I had bought at 3-6 so I have different length tubes for better filling (touching the bottom of the bottle) - 750ml, 1.25L, 2.25L etc and you need some time for the fill to settle before removing. Sure, I could swap tube lengths off the barb every time but it's a PITA.

 

[thuperman]

The perlick filler is better than just pouring into a bottle of course, but you still get a bit of foam, so your fills are never massive.

CPBF is a must if its for storage. Purely because you can purge out the o2 and maintain strong seal.

I wonder if you can somehow purge the bottle with CO2 (stick your finger in the gas disconnect or poke it with the end of a bottle filler and hope that the CO2 sinks to the bottom of the bottle), fill the bottle with the growler filler on a slow flow, then purge the headspace again like before? I know the plan has holes, but is it better than not trying to purge at all?

Either that or just use the foam as an advantage and cap on the foam to fill the headspace?

 

[GalBrew]

The Blichmann beer gun works just fine if you use it the way it was intended.

 

[thuperman]

The Blichmann beer gun works just fine if you use it the way it was intended.

I'm in the process of buying the KK version, but I need to bottle a couple of beers tonight for a brew meetup on Saturday. Trying to work out the best way with just a tube from my Perlick flow control taps.

 

[GalBrew]

I'm in the process of buying the KK version, but I need to bottle a couple of beers tonight for a brew meetup on Saturday. Trying to work out the best way with just a tube from my Perlick flow control taps.

Make sure your bottles are nice and cold. The colder they are the less carbonation you will lose at bottling.

 

[thuperman]

Cheers. I put the empty bottles in the fridge last night. Also upped the pressure in the kegs to get a bit of extra carbonation.

 

[buckerooni]

I've been battling with this and almost bought one of those guns but as I do small runs (1-5 bottles) for parties/presents the setup time didn't seem worth it. The simplest/fastest/cheapest ghetto-style way I've found that works for PETs and crown seals:

- jam a bit of plastic pipe under the tap on my kegerator that is cut at 45deg at the 'bottle' end
- attach KK carb cap to gas outlet and pump a little C02 in the bottle (might skip this step if I'm in a real hurry)
- fill bottle from tap
- squirt a bit more C02 in there, cap/screw

If I'm filling a 2L PET bottle I might use the carb cap again to put a bit more C02 in there.

Less setup, little mess, less cleanup and minimal changing of equipment.

I always have my kegs gassed pretty low, so flow rate doesn't cause any issues.

 

[thuperman]

Squeezed a hose over the tap last night and filled a couple of cold bottles with the flow control down really low. Minimal foaming. Will see how it tastes on Saturday.

 

[dannymars]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCrfp8ha9Dw

 

[thuperman]

Squeezed a hose over the tap last night and filled a couple of cold bottles with the flow control down really low. Minimal foaming. Will see how it tastes on Saturday.

Tasted OK but had lost the carbonation :unsure: