I need to sort out the ‘time and motion’ aspect a little better. I set up the gun with a bit more line length than I really need but better too much than not enough.
I used a 4 litre oxebar keg to help me sanitise the beer line and purge the gas lines. That was fairly straightforward.
I used a demijohn as a resting place for the gun when I needed to set it aside.
I had a jam pan to hold my bottles as I filled them. The process was actually pretty clean but there’s always scope for a bit of spillage.
I set gas pressure to about 3psi, gave the bottles around 8 seconds gas (no idea if that’s enough or overkill) then filled with beer. The beer wasn’t totally flat as I used a spunding valve during fermentation. Consequently there was a little bit of foam. More than I’m used to, but bugger-all really.
Next time I might try bottling carbonated beer. I expect that might be more exciting. As an experience this was not really so different to bottling with a wand and spigot. Just more complicated with the hoses, and hand got a bit sore holding the trigger but that’s arthritis. Hopefully the CO2 injection into the bottle serves some beneficial purpose.
I’m planning to do a bottled Irish Extra Stout with 004. Haven’t used the yeast for decades and have almost forgotten what it’s like but thought I’d try it in a few small batches of various styles.
Irish Red is a style I think I’ve never attempted. I’ll probably do a Northern Brown, but now you’ve mentioned it I’m thinking about the IRA as a possibility.
