I hate filling bottles from corny keg

[BetterBeerThroughDrinking]

But I do, because I’ll be damned if I give a co-worker who kind of likes beer a full keg. That and kegs are heavy.

I have tried everything, chilling the bottles, increasing the length of the beer line, filling from the picnic tap, filling from the Blichmann beer gun, flowing slow, flowing fast. I continuously get flat beer in the bottle and lose a ton of beer. I am going to take the top off the keg and submerge the bottles to fill them from now on because this simply is not worth losing what I do for a flat brew.

Anyone had the same problem?

 

[Yooper]

No. I still hate doing it, but I've used the Blichmann beer gun with great success, even winning competitions with beer I packaged that way.

Before I got the beergun for Christmas a couple of years ago, I used this technique: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

My bottled beer stayed carbed up and not oxidized for months and months, and I won a few competitions with that method as well.

The keys are to turn down the regulator to just fast enough to push the beer, to use enough length of beer line, minimize foaming, and to cap immediately.

 

[BigFloyd]

+1 to not really enjoying the bottling process, but I've had good success with the "We no need no stinkin beergun" at low pressure (less than 5psi).

Mine has about 10ft of 3/16" beer line running off the coupling and connected to a picnic tap with a bottling wand jammed into it. The stopper goes on the wand over a few wraps of teflon tape.

It can get a little messy, so it all happens inside an open 50qt chest cooler with a "foam glass" handy in case I need to clear the wand. A towel is also mandatory.

 

[IslandLizard]

That ^^ and that ^

and both beer and bottles ice cold. I think you need to start out with slightly overcarbed ice-cold beer in the keg, to make up for the carb losses during transfer. The colder the system, the more CO2 it can hold onto.

I haven't been successful getting good carbed up bottles either this way, I understand the frustration. Saturday I got soaked in good wheat Saison when the piece of coupling hose with the fill tube on it popped off the cobra tap. You can't clamp well on that plastic spout...

 

[timrox1212]

I hated this as well but then I started to use 22/24 ounce bottles and it's been sooooo much better. Turn the keg to about 2 psi and shove a racking cane in the end of the tap and your ready to go. The bigger bottles seemed so much better so I bought a case at the LHBS.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[BetterBeerThroughDrinking]

Yooper - good call on the turning down the pressure for the most part, but I start getting bubbles in the line if I go too low. Can't seem to find a good balance.

Lizard - Tried the over carbing (just a little over carbed) and have even more trouble with foaming.

Tim - Also noticed better efficiency with the bombers and if I don't stop from bottle to bottle, the results are a bit better.

Just the ***** process of the beer world I guess. Floyd said It best with the towel and foam cup - or the quality control and consumption cup .

 

[Hello]

I seem to do okay with a piece of tubing jammed into the picnic tap and then filling. But I used growlers, haven't tried a bottle yet.

 

[blizzard]

+1. I have too much loss because of foam, had one recent instance of severe oxidation, and just generally don't enjoy the mess/process of it.

 

[Dolomieu]

I have messed with my setup a lot. Once i think i have it there is an issue. Though it seems to get easier. I now bottle off my tap using growler fillers, a 3 inch piece of vinyl tubing, and a piece of SS tubing. Since going this route i bottle at serving pressure.

It's definitely a chore and not something i look forward to.

 

[llvllayhem]

I use the picnic tap with a racking cane and a stopper, turned down to 5 psi with a cold keg. Except for the first bottle, I get minimal foam. I also have an air gun hooked up to my co2 to purge the bottles, and cap with o2 absorbing caps. I actually have a fairly efficient processes, which I don't mind doing from time to time.

 

[LandoLincoln]

I don't chill my bottles and have close to no foaming issues. I have probably an 8' line for my Blichmann beer gun. The beer ends up being carbonated like it should be.

1) Sanitize some beer bottles with Star San and a vinator and let drip on a bottling tree.
2) Sanitize the beer lines and gun with the super awesome DIY beer line cleaner.
3) Hook up a CO2 line to the beer gun and set it to 3 psi.
4) Turn off the gas line to the corny keg in question and then purge the keg of CO2.
5) Hook up the beer line from the keg to the beer gun.
6) Set the regulator for the corny keg to 3 psi and then turn on the gas to the keg.
7) Test the CO2 trigger to make sure it's working then run some beer into a cup until it's not foaming anymore.
8) Shoot some CO2 into the bottle then fill with beer at an angle until the bottle completely fills.
9) Shoot a bit more CO2 into the headspace of the bottle.
10) Cap the bottle.

Obviously it helps to have someone else sit there and take the bottles and immediately cap them. Or use bottles with swing top lids so you can do it yourself.