DIY Beer Gun - keezer faucet,growler filler, racking cane?

[thehebs]

I have seen a lot of people making diy beer guns out of a racking cane, a rubber stopper, and a picnic tap, i.e. [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqOwX3oHV1s[/ame]

Could I not just use the racking cane and stopper like the other diy beer guns, but replace the picnic tap by using one of these growler fillers to hook up to my perlick?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013GWR8VC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[RedlegEd]

I don't see why not, it sounds like a good idea. My only concern would be how much reverse/back pressure the growler tube could take before it pops out of the faucet (even at 3 psi.) If you could control (i.e. keep upward pressure) the filler tube to keep it in the faucet and prevent it from blowing loose, then I think it would work well.

 

[thehebs]

I don't see why not, it sounds like a good idea. My only concern would be how much reverse/back pressure the growler tube could take before it pops out of the faucet (even at 3 psi.) If you could control (i.e. keep upward pressure) the filler tube to keep it in the faucet and prevent it from blowing loose, then I think it would work well.

Ok cool thanks. Ill get it ordered and give it a go. Im in southaven by the way

 

[RedlegEd]

Sounds good, let me know how it goes. I gave it some additional thought, and I wonder just how much impact filling with back pressure has vs just filling with a growler tube from the bottom? The Blichmann beer gun doesn't use a stopper, it lets you purge with CO2 before filling, but other than that, it fills from the bottom like the growler tube. Since CO2 is a little heavier than air, once you shot some into a bottle (and kept it upright,) you'd think you'd get the same effect. The only other difference might be the speed with which the beer was transferred (faster with a growler tube unless you have a faucet with a flow control valve.) Mmmmmipe:

 

[orangehero]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IgVx3h5llA[/ame]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXhYmTlHH50[/ame]

 

[thehebs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IgVx3h5llA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXhYmTlHH50

Interesting... My perlicks arent 2 piece though I dont think. I think my little growler adapter filler will work, but I might have to rig up some kinda rubber band contraption to hold it on depending on how tight it fits. It should be here weds and I will try to go get a #3 stopper at the LBS tomorrow. I will keep you guys posted.

 

[Paedagogus]

I use a 1/2" stainless T with a pressure relief valve off the T along with 1/2" tubing. The tubing fits nicely around my Perlick flow control faucets and the other end fits snugly enough inside bottles to maintain a "counter pressure" fill. I just back off on the pressure relief valve to let the flow continue. I've had bottles 4 months later that were still perfectly carbonated.

 

[orangehero]

That looks way too complicated and much more difficult to keep all those threads sanitary than the solution posted above. If you're set on your contraption it would probably be easier to switch the PRV to a ball or needle valve.

 

[Paedagogus]

Sanitation is not really a problem, its cleaned after each use and disassembled. Then soaked in a bucked of star-san and reassembled before using. I threw it together with parts I had laying around and it has held up well but to each his own

 

[RedlegEd]

@ thehebs. So, how did it go? Have you had a chance to try it out? I was thinking about using a standard bottle filling wand and the growler filler, with a little CO2 purge before hand.

 

[krazydave]

I use a growler filler, bottling wand and stoppers and don't even drop the pressure on the kegs before bottling. Been doing that for years without much issue.
Bottles have been tasted approx two years later also without any oxygenation off flavor and carbonation still good.

 

[RedlegEd]

I use a growler filler, bottling wand and stoppers and don't even drop the pressure on the kegs before bottling. Been doing that for years without much issue.
Bottles have been tasted approx two years later also without any oxygenation off flavor and carbonation still good.

Krazydave, thanks! That's good to know. All I need to do now is size a drilled stopper for my Grolsch flip tops & I'm in business. Sure beats bottling the old fashioned way, and screwing up the carbonation. I love kegging, but wanted a simple (and cheap) way to share a few bottles.

 

[krazydave]

I actually have three different sized stoppers on mine stacked so that I can fill whatever I need to.

 

[RedlegEd]

Great idea!

 

[Yesfan]

I do mine just like the one in the Joe Fisher video Orangehero posted. I bottle from full serving pressure (12psi) and have not had any issues. About the only difference with his setup and mine is his tower (jealous) and I use my Fast Rack drip tray vs his wall paper tray for catching the excess beer.


I also have an assortment of stoppers I use for my bottles and various growlers. I use the following sizes...........

#2 stopper for 12,16, and 22 oz bottles.
#6 - typical glass just growlers, 1/2 gallon and gallon
Large universal stopper (aka Better Bottles' bungs) - 2L glass swing top growlers.


The small universal bungs for my big mouth bubbler fermenters fits those growlers that look like kegs (Man Can).

 

[drgonzo2k2]

I think I have basically the same setup as krazydave. I have Ventmatic faucets, so I use their threaded grolwer filler which attaches to my tap > short section of 1/4" ID plastic tubing > 1/4" ID stainless steel tube. Then I've got a couple of different stoppers that I use for filling 12 or 22 oz bottles and 2L growlers or 32 oz and 64 oz growlers. Works perfect every time! No messing with the pressure, no messing around with the connections to the keg, etc., just really easy.

 

[GrillaRays]

Yes, both strategies have worked very well for me. I've used BierMuncher's invention https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24678 for my 12 and 16 ounce bottles, and I've also used the growler filler (sans picnic tap) to fill my half gallon growlers direct from my taps.
I once tried filling these bottles without using the stoppers, but ended up wasting a lot in foam. The key is using the stoppers and the counter-pressure it creates to reduce the foaming to a minimum. I also noticed that if I chill the assembly in the freezer for a minute helps reduce foaming too.

 

[RedlegEd]

Thanks guys. All really good tips and points, especially why using counter-pressure is important to prevent foaming.

 

[RedlegEd]

I wanted to pass that along that I tried using the growler filler on a standard faucet (rear seal type) and bottling wand with a #2 drilled bung, and it made a real mess, even at lower pressures. The second you put the beer under pressure in the bottle, it starts coming out the vent hole in the faucet. Foam and beer everywhere...glad I used a bucket! I think I'll do the picnic tap thing rather than spend a bunch of money on a threaded Ventmatic growler filler ($30 and out of stock.) Since I don't bottle very much, the less expensive route seems to be the better option.

 

[drgonzo2k2]

I wanted to pass that along that I tried using the growler filler on a standard faucet (rear seal type) and bottling wand with a #2 drilled bung, and it made a real mess, even at lower pressures. The second you put the beer under pressure in the bottle, it starts coming out the vent hole in the faucet. Foam and beer everywhere...glad I used a bucket! I think I'll do the picnic tap thing rather than spend a bunch of money on a threaded Ventmatic growler filler ($30 and out of stock.) Since I don't bottle very much, the less expensive route seems to be the better option.

First thing, just to make sure, you would need Ventmatic faucets for the Ventmatic growler filler to fit. They also make growler fillers for various Perlick faucets, but I've not used them. Just wanted to make sure you didn't try to order a part that wouldn't work for your setup!

Second, I think if you have rear sealing faucets with a vent/drain hole that you're going to run into that same problem using anything that restricts pressure after the tap. Basically the gas and beer are going to escape at the path of least resistance, which will always be that hole if you restrict it down stream.

 

[RedlegEd]

@drgonzo2k2

Thanks, but I have one [new] Vent-matic Ultraflow faucet and two generic rear seal types (slowly upgrading my Kegerator.) It happens the Bock I was trying to bottle was on one of the rear seal faucets and I was using a generic growler filler. I was just making comment to the cost of buying a Vent-matic specialty growler filler vs using the picnic tap I already have. I checked, and it doesn't have a vent hole. The bottling 3/8" wand fits snuggly in the tap, so I think it'll withstand the ~3-5 psi back-pressure when filling the bottle.

BTW, would you mind sharing your house Kölsch recipe? I've got a pretty good one, but I'm always looking to improve. I got a can of the Imperial G03 Deiter Kölsch yeast and I'm itching to try it out.

 

[drgonzo2k2]

@drgonzo2k2
BTW, would you mind sharing your house Kölsch recipe? I've got a pretty good one, but I'm always looking to improve. I got a can of the Imperial G03 Deiter Kölsch yeast and I'm itching to try it out.

Oh hey, sure thing. My "house Kölsch" is actually EdWort's Bee Cave Brewery Kölsch, but I use a different fermentation profile as follows:

Ferment at 58 degrees for 5 days, then ramp temp to 68 degrees for 2 more days

Then cold crash @ 33 degrees for 2 days prior to kegging, fining with gelatin once beer drops below 50 degrees.

Cheers!

 

[RedlegEd]

Great, thanks. Very similar to mine, but I don't use as much Wheat. As for fermenting, it's easy enough to build that profile for my STC1000+.