We no need no stinking beer gun...

Ive got a question that probably has been answered somewhere.

If you have 12 psi in 44 degree keg sitting in a fridge and you decided you wanted to bottle it a few. I use this method and fill your bottle up why is it my bottles are always flat. I have yet to get one that ends up with the nice sound of a carb bottle? What could I be doing wrong that causes his?

Dudes. So I've used this technique with unbelievable success. Filling growlers and sixers for that night out with friends. But I don't find it particularly sanitary, what with the grimy picnic tap and all. Do you guys ever use this technique for long-term storage? I'd like to do this for competitions so the beers are nice and bright, but I don't trust the tap and lines to keep the beer fresh for the interim between entry deadlines and the competition.

Tips? Tricks?

Aunt_Ester said:

Dudes. So I've used this technique with unbelievable success. Filling growlers and sixers for that night out with friends. But I don't find it particularly sanitary, what with the grimy picnic tap and all. Do you guys ever use this technique for long-term storage? I'd like to do this for competitions so the beers are nice and bright, but I don't trust the tap and lines to keep the beer fresh for the interim between entry deadlines and the competition.

Tips? Tricks?

Click to expand...

If you are concerned, why not just use a clean and freshly sanitized picnic tap? They break down for cleaning easily.

However, in my experience, I have kept bottles for 2+ months without issue. Beer tasted the same from the bottle as the beer side by side from the keg.

eluterio said:

Ive got a question that probably has been answered somewhere.
If you have 12 psi in 44 degree keg sitting in a fridge and you decided you wanted to bottle it a few. I use this method and fill your bottle up why is it my bottles are always flat. I have yet to get one that ends up with the nice sound of a carb bottle? What could I be doing wrong that causes his?

Click to expand...

Keep in mind that you lose a fraction of carbonation during bottling in between the time you pull the trigger and actually seal the cap on.
Make sure you're filling one bottle then capping it immediately, don't fill several bottles then cap like some people do. (This will also help with carbonation consistency.)
Also, 12psi @ 44F results in 2.3 volumes, which, depending on beer style, could be a little flat to begin with. I carb to about 3 volumes (20psi @ 44F) minimum for all beers, and up to 3.5 for some.

JasontheBeaver said:

Keep in mind that you lose a fraction of carbonation during bottling in between the time you pull the trigger and actually seal the cap on.
Make sure you're filling one bottle then capping it immediately, don't fill several bottles then cap like some people do. (This will also help with carbonation consistency.)
Also, 12psi @ 44F results in 2.3 volumes, which, depending on beer style, could be a little flat to begin with. I carb to about 3 volumes (20psi @ 44F) minimum for all beers, and up to 3.5 for some.

Click to expand...

I have an issue with having it that high i usually get nothing but foam. I have a 2 tap tower that it appears dont have an adjustable tap. Cpuld this be my problem?

Also thanks for the info

eluterio said:

I have an issue with having it that high i usually get nothing but foam. I have a 2 tap tower that it appears dont have an adjustable tap. Cpuld this be my problem?
Also thanks for the info

Click to expand...

Have you addressed your beer line length and size? Longer lengths and smaller diameters will increase resistance and slow the flow of beer, preserving carbonation. Or you can insert epoxy mixers into your keg's out tube.
Search around for threads that address these issues.
I had to do the same thing before I got it all right.
Good luck!

JasontheBeaver said:

Have you addressed your beer line length and size? Longer lengths and smaller diameters will increase resistance and slow the flow of beer, preserving carbonation. Or you can insert epoxy mixers into your keg's out tube.
Search around for threads that address these issues.
I had to do the same thing before I got it all right.
Good luck!

Click to expand...

8 foot line for beer gun 5 for tap. I might just have to increase it to about 7. Damn more research gpt to love home brewing.

Try this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/cure-your-short-hose-troubles-100151/

works for me

Aunt_Ester said:

Dudes. So I've used this technique with unbelievable success. Filling growlers and sixers for that night out with friends. But I don't find it particularly sanitary, what with the grimy picnic tap and all. Do you guys ever use this technique for long-term storage? I'd like to do this for competitions so the beers are nice and bright, but I don't trust the tap and lines to keep the beer fresh for the interim between entry deadlines and the competition.

Tips? Tricks?

Click to expand...

I have very old bottles done with this method. The CO2 and alcohol keep most things at bay.

Aunt_Ester said:

But I don't find it particularly sanitary, what with the grimy picnic tap and all. Do you guys ever use this technique for long-term storage? I'd like to do this for competitions so the beers are nice and bright, but I don't trust the tap and lines to keep the beer fresh for the interim between entry deadlines and the competition. Tips? Tricks?

Click to expand...

Why are you using a "grimy picnic tap"???

I was hoping to bring some bottles with me when I travel for the 4th so I put together BM's beergun exactly as described. I have 10 feet of 3/16ID beer line feeding into a picnic tap. I filled 24 bottles on Sunday night but when I opened a test bottle last night there was a very faint whisp of CO2 and the bottle had lost a lot of carbonation. While it wasn't flat or oxidized, it had lost enough carbonation for me not to want to share it. I'm hoping someone can help me troubleshoot what happened before I try this again.

I can think of 2 potential issues:
1) My #2 drilled stopper, which fit perfectly into the bottle neck, had a small gap between the drilled hole and the racking cane, so I had trouble getting a good seal. I could get intermittent pressure but not enough consistently to slow and control the flow. I had turned down my gas though, so it wasn't a particularly vigorous pour even without the counterpressure. Could this be enough to mess up the process? Has anyone else had this problem?
2) I may have shaken the bottle too vigorously before capping. I held a bottle cap on with my thumb and turned each bottle upside down. They foamed as desired, but potentially more than is desirable: most foamed up and overflowed, and I capped while they did so.


Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

wlssox524 said:

I was hoping to bring some bottles with me when I travel for the 4th so I put together BM's beergun exactly as described. I have 10 feet of 3/16ID beer line feeding into a picnic tap. I filled 24 bottles on Sunday night but when I opened a test bottle last night there was a very faint whisp of CO2 and the bottle had lost a lot of carbonation. While it wasn't flat or oxidized, it had lost enough carbonation for me not to want to share it. I'm hoping someone can help me troubleshoot what happened before I try this again.

I can think of 2 potential issues:
1) My #2 drilled stopper, which fit perfectly into the bottle neck, had a small gap between the drilled hole and the racking cane, so I had trouble getting a good seal. I could get intermittent pressure but not enough consistently to slow and control the flow. I had turned down my gas though, so it wasn't a particularly vigorous pour even without the counterpressure. Could this be enough to mess up the process? Has anyone else had this problem?
2) I may have shaken the bottle too vigorously before capping. I held a bottle cap on with my thumb and turned each bottle upside down. They foamed as desired, but potentially more than is desirable: most foamed up and overflowed, and I capped while they did so.
Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

Click to expand...

1)I always make sure my beer is a tad overcarbed because you will always lose a little in the bottling process.
2) Your reason #2 added to your problem for sure.
3) Cap each one as you go, don't fill a bunch then go back and cap.
4) Chilling the bottles will help keep down the foam, but don't freeze them to the point of getting frost on the inside surface, this creates nucleation sites.
5) I don't think your loose fitting stopper contributed to your problem. I use no stopper at all.

Good luck!

wlssox524 said:

I was hoping to bring some bottles with me when I travel for the 4th so I put together BM's beergun exactly as described.

Click to expand...

wlssox524 said:

I can think of 2 potential issues:
1) My #2 drilled stopper, which fit perfectly into the bottle neck, had a small gap between the drilled hole and the racking cane, so I had trouble getting a good seal. I could get intermittent pressure but not enough consistently to slow and control the flow. I had turned down my gas though, so it wasn't a particularly vigorous pour even without the counterpressure. Could this be enough to mess up the process? Has anyone else had this problem?
2) I may have shaken the bottle too vigorously before capping. I held a bottle cap on with my thumb and turned each bottle upside down. They foamed as desired, but potentially more than is desirable: most foamed up and overflowed, and I capped while they did so.


Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

Click to expand...

I read every page up to ~90 before I tried it the first time (next 10pages came durring my adventure) and still had issues the first 3 times I bottled. I had bad foaming issues during bottling and low carb issues after. Finally the 3rd time was acceptable and the 4th and 5th worked well ***(close to well, ill explain later) with low foaming and good carb. it is somewhat of an art form. I will do my best to describe some of the small things I have noticed.

I have ~10feet of line 3/16ID into a picnic tap with an angle cut racking cane inserted with a stopper on it. I believe that the keg pressure, picnic tap, and starsan in the bottle is the largest contributors to foam and have a few techniques to limit this


#1 Temp--I have found that I dont need cold bottles just not hot. ~30deg difference is fine so far. keg is ~35deg and bottles ~70deg


#2 Keg PSI--I have found that if I am between 5-10 psi on the keg it will go ok. My very best experience so far was not fast force carbing the keg. So instead of doing the 25psi keg shake and then fighting to get it to be carbed correct. I just let the keg get to fridge temp overnight, plugged in at ~12psi for one week then dropped the regulator to just under 10psi aprox 8. I then Very gently vented of the keg to the regulator set point of ~8. Let it set for 10min. then began filling bottles.

#3 Fill—counter pressure is key for me. I put the stopper in the bottle, thumb on top of stopper to prevent it from popping out, push the stem to the bottom of the bottle and flip the tap wide open. It will fill ~1/4 with liquid and some foam on top of that. Then it will stop filling due to having equal pressure in the bottle and keg. If the foam is very low I will then start burping the bottle to allow flow to resume. If the foam is high I will let it sit with the tap open and thumb on stopper to allow the counter pressure to dissipate the foam. If it is excessive I will kill that bottle (drink it) and evaluate the system. Once you have the foam under control and are burping the bottle I start slowing down the burping as I get closer and closer to the top until I am slowly releasing the small amount of foam that was on top of the beer and I shut the tap off as the beer get near the stopper. At this point the foam is near gone, and the liquid is at the bottom of the stopper and I have the tap off. Now as I remove the stem from the bottle I partially press the tap lever to fill the space in the neck of the bottle that was full due to the stem being in the bottle. I do this as I remove the stem. It will create a bit of foam that will fill the last inch to half inch of space. I then cap immediately. Then move on to the next bottle quickly and repeat.

*** from the first paragraph--- My brew partner and I bottle together. It’s a small assembly line with the two of us. This is important to note because he has low carb issues even with our most recent bottling, I don’t. the only difference that I am aware of is I place mine directly into the fridge and maintain temp ~34deg from keg to bottle and after. He does not. His sit at room temp after bottling until he wants to drink it and then places a few bottles in the fridge. I hope someone here can disprove this issue with fine carb from bottles that have sat at room temp prior to drinking.


I hope this LONG reply helps

Thanks for the replies! I tried this again over the weekend and the bottles are better than previously, but not perfect. I was able to get some counterpressure this time, which I suspect made the difference, but I still had trouble towards the end of bottles. As the liquid filled up the neck, headspace reduced, and pressure built, I would get a mini foam up as soon as I burped the pressure. Should I stop with the stopper when I get to the top of the bottle and just fill it gently without pressure? Any ideas?

wlssox524 said:

Thanks for the replies! I tried this again over the weekend and the bottles are better than previously, but not perfect. I was able to get some counterpressure this time, which I suspect made the difference, but I still had trouble towards the end of bottles. As the liquid filled up the neck, headspace reduced, and pressure built, I would get a mini foam up as soon as I burped the pressure. Should I stop with the stopper when I get to the top of the bottle and just fill it gently without pressure? Any ideas?

Click to expand...

Soooo disregard teh first 12min! he is just going over a tap insert.
at 12min he fills a bottle basicly the same way we are. its a great video for seeing the fill, topoff, and cap process.




In this video a different homebrewer showes a good view of a fill. unfortunately he stopps prior to filling the neck.
at 4:30 he filles a clear bottle so you can see it working.
His has to much foam, but at 4:35 to 4:50 its a great view of counter pressure reducing the foam. If it were me I would wait longer for it to reduce further prior to continuing with the fill on that bottle.

Hey everyone,

I've been following this thread for awhile now, and I see some people with fantastic success in bottling from the keg with this method.

Unfortunately, I'm not having that same success. It's really frustrating and I ask for your help before I purchase a beer gun. You guys are my last hope!

I've followed all these instructions and recommendations exactly. I have 10 feet of tubing that connects my beer out to the racking cane, made per the instructions. I have my beer carbed to the correct psi, then bled off and bottled at around 3 psi. I sanitize and freeze all bottles tubing, and other bottling parts.

I'm still getting up to half the bottle full of foam!

My beer lines are super foamy when they out of the bottling line...and yet the kegerator itself works fantastically with no issues.

I even made a video of my troubles

[ame]http://youtu.be/SIkVwElE0PE[/ame]

Please everyone, you're my last hope! Unless I can solve this problem, I'll be purchasing a beer gun. I need to have good consistent bottles for competition, and this method seems to be anything but consistent.

Thanks in advance!

I can only describe what is different in my set up vs. yours. I dont know if it will solve your issues.
You may try this at a higher psi also. I usually am ~8-10 psi. I feel that if the beer is carbed to 12-15 when it hits the beer line it expands foaming

1. I am using ~10feet 3/16 ID tubing. It was suggested by the local beer shop when I was having issues with foam. this is the small ID you have to get it soft in boiling water just to get it on the fittings.

2. I cut my racing cane down to a straight piece long enough to do 22oz bottles. I get solid foam from the picnic tap to the tip of the cane as soon as I shut off the picnic tap between each bottle. so I cut out as much as possible.

3. This probably isnt your issue since you have foam out the keg.
but just so you know.
just yesterday I was having intermittent foam issues on bottles. randomly one would be perfect and the next would be extra foam. I think it could be the angle of the cut on the bottom of the racking cane. if the angle lines up with the angle of the bottom of the bottle it might cause issues.

So, this method rocks. Here's my question, though. Once you're done and you disconnect it from keg, how in the heck to you get liquid in this hose to clean it?? The little nub that pushes down the poppet must be depressed in order to allow air and liquid to flow, but how can you do that when its not on the keg?

This one confusion aside, though, this is an awesome solution, BM!

reuliss said:

So, this method rocks. Here's my question, though. Once you're done and you disconnect it from keg, how in the heck to you get liquid in this hose to clean it?? The little nub that pushes down the poppet must be depressed in order to allow air and liquid to flow, but how can you do that when its not on the keg?

This one confusion aside, though, this is an awesome solution, BM!

Click to expand...

I have a keg of starsan that I use to clean it out. I also use MFL coupled gas and liquid on all my lines. I will ether blow it out with starsan then remove the coupler and open the picnic tap and dry it out or open the picnic tap and hold the decoupled end to the faucet and run water thru it.

http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Lock-Becker-Home-Coupler/dp/B005SLT0G6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1374440449&sr=8-5&keywords=cornelius+keg+gas

Oh and before I swapped to the detachable couplers I would take the spring and poppet out and run water from the faucet thru the line.

reuliss said:

So, this method rocks. Here's my question, though. Once you're done and you disconnect it from keg, how in the heck to you get liquid in this hose to clean it?? The little nub that pushes down the poppet must be depressed in order to allow air and liquid to flow, but how can you do that when its not on the keg?

This one confusion aside, though, this is an awesome solution, BM!

Click to expand...

Geniz has a simple solution: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-beer-line-cleaner-226497/index11.html

I'm a newbie to all of this but I've only kegged up until now, figured it would be the easiest route. Now I do three different kinds and cornies are hard to find now. So I decided to bottle what I have in the keg to make room for the next batch. This method worked great for me first time. Best idea ever.

LabRatBrewer said:

Geniz has a simple solution: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-beer-line-cleaner-226497/index11.html

Click to expand...

This is perfect!

stepcg6 said:

Hey everyone,

I've been following this thread for awhile now, and I see some people with fantastic success in bottling from the keg with this method.

Unfortunately, I'm not having that same success. It's really frustrating and I ask for your help before I purchase a beer gun. You guys are my last hope!

I've followed all these instructions and recommendations exactly. I have 10 feet of tubing that connects my beer out to the racking cane, made per the instructions. I have my beer carbed to the correct psi, then bled off and bottled at around 3 psi. I sanitize and freeze all bottles tubing, and other bottling parts.

I'm still getting up to half the bottle full of foam!

My beer lines are super foamy when they out of the bottling line...and yet the kegerator itself works fantastically with no issues.

Click to expand...

How much foam do you get when you pour normal glasses of beer? With so much foam in the line I would suspect that:

• You fast forced carbed with agitation, which makes your beer very foamy until it settles.
• You have a small air hole somewhere in the line that is allowing it to foam.

Both of those should be present regardless of wether you are filling bottles or just pouring a glass though. I am no expert, having only kegged 2 batches myself, but those were some issues I ran into, especially the fast carbing.

stepcg6 said:

Hey everyone,

I've been following this thread for awhile now, and I see some people with fantastic success in bottling from the keg with this method.

Unfortunately, I'm not having that same success. It's really frustrating and I ask for your help before I purchase a beer gun. You guys are my last hope!

I've followed all these instructions and recommendations exactly. I have 10 feet of tubing that connects my beer out to the racking cane, made per the instructions. I have my beer carbed to the correct psi, then bled off and bottled at around 3 psi. I sanitize and freeze all bottles tubing, and other bottling parts.

I'm still getting up to half the bottle full of foam!

My beer lines are super foamy when they out of the bottling line...and yet the kegerator itself works fantastically with no issues.

I even made a video of my troubles

Video Link: http://youtu.be/SIkVwElE0PE

Please everyone, you're my last hope! Unless I can solve this problem, I'll be purchasing a beer gun. I need to have good consistent bottles for competition, and this method seems to be anything but consistent.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Something is wrong with your ball lock that is disturbing the flow and causing it to foam. Could be the poppet, but if you don't have issues when it's hooked up to the tap, I would try a different ball lock.

I did this last night to bottle about 4 gallons from a keg. It worked well, except that I kept letting the bottles overflow. Should be better next time. Thanks!

Oops! My beer had been overcarbed in the keg, and I must have let out too much CO2 before I bottled, or my technique with the gun was bad. Fail! My bottles now have 0 carbonation.

What are my options here? Let it sit for 3 weeks and see if it carbs in the bottle? Re-prime and re-bottle? Or give up on this batch, which has taught me a lot as a newbie but isn't the brew I was hoping for?
Thanks!

I don't know how you could go from over carbed to zero carb in a couple of days unless your caps were really leaky. Either way if there is no carbonation left, I would just try and prime them with sugar and recap, oxidization may be an issue, but can't hurt to try.

I know this is a very old thread and I can't read all 103 pages, but on page one someone said that you might lose carbonation after about a week using this method. In the video below it would seem that the bottle is pretty well carbonated as it actually stopped the flow of the brew for a bit. This seems like a similar method so I wonder is this method any different from the one on the original page and if not will bottling the "poor man's" way lose carbonation after a week or so?

I have been getting some oxidation in my last batch after using this method. It was fine for a few weeks but then all of a sudden it turned.

Anybody else have this issue?

bob3000 said:

I have been getting some oxidation in my last batch after using this method. It was fine for a few weeks but then all of a sudden it turned.

Anybody else have this issue?

Click to expand...

Nope. Important to cap on foam.

njrockpd said:

I know this is a very old thread and I can't read all 103 pages, but on page one someone said that you might lose carbonation after about a week using this method. In the video below it would seem that the bottle is pretty well carbonated as it actually stopped the flow of the brew for a bit. This seems like a similar method so I wonder is this method any different from the one on the original page and if not will bottling the "poor man's" way lose carbonation after a week or so?

Click to expand...

the method on page one and in the video should not loose carb. I just opened a bottle yesterday that was 60days in fridge and the carb was great.
The video is basically showing you the method described on page one. although it is a good video he does not show you to completion since he is using a clear wine bottle. the video is missing the neck fill and cap.

I've been using this method since 2010 and have bottles that are over a year old. No oxidation, ever, it works flawlessly if you cap on foam. It works so well I am reluctant to buy the Blichmann beer gun, if it aint broke don't fix it.

um... subbed

I don't know if this was covered in the thread but wouldn't you need to sanitize the bottles first? It said to either put the bottles in the freezer or just rinse them off to get them cold. Is that ok or should they be sanitized right before bottling because the sanitizer would warm them back up?

keezerj said:

I don't know if this was covered in the thread but wouldn't you need to sanitize the bottles first? It said to either put the bottles in the freezer or just rinse them off to get them cold. Is that ok or should they be sanitized right before bottling because the sanitizer would warm them back up?

Click to expand...

Make a star Stan solution and fill the bottles with them and stash them in the back of your fridge.

keezerj said:

I don't know if this was covered in the thread but wouldn't you need to sanitize the bottles first? It said to either put the bottles in the freezer or just rinse them off to get them cold. Is that ok or should they be sanitized right before bottling because the sanitizer would warm them back up?

Click to expand...

I use ice as part of the water in my Star San, it gets/keeps the bottles quite cold.

or use platic wrap and an elastic over the bottle top before fridging them.

I usually use plastic bottles; so not a problem.

This is a repost from another thread, but I've been meaning to post my method here in this thread for a while now.

Anyway, I have the benefit of working in the CEMS industry and have access to some awesome 3/8" PFA tubing. It's way better than plastic racking canes or standard 3/8" beer hose because it's incredibly stiff and can hold a shape, but is still bendable and creates an asstight seal in a cobra tap. 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 now just a fancy shiny paperweight in my brewbox.

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 hooked up to a keg and you're all set.

I bottled 24, and am now storing at room temp 72F
How long will these stay good and (fresh) ?