Tap , Cap And Go.

[flano]

OK ....this is what I did
So I had no bottled beer at home and was getting picked up to go to a BBQ in 30 mins .
Have heaps of beer on tap and heaps of clean empty stubbies .

I just filled them straight from the tap and then capped them and put them in the esky.

To be honest I couldn't see any difference to normal bottled beer.

I drank them all ( with help ) in one session.

Anyone know what beers bottled like this would be like a week later...or any info re bottle bombs doing this way.

It worked out great for an emergency .

 

[Maple]

I too have done this recently - tis the season afterall. The only downside is that the carbonation drops slightly from the tap, but aside from that, it's my new way of bottling. Haven't left for any amount of time, so really can't comment as to the longevity of this, but hey, that's what the keg is for, right?

 

[bignath]

OK ....this is what I did
So I had no bottled beer at home and was getting picked up to go to a BBQ in 30 mins .
Have heaps of beer on tap and heaps of clean empty stubbies .

I just filled them straight from the tap and then capped them and put them in the esky.

To be honest I couldn't see any difference to normal bottled beer.

I drank them all ( with help ) in one session.

Anyone know what beers bottled like this would be like a week later...or any info re bottle bombs doing this way.

It worked out great for an emergency .

I did this exact same thing so i could take beer to band rehearsal...Worked a treat.

They were consumed within a few hours though, so i don't have an opinion on bottle bombs. I'm not sure that it would be a problem though.

 

[flano]

sweet.

I am going to do a few experiments.

Bottle a few this way and see how they are a week or two later.

when I was opening them they were making the piissssttt sound .

 

[fraser_john]

I have sterilised the bottles, chucked them in the freezer with foil caps, attached a 6" piece of hose to the tap and then filled into the frozen bottle, helps prevent so much foaming.

I opened a bottle done like this 8 weeks later and it was still pretty good.

 

[DJR]

They can get oxidised and flat after a while, if using them within a couple of days all is OK.

You can get Counter Pressure Bottle Fillers that will get the right amount of pressure into the bottle and reduce the oxidation...

Helps if the bottles are cold too (even frozen)

 

[Pollux]

If I do this to take a couple of beers somewhere I tend to get my bronco tap out, turn the pressure right down on the reg, release all pressure from the keg and then while holding the bronco open in the bottle VERY SLOWLY turn the reg back up until the beer is just being pushed down the line and into the bottle. Seems to hold it's carb that way.

Can't comment on long term storage however...

 

[chadjaja]

I have tubing that fits into my tap and I bottle like that. I've slightly overcarbed beers I wanted to bottle like this and sampled some that were nearly 2 months old and they haven't changed a bit. For bbq's its a quick rinse and starsan, for long term its the usual soak in S/perc and then sanitised.

Can't see why you would get bombs or the carb change too much if at all once they are capped.

 

[Fourstar]

If I do this to take a couple of beers somewhere I tend to get my bronco tap out, turn the pressure right down on the reg, release all pressure from the keg and then while holding the bronco open in the bottle VERY SLOWLY turn the reg back up until the beer is just being pushed down the line and into the bottle. Seems to hold it's carb that way.

Can't comment on long term storage however...

Exactly my process. Except if i am bulk filling for long term storage, i will overcarb the keg slightly to compensate for the loss of CO2. As for long term storage, i have had better results with this than priming bottles with sugar to be honest.

One thing i do is also purge the bottles with CO2 and rouse the beer so i cap on foam, trying to reduce the O2 in the headspace as much as possible. My future comp entries will also be exclusivly in PET and will be squeezed free of air and then sealed to let the dissolved CO2 fill the headspace as it warms.

 

[Brewlord]

I brewed a few batches with some mates over at U-Brew-it at Hume in Canberra. Their process for bottling is exactly as you have done. Straight off the tap and into the bottles. They recommend consuming them within a set period (cant remember how much exactly but it was a pretty short time after bottling as in 'a number of days') but I had some in my fridge for at least six months and they still fizzed nicely and tasted great. The tip I guess was keeping them cool from the time of bottling. Seemed to work OK.

 

[jwsparkes]

Murray's brewery sells tap beer in growlers this way.

It's just up the road from work. I've brought a few growlers and take them in every now and then for a fill up of my choice. More common I get the Nirvana Pale ale and the Punch N' Judy or Whale Ale.

Murrays' say that it's good for 7 days unopened and best consumed within 24 hours of opening. Its great, and they never last long after opening.

 

[chadjaja]

My guess is that they are concerned about the health of their beer lines and taps more than the beer in the bottle 'going off'.

 

[Snow]

The tap to bottle method can definitely be risky over the long-term. I have entered beers in comps, filling the bottles this way. Some have won, others have bombed, due to infection or oxidation. Too hit and miss for comps, but definitely good for taking a few bottles to a BBQ. The problem is your taps (and beer lines for that matter) aren't sanitised. I guess if you could have a dedicated beer line that was removeable and could be flushed with sanitiser before use, and you had a CO2 line to purge the bottles first, and you used a carbonation cap afterwards, then you might have better results long term.

Cheers - Snow.

 

[chadjaja]

Yeah I always flush some sanitiser thru the line if I intend the bottles to last a while.

 

[thylacine]

Off your topic somewhat but it reminded me of a recent Vietnam holiday "fresh beer" experience.

"...Bia Hoi, or "fresh beer", is Vietnam's version of a micro brew. This refreshing, light-bodied Pilsner was first introduced in Vietnam by the Czechs. Decades later Bia Hoi is still brewed and delivered daily to drinking establishments throughout Saigon and Hanoi. Brewed without preservatives, it is meant to be enjoyed immediately - and enjoyed it is! But don't expect to find Bia Hoi in the more fashionable haunts, such as Apocalypse Now or Saigon Saigon. Most tourists and expats have never heard of it. (too bad!) Saigon yuppies are loathe to admit imbibing. (although many do!) Bia Hoi then is the drink of the masses - the working man's refreshment. "...

http://www.vietnamadventures.com/this_month/current.html


Still frequently found for 2 000 dong (15 cents)

 

[flano]

Off your topic somewhat but it reminded me of a recent Vietnam holiday "fresh beer" experience.

"...Bia Hoi, or "fresh beer", is Vietnam's version of a micro brew. This refreshing, light-bodied Pilsner was first introduced in Vietnam by the Czechs. Decades later Bia Hoi is still brewed and delivered daily to drinking establishments throughout Saigon and Hanoi. Brewed without preservatives, it is meant to be enjoyed immediately - and enjoyed it is! But don't expect to find Bia Hoi in the more fashionable haunts, such as Apocalypse Now or Saigon Saigon. Most tourists and expats have never heard of it. (too bad!) Saigon yuppies are loathe to admit imbibing. (although many do!) Bia Hoi then is the drink of the masses - the working man's refreshment. "...

http://www.vietnamadventures.com/this_month/current.html


Still frequently found for 2 000 dong (15 cents)

I road a pushbike from Hanoi all the way down to Saigon ....had plenty of these beers along the way.

 

[craigev]

I read a lot about all these cheap and cheerful bottling techniques recently and followed some advice and tried out the keg - dedicated beer line - picnic tap - more beer line with stopper on.

Worked fine, but I had a lot of sanitisation work for this stuff that only gets used for rare bottling occasions.

Then it occured to me - why not just (as someone here also said) just jam the same tubing into my kegerator tap. Leave the stopper on and its vertually the same. dont even have to turn the pressure down. Now if I was to sanitize my dedicated lines and tap - why not instead just clean and sanitize my permanent beer line and tap instead !

Another possible benefit is that - because the filling line is fixed to the fridge tap - you can just unplug your bottle after filling and cap immediately - retaining more co2 in the bottle. Ie you dont have to worry about the lines and tap flapping around and spilling beer anywhere. Also since the fridge door stays closed, the beer doesnt froth as much.