Bottling from a Keg

[Graemebrew22]

hey there I’ve lost my bottling wand and have 2 weeks to bottle beer and have it ready. What’s my best course of action to have beer carbonated and not oxidized.
Here are my 2 plans so far
#1 Force carb beer and add growler pourer to tap. Purge carb and set to 5 psi and pour from there squeezing bottles so to reduce o2 before capping.
#2 same as #1 expect bottle condition by adding sugar to keg the pour into bottles with same method and growler pourer.
With #1 I am concerned with o2 and waist with foam. But it will be best due to my time constraints.
Appreciate all your thoughts.

 

[JohnSand]

Hi, welcome aboard. I use low pressure to bottle from the keg. It works pretty well, I generally draw a pint in a glass first to cool the tap. I also chill the bottle. Try a few test bottles to see how they're carbed. You can also slightly overcarb the keg to help make up for foam. Read the kegging/bottling section for more ideas.

 

[Graemebrew22]

Thanks for the welcome. And thanks for the response. I will force carb a bit more than usual and then move the pressure to 5psi then pour from my tap with a growler pourer.
Thanks

 

[GPP33]

Personally I have found no need to over carb as you really don’t loose a lot of carbonation if you move quickly, plus higher carbonation means more foaming beer. I have also found that reducing the pressure results in more foam as it starts to come out of solution in the line. Maybe going to a short line would eliminate this. I simply bottle at the desired carbonation level and leave the keg at serving pressure, you loose a little but not much. A helper is nice so you can fill and cap without stopping.

I also over fill, since you aren’t adding carbonation in the bottle you don’t need head space, fill it to the brim with beer. You don’t get that satisfying hiss when you pop the top but the product in your glass will be better.

 

[bobeer]

Chilling the bottles help a lot with the foam. When I have to bottle off the keg I usually get a 1/2 inch tube and jam it up the faucet, put the gas on 2 psi or as low as you can go and fill them slowly. I've never thought to over carb because I've never had a beer go flat or be any less carb'ed than when I bottled it. Just play around with it and you'll figure it out.

 

[BitterSweetBrews]

For me, bottling is like BBQ Smoking. Go low (pressure) and slow.

Purge the keg before starting and only push 2-4 lbs of CO2 pressure. Get everything the same temperature, put your bottles in the keezer with your kegs beforehand.

As others have said, I also wedge a tube in my tap and bottle from there. I have also used a picnic tap with a bottling wand stuffed in it which can give you a little better control (although, since you lost yours, that's no help). I have also tried counter-pressure filling from the picnic tap with a bottling wand through a cork.

I have over-carbed a pound or two the day before, but I don't know if it really makes much of a difference.

To stave off oxygenation, you can purge your bottles before filling with CO2. Also, cap on foam. The foam is caused my CO2 coming out, so there won't be any oxygen in it.

Once in a while, I get a foam gusher when bottling, I am not sure why I think that is usually when counter-pressure filling with the wand and a cork.

I have tried all these methods and have found filling from the tap through a piece of tubing seems to be the easiest for me. I put a TV tray under my taps and bottle in a tub or plastic food container to contain any overflow. That's perfectly good beer that overflows, I drink it.