My BierMuncher bottler

Steven9026 · 02-01-2011, 12:10 PM

Many thanks for BierMuncher and his thread on how to build these. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/ I did a mod on mine to allow me to easily control the gas flow and the rate of the fill. I just place the rubber stopper in the bottle and instead of releasing the pressure by moving it, I place my finger over the filler needle and use that. The hole in the needle is almost small enough to get a good flow without even adding my finger.

kmat123 · 02-01-2011, 02:34 PM

Great idea!

**Old_E** · 02-02-2011, 08:39 PM

This is awesome. did you make a hole prior to pushing the needle through? if so, how?

Steven9026 · 02-03-2011, 12:14 PM

Old E , I drilled a small hole in the stopper first. It's still pretty hard to get it through there with the hole. I'm in the process of getting some needles with smaller ID. I think if you could get one with a small enough opening , it would be self regulating. Using my setup I can slow the flow enough that I can fill a bottle and only have a few bubbles of foam on the top. It works great for my bottling.

logdrum · 02-03-2011, 12:26 PM

I made one of these as well, but instead of drilling I used a red-hot sewing needle. Eventually I stopped using the "relief valve" & now simply slow fill. No issues thus far.

-d

**jakecpunut** · 02-03-2011, 12:50 PM

GREAT idea.. i have this setup and will be adding the needle to mine! Thanks!

Btw, do you all drop your pressure down to 5 psi like some do? I've been leaving mine at the 10 or 12 that it's at and just fill at that pressure..

**Old_E** · 02-03-2011, 12:59 PM

I thought about a small drill bit, but wasn't sure how well it would work on that rubber. I was about to ask what other kind of needles there were, but then I thought of turkey injector needles. ???

**Ace_Club** · 02-03-2011, 01:03 PM

Great idea! I haven't built mine yet, but will definitely be using this design!

Steven9026 · 02-03-2011, 01:11 PM

The drill bit was kinda hard to do.. It wanted to twist the rubber.. I thought about the heated method, but didn't have anything that I could heat at the time. The injector needle might work.. I'm trying to remember , but I think the one I have is larger than what I used. There is not a lot of room between the tube and outside of the stopper. If you can fit yours in there it will work. The smaller the hole the slower the flow, and ease of control. I'm getting some different sized medical needles.. These will be easy to use. Just stick them through the rubber, cut off the sharp point, and you are good to go..

**AnOldUR** · 02-03-2011, 01:14 PM

Been doing something similar with an upside-down carboy bung that has a hole drilled in it. Works by putting your thumb over the hole to slowly release the pressure and control the bottle fill rate. I've been thinking about using something like a soft rubber tube to capture the overflow beer in a container rather than letting it run down the side of the bottle. For now I just do the filling inside a bucket.