Beer gun issues

[kdbentz]

Hello all,
I have a 4 keg system for dispening my glorious homebrew......i recently acquired a Blichmann Beer Gun to use for bottling the brews straight from my kegs.
Although I have only used it 2 times and I understand I may need some refining as to the process, both batches I have bottled have ended up totally flat after sitting in the bottles for about a week.
I set my psi for the gun for both the co2 and the brew at 3psi and cap it immediately.........any tips, pointers or advice would be great!

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Hammy71]

Try to leave as little head space as possible. As you pull the wand out of the bottle, keep filling til the top. Also, a couple of days before you bottle, amp up the pressure on your kegs a couple of psi. The co2 in the beer will equalize with the lower pressure in the head space. I guess another question is....what is your psi in your kegs before you drop the pressure to use the beer gun? If it's way low, then your screwed before you even start.

 

[vNmd]

What is the temp of your kegs before bottling and what pressure do you have them for how long before you bottle? I usually have the kegs as cold as I can get them - 32ish. I use the carbonation chart that is everywhere to figure out the volume of co2 I want. Then I set the pressure. I usually shoot for the upper end of the range of PSI for the temp I am at, then I add 2 or 3 PSI since I bottle the entire keg. I usually don't rush the carbing by shaking the keg. By the time I am ready to bottle my co2 levels are usually pretty good. Then I lower the co2 to about 4psi and purge the keg pressure for bottling. Seems to work ok.

 

[storytyme]

I am on the same lines as everyone else. I purge the bottle with CO2 for about 4 seconds, then I fill until the liquid gets to the very top of the bottle. Once you take the gun out the liquid is at a perfect level. I hit the top with CO2 again (probably not necessary) and then cap. Love the Beer Gun.

 

[kdbentz]

I keep my kegs at about 38 degrees and my psi between 10 and 14 depending on the style of beer. I have thus far dialed the psi down to 3 or 4 for bottling and filled the bottles as close to full as possible.
I will try cooling my kegs down to maybe 33-34 degrees and/or dialing up the psi a few points for a couple days prior to bottling and see how it goes. I have also heard that it is important to keep the bottles themselves very cool just before bottling.....any input there?
Thanks a bunch!

 

[vNmd]

I have heard about others keeping the bottles cold before bottling. I personally don't. I give the bottles one final blast of starsan prior to bottling so everything is out in the open for too long. I wish I had the space (and coordination) to have the bottles chilled but so far I haven't been doing too bad with what I have.

 

[zach976]

Maybe your caps aren't sealing good. Just a thought.

 

[stlbasementbrewer]

Cap one, give it a little agitation and hold it in a bucket full of water. You will see bubbles if it is leaking from the cap.

 

[Hammy71]

The reason people (including myself), put the bottles in the freezer before filling is it keeps the foaming down to a minimum while filling. Works....