Has anyone tried the Blichmann Beer Gun?

[sfrice80]

Alright, I have a new option I guess for kegging and bottling, has anyone tried the bottling beer gun and did it work successfully?

I'm guessing you just force carbonate your beer and then hook up this beer gun to your draft system and bottle your beer and quickly cap it. This way I wont have that layer of yeast at the bottom and wont have to wait for bottle conditioning. Any thoughts?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Waste of money in my opinion. Search for the thread "we don't need no stinking beer gun". There's a ton of input on that thread about other methods available.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Any thoughts?

I have the beer gun, and love it. I've got a three tap Kegerator, and a 4-way gas manifold with a gas line for the beer gun, so I can bottle almost on demand...

 

[ErieShores]

BierMuncher has a thread titled "We don't need no stinking beer gun" . Check it out, good results have been posted.
Edit:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

 

[sfrice80]

Thanks for the post. Those look super easy to assemble. My only question would be, how long do those keep? I am wanting to bottle an entire 5 gallon batch that way, which means it will need to keep for longer then 10 days. I'm guessing they should be fine for 6 months.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Honestly... I used to use the method mentioned in BM's thread...but not anymore. I hook up a hose directly to my tap and make sure it runs to the bottom of the bottle. Fill it up and cap it. They don't get completely full, but it's only an ounce or so short, so I'm not overly concerned. I've had some in my fridge for 8+ months that are still carbonated fine. I've also got some in my closet that I bottled about 4 months ago that are good to go.

 

[yodalegomaster]

The beer gun expects all the things to be the same temp, including the bottles. If not the foam can be excessive. I works great for 4 months of the year when the bottles are cold, but it's a mess at 80 degrees.

 

[ErieShores]

The beer gun expects all the things to be the same temp, including the bottles. If not the foam can be excessive. I works great for 4 months of the year when the bottles are cold, but it's a mess at 80 degrees.

Put them in the freezer before you fill.

 

[Nugent]

BierMuncher has a thread titled "We don't need no stinking beer gun" . Check it out, good results have been posted.
Edit:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

It's ghetto, like all of my hobbled together equipment, but - damn - it works like a charm.

 

[3 Dog Brew]

I have one and it remains in the box, in the garage under some stuff I actually use. I've tried using it a number of times and even corresponded with John Blichmann about it and I still can't make the dang thing work.

 

[Sea]

+1 for BM's solution. Cost me a stopper. works just as well, maybe even easier, and they last indefinitely, or at least as long as you would ever want them to.

 

[ksbrain]

I have a beer gun, but don't use it much any more. I normally will only bottle one or two or six at a time from a keg, and a tube on the end of a picnic tap works great for that. Compared to the simple tube method, the beer gun takes a while to set up and can be awkward to use.

That said, if I were to bottle an entire batch from a keg, I would consider getting the beer gun up and running again.

 

[Shepherd5]

I also like the easier, cheaper method. On the other hand, that beer gun from MoreBeer looks very nice, perhaps better!

 

[steinsato]

The beer gun makes bottling incredibly easier. You can purge the bottles and fill them with one hand. Personally, I think it is worth every penny. I've never chilled my bottles prior to bottling and do not have issues with foaming like others have posted. Main thing is to make sure you only have about 3 psi on your keg.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

I'm also a BMBF to Beer Gun convert. Mostly because I won a few gift certificates at contests and used that to purchase. I personally love it. Extremely easy to use, and I too have never had a problem not freezing the bottles. I do put the beverage line in the keezer a while before bottling, and low PSI does the trick for me.

 

[Beerbuck]

+1 on BM method, work great and no need to wash a beer gun Save time and money!

 

[carnevoodoo]

I love my beer gun. Lots. It is easy to use and I like that you can purge the bottles before you fill them.

 

[remilard]

+1 on BM method, work great and no need to wash a beer gun Save time and money!

Is cleaning a picnic tap and a piece of racking cane that much different?

 

[Beerbuck]

how long does it take to wash your beer gun?

 

[remilard]

how long does it take to wash your beer gun?

Don't have one. How long does it take you to wash yours?

 

[lowlife]

I like mine better than any other solution I have tried. Hardly any foam with room temp bottles easy enough to clean.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

how long does it take to wash your beer gun?

2-3 minutes tops. What about it do you think takes so long?

 

[Beerbuck]

my friend says it took an hour to set it up

 

[lowlife]

it shouldnt take that long at all.
step 1-sanitize (about 5 minutes for me)
step 2-Attach beer line to keg (30 seconds)
step 3-Attach gas line to co2 block (another 30 seconds)
Thats it....

 

[steinsato]

I've used mine 5 times so far and honestly I haven't bothered taking it completely apart yet. I just soak it in Iodophor before and after use.

 

[ksbrain]

It takes longer to set it up if you disassemble it every time, and also if you have to set up a completely separate CO2 rig just to use it. My main CO2 manifold is in the fridge, and I wouldn't want to leave the fridge open for a long time while bottling 5 gallons. So I have to pull out the backup CO2 tank, the backup regulator, the backup manifold and set that all up. I guess if I had the CO2 all ready to go set up outside the fridge, and didn't store the beergun disassembled, it wouldn't take long to set up. I just don't really have a very convenient way to leave that sort of thing set up all the time given the very occasional use it would get.

 

[garae10]

I have one and it remains in the box, in the garage under some stuff I actually use. I've tried using it a number of times and even corresponded with John Blichmann about it and I still can't make the dang thing work.

neither do i. i just tried to make it work today but didn't succeed. A great waste of beer, cause the beer i could put in some bottles (that were half filled because of foaming trouble) doesn't seem to be carbed at all. I think i won't ever use it again. The beer was not overcarbed or warm. I tried to bottle the last 2 gallons of a batch i drank last night.
DON'T BUY IT. GREAT WASTE OF MONEY

 

[pjj2ba]

The big plus of the beer gun is the CO2 purge. If you are wanting to enter beers in a competition this can make a difference - unless your beers are to be sampled within a day or two of bottling. There are no local competitions for me and shipping is always involved so for me it is worth it.

There is a definite learning curve.