Blichmann Beer Gun?

Does anyone have the Blichmann Beer Gun? If so how to you like it to counter pressure fillers? Pro's, Con's

Cons: It costs way to much money.

Pro: There is a $1 solution that does the same thing: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

I have the beergun. I like it. I have used the BMBF with some success, but after getting the blichmann as a xmas gift, I can say that I like having it much more. I think the ability to pump c02 into the bottle before filling and top off before capping are great features that you don't get with the BMBF. That said, I never had a beer go bad using either. I can think of many other brewing toys I'd rather spend the money on that a beergun though. If you have the money, get it, it's a great product. If not, make yourself a BMBF as linked above and call it a day. both work well.

I used the BMBF yesterday and it rocked! It literally cost less than $3 to build and worked fantastic. Granted, you can't fill the bottle up with CO2 before pouring the beer, but who cares? Nobody does this with regular bottling anyway. It's a moot point IMO.

I had a slightly hard time with the FIRST bottle I tried it out on, and then after that it was bang, bang, bang on down the line. Actually much faster and easier than I ever thought possible.

I use my beer gun a lot. It is easy to use, easy to clean and store, and I never worry about oxidation thanks to being able to purge bottles before I fill them.

Counter pressure fillers are a little more difficult to use because you're flipping valves to get things to flow correctly. I like the one hand ease of the bottle filler. Sure they're a little pricy, but I got mine for 60 bucks with the kit needed to hook it up and I've been happy with it.

I love mine. Easy to use, easy to clean, sounds cool to your friends.

The beer gun is fantastic. I had one for a long time. I recently sold mine to bolster my funds for other upgrades, but will probably buy one again in the future. You can find them used (like the one I sold) for about $50 with all the hook ups fairly regularly if you check CL and ebay.

It is much easier to use and faster for bulk filling than the BMBF.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

It is much easier to use...than the BMBF.

Click to expand...

Excuse me...what?? What is so hard about the BMBF? Open picnic tab, push stopper, close tap, cap. Where does the difficulty come in to play there? Just asking.

The BMBF isn't difficult, the beer gun is just easier and faster. Don't worry I'm not knocking the BMBF, I know everyone has a hard on for it

Trust me I have used both extensively, the beer gun is really nice.

I had one and it worked great, but BM's bottle filler works just as well. So, I sold my beer gun, made a BMBF and used the money from the beer gun on ingredients.

I have one and I love it. I made a BMBF so that I could start bottling for competitions. 1 year, 100 bottles and a lot of changes in process (and frustration) later, approximately 10-12 of those bottles had acceptable carbonation levels.

BMBF is inexpensive and great if it works for you. It didn't work for me, so I bought a beer gun. One of the best investments I've ever made in brewing equipment and it's ridiculously fast and easy.

I'd certainly recommend trying out BMBF first though, as most everyone but me has had it work great for them.

Don't have a hard on for the BMBF at all, I just don't have the $$$$ for a beer gun. And I was quite honestly interested in the difficulty you were claiming to have with the BMBF. Unlike Ohio I've had zero issues with carbonation. In fact I just opened a bottle I filled a year ago with the BMBF and the beer still had perfect carbonation.

Anywho, I swear I've seen somewhere a way to use an air pump needle to adapt a set up to add CO2 to the bottle while filling. I'm assuming similar to a beer gun!?!? Maybe!??!

Hmm... I can't imagine why you'd lose carbonation using the BMBF. Granted, I haven't actually tasted one of my bottles yet, but after the first fill, I figured out how to control the flow and got like zero foam. I can't see where the carb could go if it's not foaming.

I haven't tried a beer gun dohickey, and probably never will. The BMBF works so well and fast that I don't see the point in spending $60 to replace something that just works so well.

Have you tried freezing your bottles? I think that is one important aspect that can help eliminate foaming and carb level drop.

Kilted Brewer said:

Don't have a hard on for the BMBF at all, I just don't have the $$$$ for a beer gun. And I was quite honestly interested in the difficulty you were claiming to have with the BMBF. Unlike Ohio I've had zero issues with carbonation. In fact I just opened a bottle I filled a year ago with the BMBF and the beer still had perfect carbonation.

Anywho, I swear I've seen somewhere a way to use an air pump needle to adapt a set up to add CO2 to the bottle while filling. I'm assuming similar to a beer gun!?!? Maybe!??!

Click to expand...

I've seen where someone has added a needle valve (for filling sports balls) into the stopper to allow for easier control of the pressure and to regulate filling speed. I guess this *could* be adapted to somehow allow for CO2 to fill the bottle, or pressurize the bottle prior to filling. I'm not sure it's a requirement if you freeze the bottle and get a handle on how fast to fill it (I was going nearly full tilt once the pressure was built up.)

I should video tape my filling process when I bottle my recent brews. In case anyone wants to see how I use mine.

I had some undercarb issues with the BMBF but i've since adapted my process to up the pressure on the keg by 1-2psi for about 12-24 hours before I plan to bottle. In the limited competitions I've entered haven't had a "carb not to style" or "undercarbed" comment yet.