Tapcooler counter pressure bottle filler

[Jocky]

You need to unscrew the pressure relief valve until it starts releasing pressure.

 

[ITV]

The pressure relief valve tends to stick, especially if you let beer foam out of it. Before use it is good practice to unscrew the pressure relief valve and rinse it off and spray with starsan.

 

[Wagon_6]

I also have to unscrew my PRV 90% of the way for it to even start bleeding pressure. But it allows a nice rhythm to seal one on the canner while another is slowly filling.

 

[BeerFst]

I have this and it's a neat lil setup. Hasn't worked right for me yet tho. I can get it to purge a bottle with co2 and seal. When I go to fill with beer it won't bleed off pressure which left me sorta manually momentarily breaking the seal to bleed off pressure.
I think there may be something wrong with my unit. Haven't used it since summer. (Mainly because I haven't figured out why it's not working correctly)
Anybody else have this issue??

The first time using it I just dunked the whole unit in star san and had the same problem.

Before my second use, I removed the threaded part entirely, there is a spring that will also fall out. There is one more tiny part in there that holds the oring and provides the seal. This was stuck in place. I dislodged it (totally okay btw, not breaking anything). sanitized, reassembled, and it worked perfectly second go around.

One little trick I figured out is to close your tap before you completely screw closed the PRV when you are done with a bottle. I forgot to do that once, and must have moved the bottle slightly, allowing it to disengage the top seal and burp beer all over my keezer. Also then the tap was still on and spilled out a bit. Probably a combination of problems there, but worth noting.

I love this thing.

I was using bier munchers bottle filler before and didnt think I had any complaints, but I loose way less beer with the tapcooler, don't need to fight with my gas pressures, warming kegs, AND I actually get to purge my bottles before filling

 

[NewJersey]

I will give it another go for sure before throwing this thing out, thanks

 

[treacheroustexan]

Thanks for all the tips. Mine got delivered this morning so going to tear into it after work!

 

[Jocky]

One little trick I figured out is to close your tap before you completely screw closed the PRV when you are done with a bottle. I forgot to do that once, and must have moved the bottle slightly, allowing it to disengage the top seal and burp beer all over my keezer. Also then the tap was still on and spilled out a bit. Probably a combination of problems there, but worth noting.

You don’t need to screw the PRV in after filling a bottle. Just close your tap, then count to 10 while the PRV bleeds off a little pressure, then you can release the bottle without it backfiring beer everywhere.

The PRV needs to be screwed in enough so the bottle fills without foam, but not too slow. I usually start with mine with only a couple of threads showing, pressurise the bottle with the gas button so the PRV is hissing, and then open the tap. I’ll unscrew the PRV if it’s filling slowly.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Alright what did I do wrong? I unboxed it, took it apart to sanitize it, and tried it out. I filled a few bottles without spilling a drop of beer. It can't be that easy. Lol. This thing is life changing so far!

 

[NTexBrewer]

Had a keg with a picnic tap. Figured I would try a small piece of silicone tubing to connect the TapCooler and it worked perfectly to fill a 6 pack. It was a little difficult to figure out how to rest the TapCooler somewhere between bottles to keep it sanitary but I managed to figure out a way to rest it in the next bottle to be filled.

 

[Jocky]

It was a little difficult to figure out how to rest the TapCooler somewhere between bottles to keep it sanitary but I managed to figure out a way to rest it in the next bottle to be filled.

If you make starters on a stir plate then you should have an Erlenmeyer flask, which works as a perfect stand.

 

[NTexBrewer]

So I still think this is the best counter pressure bottle filler with CO2 purge. Today, I was making up a variety 6 pack for a friend. Two of the beers were bottle conditioned but the rest came from kegs. Using a bottle sanitizer like this https://www.amazon.com/Sulfiter-Mid...ocphy=9026821&hvtargid=pla-523182274729&psc=1 I can quickly sanitize 4 bottles, caps and the TapCooler. I use SaniClean since it does not foam as much as Starsan. Once the Tapcooler is sanitized I just flush it with the next beer before filing the bottle so today I bottled a Czech Lager, Vienna Lager, Scottish Export and finally a Session IPA. Figure bottling in that order I should not add any unwanted flavors or aromas to another beer. When I'm done, I rinse everything and then use a little PBW to clean everything in the bowl of the bottle rinser. For awhile now, I've been completely taking apart the telescoping tubing to make sure everything is clean rinsed and dry. So far I have not had any problems doing this.

 

[RCope]

I've used this for more than a year...hundreds of bottles filled. The only problem I've run into is the telescoping tubing. At some point one of the small plastic sleeves came off. It ended up in a beer somewhere, never found it. Ordered another tubing assembly and it worked well for awhile. But after a few uses, the friction fit between the telescoping part and the head unit would not stay assembled. I e-mailed the makers for any suggestions and Tor e-mailed back quickly. He had no answer except for "request a new one where I got the filler". I wasn't sure if he meant to buy another one or request a warranty replacement. I just bought another one.

If anyone has a suggestion, I'm all ears. I would think that a better connection, such as screw in/out would be better. But that's a manufacturing detail...Other than that, I've been very happy with it. Cheers!

 

[treacheroustexan]

Does anyone else experience crystal clear beers turning hazy after a few days of using this filler? They don’t taste oxidized or look brown or anything, they just get hazy. Is that normal? Maybe it is oxidized and I’m just not purging the bottle enough? No idea.

 

[BeerFst]

Does anyone else experience crystal clear beers turning hazy after a few days of using this filler? They don’t taste oxidized or look brown or anything, they just get hazy. Is that normal? Maybe it is oxidized and I’m just not purging the bottle enough? No idea.

Like they were clear when cold in the keg and then go hazy in the bottle? did you keep the bottles cold in those few days or were they kept warm?

So far i have only filled dark beers and haven't noticed it, but i have a lighter colored, though still reddish, english-inspired ale, that i could test.

Just looked for what i should replicate.

 

[ITV]

I've used this for more than a year...hundreds of bottles filled. The only problem I've run into is the telescoping tubing. At some point one of the small plastic sleeves came off. It ended up in a beer somewhere, never found it. Ordered another tubing assembly and it worked well for awhile. But after a few uses, the friction fit between the telescoping part and the head unit would not stay assembled. I e-mailed the makers for any suggestions and Tor e-mailed back quickly. He had no answer except for "request a new one where I got the filler". I wasn't sure if he meant to buy another one or request a warranty replacement. I just bought another one.

If anyone has a suggestion, I'm all ears. I would think that a better connection, such as screw in/out would be better. But that's a manufacturing detail...Other than that, I've been very happy with it. Cheers!

I had that happen only once. With my new tube no problems since then.
I make sure that I do not expose to starsan for any length of time (<2 minutes) since the starsan may affect the life of the sleeves. There is no indication on recommended chemicals or chemicals to avoid with the Tapcooler. For now I stick with warm water rinse and a brief dip in starsan.

 

[ITV]

Does anyone else experience crystal clear beers turning hazy after a few days of using this filler? They don’t taste oxidized or look brown or anything, they just get hazy. Is that normal? Maybe it is oxidized and I’m just not purging the bottle enough? No idea.

I have not experienced that with my Tapcooler. My lagers and ciders are crystal clear. I do purge mine for several seconds with CO2 before filling and cap immediately after filling.

 

[JohnSand]

Good thread, thank you all for your input. I have one of these too, and like it, though I've probably experienced every one of the problems noted.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Like they were clear when cold in the keg and then go hazy in the bottle? did you keep the bottles cold in those few days or were they kept warm?

yep they were crystal clear in the keg, then I bottled and kept in the fridge (no warmth at all) and then tried it a few days later and it was so hazy you couldn’t really see through it anymore. But it still tasted the same. I know oxidation can take a while so I wasn’t sure what I was experiencing. I’ll try filling a few more bottles with another clear beer and report back before and after pictures. I’ll try purging the bottle longer just in case.

 

[isomerization]

The “white rubber” piece you reference goes down. The tubes fit inside each other.

Start with the largest tube. From the bottom, insert the middle tube, bottom up with the white rubber piece on the bottom of the smaller tube.

Next insert the smallest diameter tube, from the bottom, installing it inside the middle diameter tube, again with the white rubber part down.

Extend them up, telescoping. The white rubber part holds each tube inside the other tubes.

my “white rubber piece” snapped in half. Anyone know how to replace this? I bought a full wand replacement ($8.99 at GF), but just wondering if there’s a cheaper alternative in the future.