Can you bottle beer from the keg?

I want to keg my next batch of beer, but also want to give out around 12 bottles to friends. Once carbonated and ready to drink, can I put the kegged beer into bottles and cap them? If so, how long will it stay good in the bottle?

You can, but not by pouring into a bottle the way you'd serve a glass.

Google "we no need no stinking beer gun" for a pretty good write up on a cheap version of a beer gun.

Hello, Yes you can, I do it all the time, I use 3/8" tubing about 8" long and jam it up into the tap, chill bottles in the freezer for about 5 min, disconnect keg, purge keg, lower co2 psi to around 2 psi, hook up keg and fill bottles making sure the tubing is in the bottom of the bottle, and cap them.

Of corse I sanitize everything first.

This method works great, Also works on filling growers too.

If you are careful the beer will still be carbed nicely in the bottles, beers bottled this way seem to last as long as you want to keep them, I have some that are 4 months old and no problems yet.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

I'm assumming when you say "disconnect keg", that you mean disconnect the CO2 "in" from the keg correct? No need to diconnect the "out"?

I have the benefit of working in the CEMS industry and have access to some awesome 3/8" PFA tubing. Way better than standard beer hose because it's incredibly stiff and can hold a shape, but is still bendable unlike racking cane plastic. I cut mine into about 12-16" sections and cut an angle at one end. I jam the straight cut end into my cobra tap and slip a #2 bung over the tube and then the angle notched side goes down into any 12 or 22oz bottle and I fill 'er up, taking care to "burp" off excess CO2 with the bung. My bottles last FOREVER and it also works great with growlers if you have the right size bung.

When I first started kegging, I built a Blichmann Beergun clone out of spare SS swagelok fittings lying around our shop. It's a serious looking beergun and has two thumb valves going to a T which feeds across a needle valve (CO2 bleedoff) and down into a 1' section of SS tubing. I used it a couple times and it produces the same results as my buddy's beergun, but the PFA tubing method works just as well and I can bottle up a six-pack in under 3 minutes on my way out the door to a friend's house. Needless to say, the $150 or so of swagelok fittings are just a fancy shiny paperweight in my brewbox now.

EDIT: We just cleaned up our shop (Company President is coming for a visit) and now I have a whole mess of 3/8" PFA scrap pieces that are just begging to be made into ghetto beerguns. People can PM me if they want some. Just provide your own #2 bung and cobra tap and you're all set.

jrc64 said:

I'm assumming when you say "disconnect keg", that you mean disconnect the CO2 "in" from the keg correct? No need to diconnect the "out"?

Click to expand...

Yes you got it.

Cheers