beer gun or CPBF

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kosmokramer

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I have already used the diy version but i have a couple extra bucks so i was wondering which was better as far as ease of use and carbonation levels. Either the blichman beer gun or the morebeer counter pressure bottle filler?
 
You've got my vote for the Blichman Beer Gun.

Far simpler.

Look at this vid from a beer gun


Then look at this other vid of a counter pressure system



See the difference in simplicity?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Beer gun for sure. About the only negative you'll ever hear anyone say about it is the cost which when you spread it out over the life of the product, it's really minimal. Looking at the B3 CPBF, the costs seem nearly the same.

I've had the beer gun for a few years and can't imagine bottling any other way.
 
jpalarchio said:
Beer gun for sure. About the only negative you'll ever hear anyone say about it is the cost which when you spread it out over the life of the product, it's really minimal. Looking at the B3 CPBF, the costs seem nearly the same.

I've had the beer gun for a few years and can't imagine bottling any other way.
Click to expand...

i was gonna pull the trigger on the cpbf and figured i would check the price on the beergun, the 5 dollar differance is what made me question it. do i need the accesory kit, i have extra beer and gas line, what else is included?
 
it actually looks pretty simple to use... i was at a small brewery having a pint a couple weeks ago and noticed that they use a cpbf. if the beergun is the same why wouldnt a brewery use that?
 
mors said:
CPBF from morebeer is pretty awesome. I like it alot more than the BeerGun.
Click to expand...

+1 on the B3 CPBF being awesome, but I've never used the beergun so I don't have any first hand experience with it. They both allow you to purge with CO2, both fill from the bottom up to reduce foaming. The only real difference is the B3 model fills the bottle under pressure which should help keep CO2 in suspension. I'd say there's a slightly greater chance of losing some CO2 with the beergun.
 
I use the Morebeer CPBF and love it. I got the original version and outfitted it with flare fittings (I don't see the point of the pressure gauge). Easy to hook up to fill a few bottles.
 
dutchoven said:
I use the Morebeer CPBF and love it. I got the original version and outfitted it with flare fittings (I don't see the point of the pressure gauge). Easy to hook up to fill a few bottles.
Click to expand...

i dont see a use for the gauge either so im happy with the cheaper version. Filling just a couple was a concern. I have a 5 tap keezer and dont bottle too often but i just did a 23% beer i wanted to bottle and sample every once in a while but i will mostly bottle two or three at a time for giveaways to friends
 
Beer Gun all the way. It's not the same as a traditional CPBF, it slowly drops the pressure of the beer through the long hose so by the time it gets atmospheric pressure, it doesn't foam up. In the time the guy in the video at the top of this post filled that one bottle, I'd have done 3 or 4. One trigger to blast in some CO2 and another trigger to fill. Can't beat one handed operation. Capping with the other hand makes it a continuous one-man operation.
 
I just got a beer gun and have used it once. Been doing the DIY way for years and I got to say the beer gun rocks. I bottled by myself a 5 gallon keg in less then 40 minutes. With another person it would have been less the 20 minutes.
 
sudsmcgee said:
I don't see the point of either of these over the BierMuncher Bottle Filler. Why mess with a perfect system?
Click to expand...

Although bm's version does appear to work fork the sjort term, it does not flush the bottle or pour under pressure. I spent 150 to brew this 7 gallon batch and i want to spread it over a couple years. I dont want to take chances
 
Fair enough, but you could also just fill an empty keg with co2 and use this CO2 with the BMBF to purge the bottles right before filling. A little more work but no additional cost other than some wasted CO2 (which you'd waste anyway, albeit less). It just seems to me that if you're worried about having spent $150 that you'd not want to spend more money on another bottle filler.
 
sudsmcgee said:
I don't see the point of either of these over the BierMuncher Bottle Filler. Why mess with a perfect system?
Click to expand...

1. it's faster
2. it's easy one handed use (I'm purging / filling with one hand and capping with the other. )
3. you can purge the bottle with CO2 first (works just like commercial bottle fillers that breweries use).

If I'm filling a bottle that will be consumed in a week or so then I'll use the racking cane and stopper but for bottles that I'm sending to comps or to let rest I will use the beer gun.
 
FSR402 said:
1. it's faster
2. it's easy one handed use (I'm purging / filling with one hand and capping with the other. )
3. you can purge the bottle with CO2 first (works just like commercial bottle fillers that breweries use).

If I'm filling a bottle that will be consumed in a week or so then I'll use the racking cane and stopper but for bottles that I'm sending to comps or to let rest I will use the beer gun.
Click to expand...

Im just as confused as before which one to get. They both seem to have their merits
 
FSR402 said:
1. it's faster
2. it's easy one handed use (I'm purging / filling with one hand and capping with the other. )
3. you can purge the bottle with CO2 first (works just like commercial bottle fillers that breweries use).

If I'm filling a bottle that will be consumed in a week or so then I'll use the racking cane and stopper but for bottles that I'm sending to comps or to let rest I will use the beer gun.
Click to expand...

1. I don't see how it could possibly be faster. I can fill and cap 6 bottles in under 2-3 minutes.
2. I do the same with the BMBF
3. I already addressed this above.

I still don't get it......
 
How important is it to purge the bottles with CO2? Seems like filing tillfoam comes to the top, would be doing the same thing.

I have the Beergun, which is why I'm asking. The thing is easy to use, no doubt about it. I've donew the homemade route and it was just not as handy although I think if I had the long length of narrow diameter hose it would be have worked better.
 
I have used both. The bottles fill with the the CPBF have much more consistent carbonation levels. The beergun is a crapshot on carbonation it seems.
 
I've had both. In theory, the CPBF is better, but it's a PITA to use (at least mine is). The beer gun is so much easier to use I can't see ever using the CPBF again.
 
sudsmcgee said:
1. I don't see how it could possibly be faster. I can fill and cap 6 bottles in under 2-3 minutes.
2. I do the same with the BMBF
3. I already addressed this above.

I still don't get it......
Click to expand...

Until you use a beer gun you wont understand.

I have been using the racking cane and stopper way a year or two before BM ever posted it here (yes he did not "invent" this idea). Yes it works and it's cheap but after using the beer gun I wont go back to the cane/stopper unless it's just filling a bottle to go some place with.
 
sudsmcgee said:
Fair enough, but you could also just fill an empty keg with co2 and use this CO2 with the BMBF to purge the bottles right before filling. A little more work but no additional cost other than some wasted CO2 (which you'd waste anyway, albeit less). It just seems to me that if you're worried about having spent $150 that you'd not want to spend more money on another bottle filler.
Click to expand...

Its not so much the investment of money as much as the investment of time and effort to get a beer up to 23% and when i crack a bottle 3 years from now i would like it to be perfectly carbed
 
I've been using the cpbf for years, always frustrated, wasted beer, got beer sprayed on my face, on the wall...it always worked but it was never easy. I had a friend loan me his beer gunand Today swmbo and I bottled 2 kegs in an hour, and spilled only 8 Oz of beer...same fill level every time, perfect. I'm all for diy...however this case the beer gun from blich was just plain easy to use....
 
Well i picked up the morebeer cpbf. It looks simple to use but i dont have anything to bottle atm. Hope i made the right call
 
So it seems like the BeerGun is a little quicker and easier to use which would give it an advantage if you are doing a bunch of bottles, but I don't know if I would ever be doing enough bottles at a time to see those benefits. I'm thinking at most I'd bottle 5 or 6 bottles from a keg and leave the rest on tap.

Advantage CPBF?

Or should I just stick with the picnic tap/racking cane/stopper method?

I wish I had one of the fully automatic counter pressure growler fillers like the ones at Victory Brewing. It's pretty fun to sit there and watch them fill.
 
SixFoFalcon said:
So it seems like the BeerGun is a little quicker and easier to use which would give it an advantage if you are doing a bunch of bottles, but I don't know if I would ever be doing enough bottles at a time to see those benefits. I'm thinking at most I'd bottle 5 or 6 bottles from a keg and leave the rest on tap.

Advantage CPBF?

Or should I just stick with the picnic tap/racking cane/stopper method?

I wish I had one of the fully automatic counter pressure growler fillers like the ones at Victory Brewing. It's pretty fun to sit there and watch them fill.
Click to expand...

http://morebeer.com/view_product/18279/102289/Counter_Pressure_Bottle_Filler

Here is a link to the one i got. I wont be using it all the time either but it looks like it shouldnt be too bad to whip it out for a few bottles.
 
Yeah break it down and clean everything then let it dry. Put it away till next time.
 
One thing that annoys me about all these systems is the emphasis people place on purging the bottle with CO2 before filling. It means absolutely nothing to purge with CO2 if you are pulling a filling tube out of the beer, thus drawing in atmospheric air, once filling is complete. If anything, you should be purging the headspace with CO2 AFTER filling the bottle.
 
SixFoFalcon said:
One thing that annoys me about all these systems is the emphasis people place on purging the bottle with CO2 before filling. It means absolutely nothing to purge with CO2 if you are pulling a filling tube out of the beer, thus drawing in atmospheric air, once filling is complete. If anything, you should be purging the headspace with CO2 AFTER filling the bottle.
Click to expand...

Yes and this is what you should be doing.
 
My understanding is the co2 is heavier than air, so the air gets pushed out first- leaving a 'blanket' of co2.

Your suggesting pulling the tube out is so significant that the displacement draws air in to the bottle.

I can see that.

If this is true, and lets say it is. Wouldn't the beer gun be the easier solution as you can quickly tap the trigger and give one last blast of co2 to the top of the beer?

Pop! Move on...

I'm ordering mine this week. I don't have any personal experience with it yet, but every youtube video makes it so obvious that it's the easier tool to use, the price difference shouldn't matter. I keep scratching my head at the comments that sort of say, "I don't bottle a lot so the difference won't matter." I keep thinking, if one beer is irritating, then it's an irritating tool. The Beergun seems to be easy every time. Frankly, this post has got me asking myself, why am I waiting?

Oh yeah, pay day! Then I'm buying a beergun- and I'll use it to cap my beer with co2 (at the end).
 
Retrofit said:
My understanding is the co2 is heavier than air, so the air gets pushed out first- leaving a 'blanket' of co2.

Your suggesting pulling the tube out is so significant that the displacement draws air in to the bottle.

I can see that.

If this is true, and lets say it is. Wouldn't the beer gun be the easier solution as you can quickly tap the trigger and give one last blast of co2 to the top of the beer?

Pop! Move on...

I'm ordering mine this week. I don't have any personal experience with it yet, but every youtube video makes it so obvious that it's the easier tool to use, the price difference shouldn't matter. I keep scratching my head at the comments that sort of say, "I don't bottle a lot so the difference won't matter." I keep thinking, if one beer is irritating, then it's an irritating tool. The Beergun seems to be easy every time. Frankly, this post has got me asking myself, why am I waiting?

Oh yeah, pay day! Then I'm buying a beergun- and I'll use it to cap my beer with co2 (at the end).
Click to expand...
i wasnt necessarily looking easiest,just easy and consistant. Lookatthe morebeer vid i posted. Only one valve instead of three like most cpbf...i havemt used it yet but it doesnt look as difficult as the vids... it isonly5 bucks cheaper but i want consistant beers
 
kosmokramer said:
i wasnt necessarily looking easiest,just easy and consistant. Lookatthe morebeer vid i posted. Only one valve instead of three like most cpbf...i havemt used it yet but it doesnt look as difficult as the vids... it isonly5 bucks cheaper but i want consistant beers
Click to expand...
Right, that's kinda where I'm at. If you're just doing a few bottles and then you're done, it seems like either one (CPBF or Beer Gun) is going to take more time to set up, clean etc., than anything else. So I'd want to go with the one that gives the absolute best result in the bottle, not the one that might take a little less fussing between one bottle and the next just to save a few seconds along the way. If you're doing a case or two of bottles each time, then you probably have different priorities.
 

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