Remember the Bowie bottlers? They were designed for perlicks. Has anyone tried using one with intertap faucets?
Bowie bottler with intertap faucets
- Thread starter sfrisby
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I don't see why you couldn't do that using one of these growler-filler spouts:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/intertap-beer-faucet-parts-growler-filler-spout.html
I have one of the "poor man's beer guns" that look similar with the stopper to control pressure. I've mostly given up using it for bottling directly off the tap using a growler filler. Chill the bottles, chill the faucet w/ a preparatory beer, and very little foam. Toward the end I allow a little foam so i'm capping on foam. Works very well.
A short Youtube video showing that:
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OP
OP
My only hesitation with the growler filler is the size of the tubing and thus the amount of headspace left behind.
Once I’m set up I’ll just give it a whirl with both options and see what happens.
Once I’m set up I’ll just give it a whirl with both options and see what happens.
augiedoggy
Well-Known Member
you can always use thin walled silicone, I do. Also pulling much of the hose out of the bottle as it fills removed this dead space.
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It's always a learned technique to remove the tubing while filling the bottle so that the remaining hose-drained beer fills up to where you want in the bottle after removing the hose completely.
Not sure what you mean by that. As the bottle fills I pull it down off the growler filler so as to leave myself the appropriate amount of headspace. I try for about an inch of headspace to maybe 1.5", filled with foam so no air in that headspace.
If you look at the video again you can see how, as the bottle fills, I'm pulling it down off the growler filler.
OP
OP
I guess it’s a technique thing. The point of the accompaniment to the Bowie bottler was to hold pressure while filling (like a poor man’s beer gun) to minimize foaming. If you are pulling out the tube as you fill, there’s no counter pressure to reduce foaming. But as you said, maybe it’s a technique that needs practice.
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No, I get that--I have one of those fillers too, and I've used it. But it turns out that if you have chilled the bottles before filling (which you should do with either method), and run a half glass of beer through the faucet to chill it (through the growler filler too), there's very little foam to begin with--and thus, whatever loss of carbonation there might be is negligible.
I've just found it easier (and less messy, believe it or not) to fill off the growler filler. As always, YMMV, and choose what works best for you.
I still use the Bowie accompaniment with an intertap growler filler.
OP
OP
Did you add a reducer to get the accompaniment to fit on the growler filler? I was concerned that would cause too much agitation and bring an excessive amount of co2 out of solution. Apparently not an issue?
