Counter Pressure Filling

I recently realized that I needed to bottle more, so that I can share more, because I'm producing more than I should drink.

On my most recent batch, I kegged five gallons, and bottled 5 gallons. I don't mind the bottling process, but did realize that I'd never had to explain about "pouring a homebrew" to any of my co-workers/friends. Any bottle I'd ever given them was poured off the keg through my beer gun.

The beer gun is fine for one or two bottles at a time, but I want to try bottling a full five gallons off of the keg next round.

I think counter-pressure is the way to go for longer-term storage, but playing with "open this valve, then close it, then open this, while holding the filler to the bottle to keep up the pressure" would be much worse than the beer gun for a large bottling session.

Soooo..... I came across THIS. It looks pricey ($250!?), but if it works as slick as I think it should, that would be a stellar device to have. Has anyone used this device, or heard about it? Or, does anyone have a quicker way to fill off the keg with out making a foamy mess?

Try this on for size!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

Salute!

What you need is pre-evacuation with inert gas (C02 typically). Counterpressure is nice, but not needed. Counterpressure keeps c02 in solution, going slow does the same.

I fill competition bottles via the Tasty McDole method, pre-evacuate and then slowly fill with a picnic tap (no hose) down the side. Works great.

I do use a counterpressure filler to bottle off a keg. The morebeer one is easy to operate (replaces that 84943439343 valves with one 3 way valve). That said, I am not crazy comforatable with the sanitary nature (ball valves are not cip-able) of it and the beer gun beats it there since it can be taken apart easily.

IMO the best method for long term storage includes yeast in the container. So kegging with some yeast transfer or bottling/bottle conditioning with some yeast.

I would never pay that much for something a two hole stopper, rigid tubing, and my thumb can accomplish. The little bit of foam produced helps make sure you have no O2 in the bottle after you pull the tubing out. Guess if you were very worried you could rig a 3 hole stopper and use a CO2 input tube to flood the bottle prior to filling, but I think this is unnecessary. If you use oxygen absorbing caps and keep your fills upright for a couple of days post-fill, you should be golden with simpler and cheaper methods than this machine.

I've done the above method, but it does make a mess (some dribble after every bottle), and is quite slow going. Same with the "Fill it slow", which I have also done for competitions.

I really like the idea of pulling one lever to lock the bottle, pull another to purge/fill, release and you're done. I like complicated processes made easier with gadgets.

However, I'm not going to spend that kind of money for right now. In fact, I'm wondering if i could convert my bench capper into something like this...

Strange how much work/time/effort I'll put into making something "easy" .

Is oxygenation really an issue? I mean, I understand the theoretical implications but I never purged the O2 in my bottles when I was priming bottles. I didn't even have a CO2 supply to purge with. So, how is anything different if I'm using a counterpressure filler (or even just filling slowly from a tap) from a keg?

It just seems like another one of those homebrew boogeymen that doesn't really matter for the scale and timeframe we are dealing with.

There are those on here that would have you believe that some...nay...most homebrew is oxydized. They usually believe themselves to have the refined palate that allows them to taste this homebrew-crime.

As for me? I've never tasted what I perceive to be oxidization in a homebrew. I have, however, tasted it in belgian ales that were corked and sat on a shelf for unknown amounts of time.

That said, if I'm bottling I want to make sure it tastes as good in a month as it did when I pulled it off the tap.

When bottle conditioning, you are having a mini-fermentation in the bottle that creates CO2 (to carbonate), and in some peoples opinions, the yeast "scrub" any oxygen from the head space. I don't know of the science behind that, though.

In a priming situation, you are scrubbing O2 out by a small fermentation. Yeast utilize O2 during their fermentation cycle. As for if you are oxidizing a beer during normal filling, I don't think you are if you don't purge first. The CO2 comes out of suspension and produces a bubble layer on top of the beer that then rises during filling pushing out any O2. This is why I like a little foam to come out of my bottles during filling. It is a little messy, but if you get a flat tub to bottle in it isn't a problem. Boogeyman... maybe to each their own, but I am not taking a chance on a bottle that I could have just left in the keg. I don't bottle that often, and in most cases fill a growler right before I head out.