beer gun carbonation....how is it?

[jayjaytuner]

those of you that have actually used your beer gun/blichmann or other....

for bottles, and followed the instructions, got the bottles ice cold first etc.. how was the carbonation of said cracked open brew a few days/weeks later??

just looking for real world experience. is it on par with bottle primed, or even store bought ??

contemplating getting on down the road, for some of my friends dont care for floaties

 

[murphyslaw]

You don't lose any noticeable amount of carbonation. It's pretty much perfect.

 

[jschein]

You don't lose any noticeable amount of carbonation. It's pretty much perfect.

^ This

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Yep. No significant loss of carbonation. I don't get my bottles cold first, either.

 

[augiedoggy]

as long as you fill the bottes so they are at least as high as a commercial bottle then I agree it works well I didnt know at first and on some bottles with more headspace once i removed the wand I had varying amount of carbonation... I wouldnt waste your money on the blichmann name brand at this point especially since blichmann appears to have abandoned their own beergun design and supplier because the tips fell off too easily and now appear to sell the keg king beer gun you can buy for under $40 shipped.. (the blichmann beergun was always a low cost chinese made gun but blichmann enjoyed huge profit margins in the first few years before competition set in and designed a better gun they later switched to themselves) This is what Ibve found anyway from photos and testimonials from others here compared to the $40 kegking gun I bought a year ago..

 

[jmcquesten]

those of you that have actually used your beer gun/blichmann or other....

for bottles, and followed the instructions, got the bottles ice cold first etc.. how was the carbonation of said cracked open brew a few days/weeks later??

just looking for real world experience. is it on par with bottle primed, or even store bought ??

contemplating getting on down the road, for some of my friends dont care for floaties

I wasn't impressed with the beer gun the first couple times I used it. I tried all the tricks, but always ended up with a foamy mess and less than perfect carbonation in the bottled beer. Then, before giving up on it, I decided to try "balancing" the beergun with long line length. I am now able to fill bottles at serving pressure, without releasing the pressure on the keg, with minimal foaming. I run a 20 ft beer line on my beergun and it solved my issues with it. I haven't heard of anyone else using long lines on the beergun, but plenty of people here agree with line length balancing using the mikesoltys.com calculator.

 

[TravelingLight]

as long as you fill the bottes so they are at least as high as a commercial bottle then I agree it works well I didnt know at first and on some bottles with more headspace once i removed the wand I had varying amount of carbonation... I wouldnt waste your money on the blichmann name brand at this point especially since blichmann appears to have abandoned their own beergun design and supplier because the tips fell off too easily and now appear to sell the keg king beer gun you can buy for under $40 shipped.. (the blichmann beergun was always a low cost chinese made gun but blichmann enjoyed huge profit margins in the first few years before competition set in and designed a better gun they later switched to themselves) This is what Ibve found anyway from photos and testimonials from others here compared to the $40 kegking gun I bought a year ago..

Where are you finding the Keg King Beer Gun? I just did a quick search and couldn't find a vendor. Or are you getting them off ebay? I'm tired of borrowing my buddy's Blichmann so I'm ready to get my own. I like the price of the keg king gun you mentioned...

 

[augiedoggy]

Where are you finding the Keg King Beer Gun? I just did a quick search and couldn't find a vendor. Or are you getting them off ebay? I'm tired of borrowing my buddy's Blichmann so I'm ready to get my own. I like the price of the keg king gun you mentioned...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/BES...lt&btsid=7d0faca3-641f-46c1-b7cb-8153371d99c4

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New...lt&btsid=491cae71-fbd1-4bfb-8e04-9a74d43ebac6

I got mine on aliexpress.

this one has the keg king logo in the pic..

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hom...lt&btsid=491cae71-fbd1-4bfb-8e04-9a74d43ebac6 they are all the same but some come with more accessories.

 

[jmark]

That certainly looks like the old Blichmann, but they have a new one now that looks a fair bit different and comes with attachments, tubing and a carrying case for it all. Not saying they don't act the same, but there could be some differences... who knows...

 

[augiedoggy]

That certainly looks like the old Blichmann, but they have a new one now that looks a fair bit different and comes with attachments, tubing and a carrying case for it all. Not saying they don't act the same, but there could be some differences... who knows...

There's 3 versions of the blichmann beer fun from what I've found.. the newer two versions use the newer style rubber tip that's less likely to fall. The ones I liked above for $40 are the same ones blichmann sold for like $140 for a while... I have never used the newest version but I can't see it doing anything any differently.. it still uses the same tip and "barrel" design.. Most likely biggest change is the the newer plastic design is just cheaper to make.

 

[jmark]

Agreed... I think they all probably act the same... you definitely pay a premium for the Blichmann name although for the 'most' part the quality matches the price.

 

[TravelingLight]

There's 3 versions of the blichmann beer fun from what I've found.. the newer two versions use the newer style rubber tip that's less likely to fall. The ones I liked above for $40 are the same ones blichmann sold for like $140 for a while... I have never used the newest version but I can't see it doing anything any differently.. it still uses the same tip and "barrel" design.. Most likely biggest change is the the newer plastic design is just cheaper to make.

Just to be clear...the keg king guns, do they have the new tips? I've borrowed a buddy's Blichmann a few times. He has the older tip and the second beer I filled I realized how easily that tip comes off. Had to mark that bottle so I knew not to swallow that tip when I drank it.

 

[augiedoggy]

Agreed... I think they all probably act the same... you definitely pay a premium for the Blichmann name although for the 'most' part the quality matches the price.

except when it comes to the blichmann beer gun they were chinese made and when kegking released their better design for much less blichmann appeared to abandon their original design and to start selling the same guns as keg king for a while before incorporating the kegking tips in the newer plastic guns they sell...
personally I feel more comfortable with the kegking design being more robust and easier to service and source components but if you like being forced to pay for blichmanns replacement parts thats your choice... we have all seen the multiple threads about their outrageous oring costs and finding cost effective alternatives..

 

[augiedoggy]

Just to be clear...the keg king guns, do they have the new tips? I've borrowed a buddy's Blichmann a few times. He has the older tip and the second beer I filled I realized how easily that tip comes off. Had to mark that bottle so I knew not to swallow that tip when I drank it.

yes the kegking style guns were the first to have the new tips.. blichmann adapted them later because of complaints of this. At least this is what other said when comparing the different guns in another thread. My kegking gun came with an extra tip although Ive never needed it.

 

[jmark]

... blichmann appeared to abandon their original design and to start selling the same guns as keg king for a while before incorporating the kegking tips in the newer plastic guns they sell...

Just to be fair though and I don't think you meant it this way, but the new BM guns are *not* plastic... they're still stainless steel... they simply have a molded black plastic handle covering the gas input. The rest is pretty much the same other than a thumb trigger for gas.

 

[TravelingLight]

yes the kegking style guns were the first to have the new tips.. blichmann adapted them later because of complaints of this. At least this is what other said when comparing the different guns in another thread. My kegking gun came with an extra tip although Ive never needed it.

Excellent. Thank you. I will be ordering one of these Chinese guns shortly. Should be here by September. Ha!

 

[augiedoggy]

Just to be fair though and I don't think you meant it this way, but the new BM guns are *not* plastic... they're still stainless steel... they simply have a molded black plastic handle covering the gas input. The rest is pretty much the same other than a thumb trigger for gas.

Ok but the base and trigger look plastic to me? making up the main body of the gun so.. It really appears they took the generic chinese gun and just encased the base in the molded plastic (making it difficult or impossible to service) to hide the true identity because the their previous version was selling elsewhere direct for as little as $20. each. People were likely catching on hurting sales so they dressed up the offering so at first glance the average blichmann believer can assume its got to be a better product..

As I see it, they offer "support", the case which many wont use and the plastic handle for an extra $60 to 80 vs the ones being sold directly through chinese or Australian vendors. they are still a chinese made gun and likely the same gun underneath.

The trigger being the plastic part I would worry about the most? and if everything is encapsulated in this proprietary plastic housing than repairs or replacement parts are not as likely from the way I see it unless that plastic easily comes off right?

 

[augiedoggy]

Excellent. Thank you. I will be ordering one of these Chinese guns shortly. Should be here by September. Ha!

more likely within two weeks... I ordered a dryhopper from there last sunday and had it delivered to me by friday so... the flow control Intertap faucets and the perlic/intertap hybrids I ordered from there also took about 2 weeks each.

 

[augiedoggy]

after doing some more reasearch it appears that dispite what I read here about blichmann redesigning the rubber tips, the tips they use on the newest gun the ones that fall out easily even though the holder is the same setup as kegking and the superior kegking style tips appear to be interchangeable... in fact when I google blichmann beer gun replacement tips 2 different styles come up.

And say what you will about the Chinese selling them direct but the truth is if they hadnt started doing so Blichmann would most likely still be charging $160 for the original bare bones design with the tips that fall off instead of $100 now for the new one they sell in a case to compete with it right?

 

[jmark]

after doing some more reasearch it appears that dispite what I read here about blichmann redesigning the rubber tips, the tips they use on the newest gun the ones that fall out easily even though the holder is the same setup as kegking and the superior kegking style tips appear to be interchangeable... in fact when I google blichmann beer gun replacement tips 2 different styles come up.

And say what you will about the Chinese selling them direct but the truth is if they hadnt started doing so Blichmann would most likely still be charging $160 for the original bare bones design with the tips that fall off instead of $100 now for the new one they sell in a case to compete with it right?

The tip on the new style definitely shouldn't fall off easily. I also don't see any issue with the plastic grip and it makes it easier to handle than the old style. However, I can't argue about the price comparisons for what ends up being a fair facsimile of the Blichmann for a lot less cash... you're definitely paying more for support, a case and attachments.

 

[augiedoggy]

The tip on the new style definitely shouldn't fall off easily. I also don't see any issue with the plastic grip and it makes it easier to handle than the old style. However, I can't argue about the price comparisons for what ends up being a fair facsimile of the Blichmann for a lot less cash... you're definitely paying more for support, a case and attachments.

You dont see that rubber tip falling out easily? what if theres an issue with the gas valve needing a new seal? if its encased in plastic how do you get it apart?
It doesnt look easy to service to me? unless that top is open under the trigger mech... then I think the plastic handle would slid right down with the nut and bolt. and if thats the gas trigger moved to the back then I take back what I said about assuming the gun underneath is the same old gun... They would have had to at least turn the gas trigger around to the back. also unlike the old $160 guns that were made in china the new cheaper gun says made in the USA on the handle... (or course that could possibly just be the handle like the chinese made cereal killer grain mill I have which says made in the USA on the wooden base plate even though its the only component made here and added later.)

 

[jmark]

I don't see how that tip falls out, no. It seems quite secure IMO. The plastic handle is actually somewhat hollow and if you needed to take it apart, there are two screws to do that on the gas trigger mechanism. The other 'improvement' beyond being more ergonomic is that the parts other than the handle are all stainless... no brass fittings anymore. The gas trigger pushes down on a valve at the top back rather than the front now... I think it's a lot easier to use than the older style which I've used in the past.

On the price issue, I agree with you although I would contend that 1) Blichmann makes their stuff here, 2) their margin reflects THEIR R&D, and 3) the Chinese knockoffs basically stole the design and are profiting off of that theft.

 

[augiedoggy]

I don't see how that tip falls out, no. It seems quite secure IMO. The plastic handle is actually somewhat hollow and if you needed to take it apart, there are two screws to do that on the gas trigger mechanism. The other 'improvement' beyond being more ergonomic is that the parts other than the handle are all stainless... no brass fittings anymore. The gas trigger pushes down on a valve at the top back rather than the front now... I think it's a lot easier to use than the older style which I've used in the past.

On the price issue, I agree with you although I would contend that 1) Blichmann makes their stuff here, 2) their margin reflects THEIR R&D, and 3) the Chinese knockoffs basically stole the design and are profiting off of that theft.

But the original blichmann beergun was not made here. It was made in china along with the older generation blichmann kettles... They are making an effort to make everything here more now than ever but that wasnt always the case. You seem to know a lot about this new gun I assume you have one then? If it does have all the things you say its a fairly good gun and I underestimated it,

But lets not forget the fact that its most likely only better and cheaper because of the chinese competition in the first place.. the original "inferior" and much cheaper design was sold by blichman for $160 just because they could get away with it at the time. Now they have been forced to step up their game and the result is better and more economical choices for us.. The rest of the world doesnt necessarily play by our version of the capitalism rules..The manufactuerer in china often reserves the right to sell the product direct to countries where blichmann or whomever they make them for may not market them like the intertap faucets. and the quickest way to ensure your design will be stolen is to send it there intentionally to have them build it for you for pennies on the dollar..

 

[TravelingLight]

Hey, @augiedoggy, I just realized I don't think I've ever ordered from AliExpress before. Do they take PayPal? If not, did you just use your CC? I'm always wary about sending money to Asia for various reasons.

 

[augiedoggy]

Hey, @augiedoggy, I just realized I don't think I've ever ordered from AliExpress before. Do they take PayPal? If not, did you just use your CC? I'm always wary about sending money to Asia for various reasons.

I use my credit card... They dont take paypal... They are a secure sister site of alibaba which I have been using since 2012 with no issues.

 

[addled_mind]

Are the ones on AliExpress long enough to fill growlers and 22oz. bottles? I've never used a beergun of any type and always wondered if they were only for 120z bottles.

 

[TravelingLight]

Are the ones on AliExpress long enough to fill growlers and 22oz. bottles? I've never used a beergun of any type and always wondered if they were only for 120z bottles.

I assume they are. I know the Blichmann is long enough to fill bombers and growlers. And I'm pretty sure these are the same size as the "original" Blichmann.

 

[TravelingLight]

I run a 20 ft beer line on my beergun and it solved my issues with it. I haven't heard of anyone else using long lines on the beergun, but plenty of people here agree with line length balancing using the mikesoltys.com calculator.

I will absolutely be trying this next time. One of the main things I hated about using the Blichmann was having to purge my keg to get the pressure down to 5 or whatever it is they recommend. I don't mind it as much for something like a saison or low hopped beer. But for my hoppy beers, it takes a damn act of Congress for me to touch that PRV once it's filled and carbed. I hate blowing off all that nice aroma. I'm gonna give it a shot with 20 feet at serving pressure. Thanks for the heads up!

P.S. I assume you just coil it all up and zip tie it so you don't have 20' of tubing lying all over the place when you're filling bottles?

 

[augiedoggy]

Are the ones on AliExpress long enough to fill growlers and 22oz. bottles? I've never used a beergun of any type and always wondered if they were only for 120z bottles.

yes I fill both.

 

[FirmHandshake]

the original "inferior" and much cheaper design was sold by blichman for $160 just because they could get away with it at the time.

Where did you see beerguns for $160? I believe mine was like $75.

 

[DarkNoonBrewer]

I've been to Blichmann's shop a few times even when the beer gun was new and nothing else existed on the market. It is and always was made here in the USA. What is your agenda? Are you angry that you're not making profit of your innovations? Why don't you give it a shot and see how easy it is? You build a manufacturing facility! Where did you get $160? It was $75 this whole time until it was redesigned and included all the accessories. I've used the new gun as well. The tip does not fall off. You have to disassemble the gun to get the tip off. Its not going anywhere. The Chinese POS you have does not have the improved design.

I guess I cant get you to stop, so Im not even sure why I started this response. Enjoy homebrewing please, and let us fans of buying products that are already assembled and ready to go with replacement parts and quality service a phone call way, enjoy our purchase and stop talking about companies you know nothing about.

Cheers

But the original blichmann beergun was not made here. It was made in china along with the older generation blichmann kettles... They are making an effort to make everything here more now than ever but that wasnt always the case. You seem to know a lot about this new gun I assume you have one then? If it does have all the things you say its a fairly good gun and I underestimated it,

But lets not forget the fact that its most likely only better and cheaper because of the chinese competition in the first place.. the original "inferior" and much cheaper design was sold by blichman for $160 just because they could get away with it at the time. Now they have been forced to step up their game and the result is better and more economical choices for us.. The rest of the world doesnt necessarily play by our version of the capitalism rules..The manufactuerer in china often reserves the right to sell the product direct to countries where blichmann or whomever they make them for may not market them like the intertap faucets. and the quickest way to ensure your design will be stolen is to send it there intentionally to have them build it for you for pennies on the dollar..

 

[murphyslaw]

FWIW, I've got no complaints with the performance of the old Beergun. I've never had the tip fall off, the carbonation is perfect, and I feel confident that the co2 flushing is adequate for long-term storage. I had tried the BM version but always made a huge mess and wasted a ton of beer. I know others have had better results, so its probably user error, but the mess is minimal with the Blichman.

The only thing that I find annoying is that its a bit of a hassle. You've got to flush it with sanitizer, disconnect the liquid keg line and connect your beergun, connect it to the co2, use it, clean it, then clean up whatever mess I made. My kegerator is a tight squeeze and my CO2 lines go through it, so I've got lines everywhere and they always seem just short enough, or restricted enough, that its a bit more annoying than it should be.

Its great when I have to fill 20 bottles or if I'm entering a competition and don't mind the extra time and effort to get it right. But if I'm on my way out the door and think "oh, I should bring a growler" or I'm trying to pack up the car after work and get on the road for trip, or even just trying to get the damn kids out the door on time, taking 20-30 min to fill up a growler isn't usually worth it.

As an aside, I just bought a growler filler from Midwest that is just a silicone tube with a connection that fits into a perlick faucet. I'm not worried about co2 flushing a growler because its not intended to last more than a day or two. As long as the carbonation is okay, I'll be thrilled. In fact, I'd probably use it for bottles too, relegating the beergun to competition bottles only.

 

[Maylar]

I opted for the Last Straw instead of a beer gun. At the time the price was comparable and the reviews were excellent. It's a fine quality piece of gear.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I've been using the Beer Gun for a while.
It usually works great unless your beverage is highly carbonated.
I had some very fizzy ciders that I tried bottling and they always foam, whereas normally carbonated beer doesn't.
It's a good piece of equipment but I wonder if newer designs might surpass it.
If I were buying today I'd probably try The Last Straw.

 

[-CHRIS-]

just looking for real world experience. is it on par with bottle primed, or even store bought ??

Last weekend I drank a year old bourbon stout that I bottled off a keg and it was perfect. Subsequently I sold my gen1 beer gun and the gen 2 one just showed up today! It really is a huge improvement in usability and I look forward to using it.

Cleaning it is a pain and I agree that it is quite a bit of work to fill a few bottles. I already have a keg of star san and may fill a keg with PBW to make cleaning easier.

Chris

 

[augiedoggy]

I've been to Blichmann's shop a few times even when the beer gun was new and nothing else existed on the market. It is and always was made here in the USA. What is your agenda? Are you angry that you're not making profit of your innovations? Why don't you give it a shot and see how easy it is? You build a manufacturing facility! Where did you get $160? It was $75 this whole time until it was redesigned and included all the accessories. I've used the new gun as well. The tip does not fall off. You have to disassemble the gun to get the tip off. Its not going anywhere. The Chinese POS you have does not have the improved design.

I guess I cant get you to stop, so Im not even sure why I started this response. Enjoy homebrewing please, and let us fans of buying products that are already assembled and ready to go with replacement parts and quality service a phone call way, enjoy our purchase and stop talking about companies you know nothing about.

Cheers

I'm not angry about anything.. It was here in what would be an old thread about the beer gun that I was told it was made overseas along with the version one kettles at the time. When I first looked into buying one it was not $75. I have a friend who bought one years ago before I was even into brewing and he told me it cost him $160.
Regardless your right, I'm not being productive here defending the Chinese guns

 

[TravelingLight]

Regardless your right, I'm not being productive here defending the Chinese guns

Nonsense! You have (or will) save me some money. For that, I'm thankful.

 

[jmark]

But lets not forget the fact that its most likely only better and cheaper because of the chinese competition in the first place.. the original "inferior" and much cheaper design was sold by blichman for $160 just because they could get away with it at the time. Now they have been forced to step up their game and the result is better and more economical choices for us.. The rest of the world doesnt necessarily play by our version of the capitalism rules..The manufactuerer in china often reserves the right to sell the product direct to countries where blichmann or whomever they make them for may not market them like the intertap faucets. and the quickest way to ensure your design will be stolen is to send it there intentionally to have them build it for you for pennies on the dollar..

Yup, I don't disagree and you don't even have to have them build it for you for them to steal it and sell it themselves. I read an article somwhere recently about folks who post projects on Kickstarter when they're in prototype stage, getting their ideas knocked off within days (yes, days!) by Chinese companies. That's just demoralizing! I understand why companies use Chinese manufacturers, but to me they end up cutting off their nose to spite their face.

Oh yeah... I do have the new model and it does work a lot better than the old model... I struggled with that one and sold it after using it a handful of times years ago. The new model, along with a desire to start bottling some of my stronger, ageable, beer from kegs had me giving the new model a try... so far I'm quite happy. YMMV.

EDIT... on the whole $160 argument... I believe I paid around $80 for the original gun... BUT (and it's a huge one) ended up paying another 40-50 bucks on 'attachment kits' to actually hook it up properly, so you're not far off on that $160 figure. The new gun does include the attachments necessary if you're just hooking it up to regulator/manifold that already has a flare connector, but if you don't have that you do still need to pick up a wye adaptor and shut-off valve.

 

[augiedoggy]

I am trying to get some confirmation on where I read about the guns being made in china for blichmann... mainly for my own personal knowledge and because I could have been incorrectly spreading misinformation here. Honestly it could boil down to the components being made there and assy done here or perhaps the whole thing was made here but I dont think so. I remember the part about it being from china not being questioned at the time and thats stuck with me like the gen 1 kettles. It was back when the ones first popped up from china and through other distrbuters like williams brewing as the kegking brand (who now has the intertap faucets made too) which was a few years ago. I have noticed other possible clone products like the autosparge are on aliexpress but not available to be sold to the US in the all stainless form but ok in brass which seems like a licensing thing to me like what happened with my intertap faucets.. which were real and not clones or knockoffs but for less than half the price until intertap stopped them from being able to ship them to the states. So there appears to be some enforcement going on... maybe blichmann never actually got the patent on the beergun all I could find was patent pending..

 

[jmcquesten]

I will absolutely be trying this next time. One of the main things I hated about using the Blichmann was having to purge my keg to get the pressure down to 5 or whatever it is they recommend. I don't mind it as much for something like a saison or low hopped beer. But for my hoppy beers, it takes a damn act of Congress for me to touch that PRV once it's filled and carbed. I hate blowing off all that nice aroma. I'm gonna give it a shot with 20 feet at serving pressure. Thanks for the heads up!

P.S. I assume you just coil it all up and zip tie it so you don't have 20' of tubing lying all over the place when you're filling bottles?

Yes, I coil it and zip tie it. I actually think I have more like 25 ft. The only drawback of longer line (especially for bottling) is the cost. When serving for the faucet, the really long line can cut back on head, but when bottling, you don't want or need any foam.