Keg carbonating, then bottling

[rockydog101]

Hi all,

May someone please point me in the right direction for learning anything and everything about carbonating my brews in a keg, and then bottling? I understand I would need a keg, and possibly a blichman beergun. But I need to know the in's and out's, how much pressure, how long it takes, etc. For instance, if I backsweetened my cider it would make bottle bombs, but how would I compensate for this in a keg?

Thanks

 

[JohnSand]

There's a great thread, titled "We no need no stinking beer-gun" right at the top of this sub-forum (Bottling/Kegging) that contains everything you need to know.

 

[SeeMont]

I bottle from a keg with the Blichman beergun. Very easy to do, I pressure to about 4 to 5 psi. I rinse and chill my bottles in an ice bath of Starsan, purge with CO2 and fill when they are wet, (this helps with any foaming). The cooler the brew the better. It goes pretty fast, I have never timed the process. As far as back sweetening, I have no idea.

 

[rockydog101]

Interesting! Can you leave the beer at room temp in bottles once the bottling is complete?

 

[JohnSand]

You can store the beer at room temp. If you make cider, and backsweeten with fermentable sugar, you'll either have to keep it cold or pasteurize to prevent bombs, I think.

 

[BigFloppy]

There's really only 1 "sort of" drawback I can think of when keg carbing and then bottling... "wasted co2"

Once you've carbed the keg, you need to pressurize each bottle and then effectively throw away that co2 as it is replaced with beer.

On the flip side, if you've got nice and clear beer, there's none of this leaving the dregs from the bottom of the bottle to worry about

 

[falkaveli]

Although I've heard great things about the beer guns from Blichmann...and I have used the "we don't need no stinkin beer gun" model with success when all I had was a picnic tap, here's how I do it now that I have a beer faucet and it's my favorite...

1) Keg
2) Carbonate to appropriate PSI
3) Put one of these on your faucet http://www.amazon.com/Draft-Warehouse-Extraordinary-Jug-Growler/dp/B003FW6BA8
4) Release CO2 from keg
5) Turn regulator down to 2-4psi
6) Sanitize bottles and filler
7) Fill bottles and cap on foam

I don't purge the bottles and I've never had any issue with oxidation...to include successful competition beers. I've held beers for 4-5 months with no signs of oxidation either.

With no faucet, I'd go with the "no stinkin' beer gun" design. It's not just cheaper, but easier to clean and will never break on you.

 

[AnOldUR]

Interesting! Can you leave the beer at room temp in bottles once the bottling is complete?

Recently had a cellared (50° winter / 65° summer) five year old beer bottled using the BMBF method (no CO2 purge) score a 36 in competition.

(It was a cat 23 beer and I think that it would have done better with a better description. We'll see. It's off to NHC.)

Point is, the beer doesn't have to be refrigerated after bottling from a keg.

 

[Yooper]

You can store the beer at room temp. If you make cider, and backsweeten with fermentable sugar, you'll either have to keep it cold or pasteurize to prevent bombs, I think.

Sure!

With cider there is one extra step- that is to stabilize the cider with sorbate and sulfite (campden) once it's done and completely clear. Then it can be sweetened to taste, kegged, carbed up, and bottled.

 

[DurtyChemist]

Hi all,



May someone please point me in the right direction for learning anything and everything about carbonating my brews in a keg, and then bottling? I understand I would need a keg, and possibly a blichman beergun. But I need to know the in's and out's, how much pressure, how long it takes, etc. For instance, if I backsweetened my cider it would make bottle bombs, but how would I compensate for this in a keg?



Thanks

I wouldn't bottle it until it is a finished product. Back sweeten into a keg, get the carbonation where you want it and then keg it.

 

[rockydog101]

Thank you all for the info, it is extremely helpful and this seems like a great way to do this to ensure consistency and avoid bottle bombs.. A couple of more questions:

1. How long does it take to carb up in a keg? (hours? days?)
2. At what PSI would you typically keg carb? 30?
3. It seems like I would rack my brew into the keg, and then hook the CO2 tank up, and put the whole contraption in a refrigerator. Does it matter what temperature? The colder the better?
4. After I've carbed up in a keg for X amount of time at Y PSI at Z temperature, I can just pull it all out, hook up my beer gun (or related contraption) and fill bottles according to the procedures outlined here (purging Co2, etc.)?

While it's an extra step and more equipment, this seems a lot easier / consistent than bottle carbing.

 

[Yooper]

Thank you all for the info, it is extremely helpful and this seems like a great way to do this to ensure consistency and avoid bottle bombs.. A couple of more questions:

1. How long does it take to carb up in a keg? (hours? days?)
2. At what PSI would you typically keg carb? 30?
3. It seems like I would rack my brew into the keg, and then hook the CO2 tank up, and put the whole contraption in a refrigerator. Does it matter what temperature? The colder the better?
4. After I've carbed up in a keg for X amount of time at Y PSI at Z temperature, I can just pull it all out, hook up my beer gun (or related contraption) and fill bottles according to the procedures outlined here (purging Co2, etc.)?

While it's an extra step and more equipment, this seems a lot easier / consistent than bottle carbing.

In the fridge, I"d set it to about 14 psi (at 40 degrees). It would take about 10-14 days to fully carb up.

The 'colder the better' isn't necessarily true, but it is easier to bottle when colder since cold cider 'holds' onto the co2 better and makes it easier to bottle.

You'll leave the keg in the fridge, to minimize sediment transfer and foaming, and hook up the beergun or the Biermuncher bottle filler and bottle and cap.

It's pretty easy to do, but it can get messy due to drips and things so I use a tray to set the bottles on. It's easier with a friend to help, also, since it takes two hands to use the bottle filler and two hands to cap, plus to set the beergun down in a pitcher to get more bottles ready.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I rack to a keg and stick it in the kegerator at 40F and 15psi for 10 days and pull samples at night to taste the beer and remove sediment. Hook up the Beergun while the keg is in the kegerator, fill bottles and cap. Sometimes I fill 10 bottles and then cap 10, and sometimes I fill and cap bottles individually. I think you'll be fine doing all bottle filling then just give the bottles a spray of CO2 before you cap them.

 

[AnOldUR]

It's pretty easy to do, but it can get messy due to drips and things so I use a tray to set the bottles on.

I use a 5 gallon Homer bucket with the BMBF method. Does a good job of containg the foam or anything that may spray out when releasing the back pressure.

 

[mappler]

There's a great thread, titled "We no need no stinking beer-gun" right at the top of this sub-forum (Bottling/Kegging) that contains everything you need to know.

This. Couldn't be easier.