Blichmann beer gun use

[TimelessCynic]

I went to my buddies place about 10 days ago and decided to bottle some beer for him using my beer gun. I followed all the instructions that came with the gun. When i bottled i had a tiny amount of foam on the beer in the bottle. Maybe 1/8th of an inch. I left some head space. Then capped. My friend drank one the other day and said it was flat. Any ideas? Should I not have left headspace?

 

[ColoHox]

If it is balanced correctly there should be no foam. You may need to adjust your dispensing pressure to find the sweet spot.
I usually carb a few points higher when I am bottling with the gun, to compensate for the slight loss.

Also, you should fill the bottle to the brim. Then, pulling the gun out of the bottle leaves the right amount of headspace.

 

[TimelessCynic]

I'll try less pressure then next time. Maybe 2 psi.

Thanks for the input.

 

[The_Canmancan]

I have tried using less pressure and have had mixed results. The best results I get is when the keg is at normal dispensing pressure. Make sure you chill the gun and hose down first though, to reduce foam. I leave mine in the kegerator for an hour or so before bottling. Then like ColoHox says, fill it up to the brim and pull out. It should leave it perfect.

 

[TimelessCynic]

I have tried using less pressure and have had mixed results. The best results I get is when the keg is at normal dispensing pressure. Make sure you chill the gun and hose down first though, to reduce foam. I leave mine in the kegerator for an hour or so before bottling. Then like ColoHox says, fill it up to the brim and pull out. It should leave it perfect.

I will try that too. Any ides on where all my carbonation went? Did it Come out of solution and pressurize the head space?

 

[huhwha]

Make sure you are getting a good seal on your caps. It won't take much of a leak to bleed off the CO2.

 

[The_Canmancan]

I will try that too. Any ides on where all my carbonation went? Did it Come out of solution and pressurize the head space?

I would guess that your beer was never that carbed to begin with, or you left too much headspace.

 

[Geordan]

Realistically a bit of foam with the BeerGun is fine. I'm not patient enough to chill the BeerGun or bottles, but once you've moved a cup of cold beer through it it's fine. I fill till the foam hits the lip, remove the gun and the fill level is perfect. Never had a problem with losing carbonation, though it's worth noting that the bottling process DOES knock some CO2 out of solution, so I tend to drop the temp on my fridge a few days before bottling to get more CO2 into solution to compensate.

 

[Braufessor]

I doubt you "lost" CO2..... I agree that either the beer was not very carbed to begin with, or perhaps it did not cap tightly or perhaps the neck cracked slightly when bottling - I have done that before on more than one occasion and never noticed until later on. But, there is really nowhere for the CO2 to go..... unless it was not there to begin with, or there was a way for it to escape. A slight amt. could be lost filling - but not much. I have bottles I filled that are 6 months+ old and they are still carbed just fine.
+1 to low pressure, filling full and cold. If I have a keg carbed up and I want to bottle - I put sanitized bottles in freezer while I get other stuff ready. I hook up beer gun and put it in fridge (in a pitcher of starsan) with kegs for a few minutes while I get other stuff ready. I vent keg to no pressure and then hook up CO2 set to 1-2lbs. I run beer through the line into a glass to get all the air out and then start filling. If you pause too long in between bottles, some CO2 will come out of solution in the beer line and you may have to run a bit of beer through into glass again to clear all bubbles. I cap immediately every 1-2 bottles.

 

[TimelessCynic]

That's great info. Thank you for an explanation of your process.

 

[xico]

I work for a homebrew store that has a beer gun they were using for a while and want to sell for less than the cost. I'm considering picking it up but have a question.

Some people refer to holding carbonation in bottles from keg in weeks. Is this equipment not suited to bottling beer I intend to store for months. Can I use this device and reliably hold carbonation at the levels I want for as long a time as priming sugar?

 

[canehdianman]

Maybe I misunderstand your question, but why would the implement used to fill up the bottles have any effect on how long the bottle can hold carbonation?

The blichmann beer gun works great, but it won't be able to magically ensure your bottles can hold pressure longer than normal. THat's entirely up to the quality of bottle and how secure the top is (screw-on or flip-top)

 

[jmcquesten]

I will try that too. Any ides on where all my carbonation went? Did it Come out of solution and pressurize the head space?

I think that's exactly what happened to me the first few times I used my beer gun. Beer was carbonated great pouring from the tap, but when I released the pressure on the keg and dropped to 2 psi, I still ended up with a lot of foam. I tried a bottle the next day and it was almost flat. I know the cap was sealed because I heard a slight hiss when opening.

I tried everything recommended, chilling bottles before filling, lowering pressure to almost nothing, over-carbonating to compensate for loss, cooling beer more to keep more gas in solution, etc. None of these tricks completely solved the problem. Then it occurred to me. At my serving pressures 14 psi - 18 psi, I need 15 - 20 feet of beer line to balance my kegging system and get proper carbonation without a ton of foam, so maybe that's the answer to my beer gun problems. I got a 20 ft piece of (3/16) beer tubing and tried the beer gun at serving pressure. It worked out really well with minimal foaming, and the bottles are just as carbonated as the beer in the keg was.

So, while some people have luck with the short piece of tubing and a really low dispensing pressure, I didn't. This goes back to properly balancing a kegging system and mikesoltys.com line length calculator.

 

[wi_brewer]

Maybe I misunderstand your question, but why would the implement used to fill up the bottles have any effect on how long the bottle can hold carbonation?

I have stored bottles long term after filling with a beer gun. Some beer that I've bottled for a competition months in advance (and ended up winning), and some barrel aged beers that have been stored for a year plus.