Using A Cpbf

[sean83]

Hi all,

Just recently purchased a cpbf and stand off Bribie, great bit of kit looks the goods and makes filling bottles a hell of a lot easier without having t grow a third arm. However I am having the same drama as when I used my old cpbf. I can get the bottle s filled and capped on foam, but when I craked them tonight they were flat as a tack, no carbonation what so ever. I know the kegs were carbed before hand, just not sure where I am going wrong. Hoping to rectify by the weekend as I am heading to BBQ and wouldn't mind taking a few bottles rather than a party keg, watching the waist line as it is. was hoping someone might steer me in the right direction. My process was:

Gas connected to T Splitter to keg and to Gas In Barb on CPBF
Beer Line connected to keg then connected to Beer In Barb on CPBF
Gas set at 10psi
Purge bottle with gas - 15 seconds or so
Turn Valve to let beer in to bottle
Fills very slowly
The grommet at the top would allow gas out as it was filling so never used the gas release valve on the side of the CPBF
Filled till foam over the top
Capped
Put in Fridge
Drank today - tipped them out all had lost all carbonation totally.

Hope that gives an idea - any help would be appreciated.

Sean

 

[sav]

What I do is use more than dispensing presure about 20psi.
Vent bottle with co2 to get oxygen out of the bottle through the valve. close releive valve to stable the pressure in the bottle there should be no leaks the bottle should be pressurised at this point.
Turn tap to beer at relase a tiny bit of c02 out of the releive valve you dont want to loose pressure in the bottle when bottle is full close vave again, you should be able to turn to gas again with nothing happening because it is at the same pressure.
Close of taps and cap straight away.

The idea is to fill under pressure and I think you lossed all carbonation. thats how the blicmann beer gun works NOT under pressure,So the beer isnt good for long time storage.

Thats why I bought the more beer cpbf.

sav

 

[tallie]

What I do is use more than dispensing presure about 20psi.
Vent bottle with co2 to get oxygen out of the bottle through the valve. close releive valve to stable the pressure in the bottle there should be no leaks the bottle should be pressurised at this point.
Turn tap to beer at relase a tiny bit of c02 out of the releive valve you dont want to loose pressure in the bottle when bottle is full close vave again, you should be able to turn to gas again with nothing happening because it is at the same pressure.
Close of taps and cap straight away.

The idea is to fill under pressure and I think you lossed all carbonation. thats how the blicmann beer gun works NOT under pressure,So the beer isnt good for long time storage.

Thats why I bought the more beer cpbf.

+1 (fill under pressure)

The rubber stopper that came with my filler was too loose, so I replaced it with a stopper that seals properly. I do get a bit of a drop in carbonation when using my cpbf, but I compensate by slightly over-carbing the keg and turning the keg fridge right down a day before bottling. I also chill glass bottles in the freezer before filling them.

I've never had a bottle that's had as much carbonation in it as a bottle-conditioned beer, but never had anything near to flat either.

Cheers,
tallie

 

[hoppinmad]

The grommet at the top would allow gas out as it was filling so never used the gas release valve on the side of the CPBF

...Filled till foam over the top
Sean

That is your problem.

You should have a perfect seal and should avoid foaming at all costs. Sort out your seal and your problem will be solved.

 

[Jazzafish]

Just confirming that there is no or little delay between filling and capping on foam?

I fill as directed HERE Some bottle shock/minimal carbonation loss. But never flat.

 

[sean83]

Thanks Guys,

Had a feeling it was my stopper and how it was letting too much gas out. Was thinking there shouldn't be any foam as that would be changing the pressure between the kegged beer and bottled beer. Will give it another go tonight and see where I am at.

So I should possibly over carbed the keg slightly before trying to bottle tonight? Or just have my gas pressure up around 20psi rather than 10?

Cheers Sean

 

[Bribie G]

A bit late for your BBQ maybe, but what I did was to overcarb the beer for a couple of days (up the pressure to around 80 KPa whatever that is in PSI, and on bottling day use that side release thingo (closed initially) and keep the bottle jammed up tight against the rubber so there's no gas coming out that way. Then when you gas the empty bottle you should feel the bottle go hard as a rock and want to blow out of the top, so keep it jammed up against the rubber stopper. Then open the beer side a touch and fill slowly, controlling with the side valve.
And remember not to swing the lever over to gas side while the dip tube is still in the bottle or you will get a beer shampoo :lol:

 

[Bribie G]

Sean, I'd been meaning to get back to this thread ...

Just to "recap" the purpose of the CPBF is not to gas up the beer, it's to allow already gassed beer to be transferred from the keg to a bottle in such a way that - as far as possible - it doesn't lose carbonation in the process and, once sealed, the bottle contains beer that, when served, is as fizzy as if you had just poured it from the keg.

So if you pre-prepare the keg by turning up the pressure for a couple of days before doing the transfer, then on CPBF day use that slightly higher pressure, you should end up with lively beer in the bottle. This is basically what the commercials do in their bottling lines.

cheers

 

[sean83]

Sean, I'd been meaning to get back to this thread ...

Just to "recap" the purpose of the CPBF is not to gas up the beer, it's to allow already gassed beer to be transferred from the keg to a bottle in such a way that - as far as possible - it doesn't lose carbonation in the process and, once sealed, the bottle contains beer that, when served, is as fizzy as if you had just poured it from the keg.

So if you pre-prepare the keg by turning up the pressure for a couple of days before doing the transfer, then on CPBF day use that slightly higher pressure, you should end up with lively beer in the bottle. This is basically what the commercials do in their bottling lines.

cheers

Hey Bribie,

Mate took your advice the other day and over carbed the keg for 24hrs. Worked a treat, also I moved away from using glass stubbies and went with some PET bottles. Still getting my head around plastic but it made life so much easier just screwing the lid on. I have put down an Amarillo Pale ale that I will bottle this weekend to fill up my glass bottles hopefully ready for a few by New Years. Then I will be filling a few PETs with the CPBF to have on hand for BBQ's or my tentative entry into competitions.

Sean

Mate I appreciate the sound advice and the follow up.

 

[Carboy]

This is how you use a CPBF, at least on the first attempt

 

[Nick JD]

The fill any bottle CPBF adaptation works like a freakin dream.

Got to double your system's "serving pressure" when you fill. Like the instructions say.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

This is how you use a CPBF, at least on the first attempt

Can't imagine the minister of war would have been happy with that one!!

 

[sean83]

Hey Nick,

Yeah i figured out that the pressure needs to be higher. That does look like a nice bit of kit, the stand I got off Bribie is a pearler and now that I have my head around it all a bit better I think it shall be right. Nice work on that set up though.

Sean

 

[Bribie G]

Carboy, I told you not to use that keg #2 - it's a bitch. You should have started with #1.

Jeez I dunno

 

[Paul H]

This is how you use a CPBF, at least on the first attempt

That's what it looks like when I do it..

Cheers

Paul