Bottling from a Perlick with only the rubber hose?

[davekippen]

I know there are all kinds of ways to rig up a "stinking beer gun" with a cobra tap, bottling wand and stopper, and I know you can do a similar thing off the faucet as well.

However at every brewery I have been to, they just stick a piece of tube over the end of the faucet and fill at serving pressure. Whats the downside of just following their lead? Im talking about for MOST needs, like a quick growler fill for a party that night, or taking some beer to the homebrew meetings. For something that needs to be long term such as cellaring or sending off to comps, maybe the other way is still better?

Wondering if anyone does both and has an opinion on the subject!

 

[SimonHucko]

bottling off a tap like that has two main issues. first, you release a lot of CO2 in the process, leading to a lower carb level than intended. second, unless you flush your bottle with CO2 first, you're exposing your beer to oxygen which will greatly shorten its shelf life. even with a flush, you're probably still oxygenating a bit. for those two reasons, I wouldn't use this method for longer term bottling, but for grabbing a few beers to take to a friends or a meeting to be consumed that night I think it's fine. I know a lot of guys keep some sanitized swing-top bottles around to grab-and-go.

 

[davekippen]

I might run a side by side experiment for this one. I have the poor mans beer gun already and have used it with success. Maybe I will bottle up a couple of sets of beers each way and test them once a month for a while to see about carb levels and oxidation levels.

 

[sfrisby]

I might run a side by side experiment for this one. I have the poor mans beer gun already and have used it with success. Maybe I will bottle up a couple of sets of beers each way and test them once a month for a while to see about carb levels and oxidation levels.

I'd be interested in your results.

 

[mikescooling]

I've done and do both. The key is everything has to be cold! Everything! If the beer is ready to go and ice cold, and the tap is ice cold; you can drop the co2 press and fill the bottles nice and slow.

 

[Ryush806]

I've done and do both. The key is everything has to be cold! Everything! If the beer is ready to go and ice cold, and the tap is ice cold; you can drop the co2 press and fill the bottles nice and slow.

+1 on this.

I have a homemade beer gun that is perfect for bottles but just slides right into the neck of a growler (aka turns into a rubber hose). If I want to actually bottle some beer I drop the pressure and fill bottles with counter pressure. If I'm taking a half gallon to a party I drop the pressure and just slip the tube down into the growler and fill.

 

[bob1852]

You'll spill a lot of foam/beer filling with just a hose, which is fine if you don't mind wasting a bit of beer and you have a drip tray that can accommodate the spill.

 

[Rivenin]

problem with long term storage... unless you're really anal, there is going to be a ton of bactera on the perlick itself.
when you pour a beer, it coats it with beer, unless you clean it regularly, that sits there, gets stale and nasty... while i don't ever worry about it when i'm drinking beer, long term storage poured from there would worry me.

 

[Yooper]

I use just a hose when filling a growler to take places and drinking right away (or in a day or two). I use a beergun (or the "no stinkin' beergun") for filling bottles that will be stored a bit before consuming.

The hose works fine to fill a growler, but not to retain carbonation for a long time or to prevent long term oxidation.

 

[Unicorn_Platypus]

this DIY counter pressure setup works really well. You can put it together with parts you probably already have lying around

You can also build a very similar setup for counter pressure filling growlers. Just buy a #10 stopper that will fit a growler.