giftedeye2
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2020
- Messages
- 49
- Reaction score
- 12
Is there a way I can bottle from my keg without the beer being oxidized?
Bottle from Keg
- Thread starter giftedeye2
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Ridenour64
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2012
- Messages
- 603
- Reaction score
- 248
I believe there is a sticky for making a beer gun from basic brewing materials under the bottling or kegging section of the forums.
I recommend the Blichman beer gun though.
I recommend the Blichman beer gun though.
Amadeo38
Well-Known Member
Sure, there is. Here’s what I do:
1. Increase the PSI of the beer in the keg by a few points for a few days before you plan to bottle. This helps counteract the carbonation lost due to bottling.
2. On bottling day, clean and sanitize your bottles, then with sanitizer still in them, put them in the fridge for long enough to chill them down. This helps prevent foaming since the bottle will be about the same temp as the kegged beer.
3. Depending on your setup, you’ll have to make some sort of device that will get beer down to the bottom of the bottle. If you serve from a picnic tap, shoving a piece of rigid plastic tubing into the tap works perfectly (you can use the tubing from your old bottling wand). Onto this tubing, slide a small size cork that fits in the mouth of a beer bottle. I forget the size number. If you serve from taps, it’s a bit more complicated. I have intertap faucets and found a certain size tubing fits over the end of the spout and also into the mouth of a bottle perfectly without much space. I shove it all the way up until it seals onto the tap and creates back-pressure, which I periodically release as it builds.
4. Purge the keg and drop the pressure in your regulator to ~2PSI - just enough to push the beer out.
5. Take your bottle out of the fridge and purge the headspace with co2. I use a second gas line with the QD unscrewed from the mfl to do this.
6. Insert the tubing to the bottom of the bottle and push the cork down into the mouth of the bottle to create a seal for building back-pressure. This helps keep foam down. If you’ve got a really good seal, periodically burp it so your bottle doesn’t explode.
7. Dispense until full then cap on foam, ideally.
1. Increase the PSI of the beer in the keg by a few points for a few days before you plan to bottle. This helps counteract the carbonation lost due to bottling.
2. On bottling day, clean and sanitize your bottles, then with sanitizer still in them, put them in the fridge for long enough to chill them down. This helps prevent foaming since the bottle will be about the same temp as the kegged beer.
3. Depending on your setup, you’ll have to make some sort of device that will get beer down to the bottom of the bottle. If you serve from a picnic tap, shoving a piece of rigid plastic tubing into the tap works perfectly (you can use the tubing from your old bottling wand). Onto this tubing, slide a small size cork that fits in the mouth of a beer bottle. I forget the size number. If you serve from taps, it’s a bit more complicated. I have intertap faucets and found a certain size tubing fits over the end of the spout and also into the mouth of a bottle perfectly without much space. I shove it all the way up until it seals onto the tap and creates back-pressure, which I periodically release as it builds.
4. Purge the keg and drop the pressure in your regulator to ~2PSI - just enough to push the beer out.
5. Take your bottle out of the fridge and purge the headspace with co2. I use a second gas line with the QD unscrewed from the mfl to do this.
6. Insert the tubing to the bottom of the bottle and push the cork down into the mouth of the bottle to create a seal for building back-pressure. This helps keep foam down. If you’ve got a really good seal, periodically burp it so your bottle doesn’t explode.
7. Dispense until full then cap on foam, ideally.
about how long do you think it will stay fresh/drinkable bottling this way? I'd like to bottle some for my family but may not see them for a couple of months.
ITV
Well-Known Member
Amadeo38
Well-Known Member
I’ve been giving out the beers I bottled from keg intending to be submitted to NHC, and they’re still carbed. They were bottled in January and kept at 38F since.
I've got 2 botting methods. Tapcooler is about as good as it gets for bottling from a keg. I have bottled about a case off of it and worked perfectly. I've never tried it directly from my unitank, but in theory it should also work as well. Tapcooler is great for just regular size bottles. You have to hold each one, and mass bottling can get tiresome.
My favorite setup for mass bottling is the William's Warn counter pressure bottle filler. Its pricey, but works like magic. I've filled runs of 144 bottles off of it very consistently. have used it both from keg and direct from unitank. I've got a smoked lager that I made for someone else, and some bottles are about 6 months old. He said they're still getting smoother as they age. Nice thing about it is that the filling cone can accommodate a large range of containers including the common one gallon growlers. Just got done filling one about an hour ago.
My favorite setup for mass bottling is the William's Warn counter pressure bottle filler. Its pricey, but works like magic. I've filled runs of 144 bottles off of it very consistently. have used it both from keg and direct from unitank. I've got a smoked lager that I made for someone else, and some bottles are about 6 months old. He said they're still getting smoother as they age. Nice thing about it is that the filling cone can accommodate a large range of containers including the common one gallon growlers. Just got done filling one about an hour ago.
I built this - We no need no stinking beer gun....
I’ve gone to leaving my pressure alone, I do put the bottles in. Freezer to cool them down. I have no idea how long they dtay carbinated,but mine lasted a week(still carbed)
edit: use the setup to fill my growlers as well... going inside and down the stairs while enjoying a fire outside stinks.....
I’ve gone to leaving my pressure alone, I do put the bottles in. Freezer to cool them down. I have no idea how long they dtay carbinated,but mine lasted a week(still carbed)
edit: use the setup to fill my growlers as well... going inside and down the stairs while enjoying a fire outside stinks.....
I also use the “stinkin beer gun method” of a broken bottling wand and a cork; I have had bottles stay carbed for months.
I even had a growler stay carbed for over a week because the coworker I gave it to forgot it in the staff room fridge and it got lost in the back.
I even had a growler stay carbed for over a week because the coworker I gave it to forgot it in the staff room fridge and it got lost in the back.
I just ordered the tapcooler with ball lock adapter. Can't wait to give some recent brews away to family and my neighbor that's always gifting me wine that he and his family make.
Any tips? I've had a capper for years and caps. Does it work well with 22oz bombers or should I just stick to regular 12oz?
Any tips? I've had a capper for years and caps. Does it work well with 22oz bombers or should I just stick to regular 12oz?
If I'm bottling a handful I slide tubing into the faucet. Purge the bottle then fill and cap . Over a month later and no issues of oxidation nor lack of carbonation. A beer gun if I'm bottling more.
ITV
Well-Known Member
I seal the bottle with the stopper and hit it with CO2 until it comes out the relief valve since the relief valve can stick from beer foam.
Works just as well with 22 oz bombers.
My perlick faucets have a flow control so I can do the initial dial in with that. Rinse it well after each use, I dunk it in starsan after and before each use.
It works very well bottling a 6 or 12 pack since clean up is so easy. With my previous beer gun I had to deal with cleaning 6' of beer line each time.
Similar threads
