The last straw bottle filler

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
fantomlord said:
save your money:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24678

^this works great, and it's practically free
Click to expand...

How does this purge the oxygen out? (nevermind this question, just read the part about tipping the bottle and letting it foam before capping to purge) I'm looking to bottle a whole kegs worth. I don't want to mess with bottling from a bucket and carbonating so I am just carbing it up in my keg.

Does this way limit bottle shelf life? This is a christmas gift and I'm not sure how fast it'll be drank.
 
I use a bottle filler to go from keg to bottle and have had bottles sit in the fridge for almost a year. Popped the top and still tasted great.
 
Rockn_M said:
I use a bottle filler to go from keg to bottle and have had bottles sit in the fridge for almost a year. Popped the top and still tasted great.
Click to expand...

Store bought like the one in the link or homemade like in the sticky?
 
I often times use the (linked above) We Dont Need No Stinking Beer Gun method and have had bottles sit for upwards of 6 months with no issue. These bottles have won medals at homebrew competitions, so there is validation to my claim other than "It tasted fine to me, a complete stranger and brewer of unknown quality on the internet!"
 
after using a bottle filler, do I need to keep the bottles cold for optimal storage, or can I keep them at room temp and chill before cracking?
 
nygel74 said:
after using a bottle filler, do I need to keep the bottles cold for optimal storage, or can I keep them at room temp and chill before cracking?
Click to expand...

I would imagine if bottled properly it shouldn't matter. Hopefully someone with experience can chime in.
 
In my experiences a beer gun is a complete overpriced gadget and a waste of money. I routinely fill bottles from the keg using just the party tap (nothing attached) and haven't experienced any loss of carbonation, staling or infections of any sort. The key is to set the PSI really low when filling so the beer trickles into the bottle.....then cap on top of foam.
 
For what it's worth, I made the BierMuncher filler last weekend. Cost me nothing as I had a broken racking cane, #2 bung, and picnic tap already just sitting around. It works great for bottles and growlers while filling at 5 psi of pressure. I think the CO2 purge thing would be a minor improvement; however, the purge is only there while filling. Once filled the purged CO2 is pushed out. I also try to cap on foam to minimize oxygen in the bottle. I shall never bottle condition again ha.
 
I have used biermunchers method linked above very successfully. Bottling for competition and for a few events. It works very well and I still use it when just filling a few bottles.

I also own a beer gun that I find great for filling lots of bottles from the same keg.
 
I'm awfully tempted to pull the trigger on this new Last Straw contraption, but I've only seen one "real world" review and I hate being a guinea pig.... Seems to eliminate some of the issues that have been keeping me from getting a Beer Gun; ease of cleaning, single hand operation, comes with all the parts, etc...

I've been using the cheap and easy racking-cane and stopper method for a few years with no real complaints, but it does get a little messy and tedious if you're trying to crank out a whole keg's worth of bottles. I'm not sure if it's annoying enough to justify the cost of this new contraption with the fancy name.
 
Bradyfumbled said:
I'm awfully tempted to pull the trigger on this new Last Straw contraption, but I've only seen one "real world" review and I hate being a guinea pig.... Seems to eliminate some of the issues that have been keeping me from getting a Beer Gun; ease of cleaning, single hand operation, comes with all the parts, etc...

I've been using the cheap and easy racking-cane and stopper method for a few years with no real complaints, but it does get a little messy and tedious if you're trying to crank out a whole keg's worth of bottles. I'm not sure if it's annoying enough to justify the cost of this new contraption with the fancy name.
Click to expand...

Well I think I'm going to pull the trigger in the next week, actually hoping to find a black Friday special discount. I'll post a review after I use it.
 
I'm thinking of doing the same. I'd love to read a couple reviews first but it looks to be ergonomically better than the blichmann. Is it me or are the current Black Friday Sales pretty lame? Free Shipping? Big deal. I'm looking for 15-20% off.
 
ShaLaH said:
I'm thinking of doing the same. I'd love to read a couple reviews first but it looks to be ergonomically better than the blichmann. Is it me or are the current Black Friday Sales pretty lame? Free Shipping? Big deal. I'm looking for 15-20% off.
Click to expand...

Really lame! The regular sales are much better, now I have to wait for one of those.
 
ShaLaH said:
I'm thinking of doing the same. I'd love to read a couple reviews first but it looks to be ergonomically better than the blichmann. Is it me or are the current Black Friday Sales pretty lame? Free Shipping? Big deal. I'm looking for 15-20% off.
Click to expand...

FYI, midwest supplies has 20% off today, I just pulled the trigger.
 
ShaLaH said:
Thanks! Just ordered mine too. I believe Adventures in Homebrewing has the beer gun kit #2 kit that splits your CO2 between keg and bottle filler. Sweet.
Click to expand...

I currently have a 1 to 4 co2 splitter in my keezer so I'm hoping I can make that work for this.
 
Oh boy. Haven't gotten mine yet, hopefully they gave me the pin lock QDs ��. Let's hope the second impression is way better than the first...
 
ShaLaH said:
Oh boy. Haven't gotten mine yet, hopefully they gave me the pin lock QDs 😉. Let's hope the second impression is way better than the first...
Click to expand...

The description is wrong but I ordered the pin lock and got a pin lock so that's good!
 
Well, just did a test run of 6 bottles. Definitely glad I tried it before moving onto the batch that is finishing up that I'm going to bottle.

Lesson 1. Don't set it down in a bucket of sanitizer, use the clip to hang it on the edge of the cup. Beer will flow into the bucket from the weight of it pushing down (duh moment).
Also, as you can see from the picture, I had a hell of a time getting it to not foam up. They claim it can run up to 12 psi which is where I was at. I'm hoping to do another trial tomorrow and try running it at 8 psi.
If that doesn't work, I'm going to try chilling the bottles.
I did notice the first bottle was over half foam, but as I went on and the last straw cooled from the beer temp, I was starting to get less foam. This is my first time bottling so it's kinda trial and error, but that is why I bought this, thought it would be simple.

View attachment 1449341430736.jpg
 
I bottle from the keg at full serving pressure using the "Biermuncher beer gun" that was linked earlier in this post. A MUCH cheaper solution than the name brand guns. I had a imperial stout I bottled this way and about 18 months later it still tasted great. No oxidation issues or what not. Matter of fact, I thought it tasted smoother than it did 6 months after brewing it.

I bottle mine just like Joe does in this video (where I got the idea).





I now have the same Perlick 425 taps that Joe does, so I used the screw on growler filler that Chi makes for the Ventamatics. Before I had the 525s and those (as well as the 630s) use the growler filler that has two O rings on it.

The screw on filler of the 425 makes bottling at full serving pressure possible. The Oring based fillers pop out of the taps, so you either have to bottle at a lower pressure or you could do what I used to do. I used a small piece of tubing that fits over the tap's spout and filler, with a couple of small worm clamps to hold them in place. If you use the Fast Racks for your bottles, the drip tray comes in handy to keep any spillage in place.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cdoebler said:
What's the best way to chill and sanitize?
Click to expand...

Great question and I'm wondering the same thing. My father in-law purchased the Last Straw and brought it up during his visit this week. We are going to bottle the Strawberry Blonde I have kegged. I think I may sanitize the bottles and let them sit on the drying rack (tree like, not the tray version), then move them to a spot in the fridge for a little before we try to bottle. As long as the bottles do not make contact with anything in the fridge, I think we should be ok by chilling them this way. Of course I will keep them upright.

I'll try to report back how it goes after we bottle. We may bottle this afternoon or tomorrow. Wish us luck! LOL
 
pshankstar said:
Great question and I'm wondering the same thing. My father in-law purchased the Last Straw and brought it up during his visit this week. We are going to bottle the Strawberry Blonde I have kegged. I think I may sanitize the bottles and let them sit on the drying rack (tree like, not the tray version), then move them to a spot in the fridge for a little before we try to bottle. As long as the bottles do not make contact with anything in the fridge, I think we should be ok by chilling them this way. Of course I will keep them upright.

I'll try to report back how it goes after we bottle. We may bottle this afternoon or tomorrow. Wish us luck! LOL
Click to expand...

Good luck, please give an update after!
 
cdoebler said:
What's the best way to chill and sanitize?
Click to expand...

I have a blichmann beergun, but same idea...
i toss bottles into the freezer before i get everything setup (which takes about 10-15 minutes) and bottles are pretty frozen after that. if i need extras, i take the dozen or so out of the freezer and put about a dozen more in, while i fill those the others are freezing.

for sanitizing, i have a vintinator and just use do about 3-4 bottles at a time.

pretty time consuming, but this is why i do about a 12 pack :)
 
BowAholic said:
NB is running 20% off today...anyone else thinking about buying one..?
:mug:
Click to expand...

I'm still a bit skittish and would like to see a few more reviews before I pull the trigger.

I really don't have many issues with my cheap home made racking cane-picnic tap-rubber stopper bottling system that I and so many others use, but if this works as well as the manufacturer claims, I'd love the upgrade. I'd like to have better consistency with my fill levels and the peace of mind that comes with true CO2 purging.
 
Bradyfumbled said:
I'm still a bit skittish and would like to see a few more reviews before I pull the trigger.

I really don't have many issues with my cheap home made racking cane-picnic tap-rubber stopper bottling system that I and so many others use, but if this works as well as the manufacturer claims, I'd love the upgrade. I'd like to have better consistency with my fill levels and the peace of mind that comes with true CO2 purging.
Click to expand...

Next weekend I'll be doing round two of using it. And believe me, if it doesn't work out, I'll let you know. This is supposed to be an IPA Christmas present. I'm going to try chilling the bottles before filling to see if that helps. As of now, I wouldn't recommend this over the cheap homebrew forum built model.
 
Bradyfumbled said:
I'm still a bit skittish and would like to see a few more reviews before I pull the trigger.

I really don't have many issues with my cheap home made racking cane-picnic tap-rubber stopper bottling system that I and so many others use, but if this works as well as the manufacturer claims, I'd love the upgrade. I'd like to have better consistency with my fill levels and the peace of mind that comes with true CO2 purging.
Click to expand...

I got a really BIG gift card from a buddy for Christmas for "the worlds biggest LHBS" and tried out the Last Straw bottle filler today, they were doing a demo at my LHBS and I asked if I could try it.

BIG FREAKING DEAL!! I have a racking cane and rubber stopper that can slide on the cane and it odes the same darn thing!

The "CO2 purge" is bull Schmidt too! The cane and stopper allows enough foam to push out all the O2 and BOTH the Last Straw and the cane with stopper leave some O2 in the bottle when removing them. Only the commercial fillers (like at the tap room and winery I work at) have a CO2 purge at the TOP of the bottle neck!!

Save your money, there is nothing to see here...
 
I rig up a bottle filler (with the spring check valve on the end) to a picnic tap out of my C02 tank & give a quick spritz to my bottles to purge them. I also use the same concept on the beer side so I can stop the flow by lifting the filler. Still don't like bottling tho[emoji35]
 
I have one and like it. It's ergonomically correct, purges before and after fine, and allows me to bottle things that will last on the shelf longer than the poor mans beer gun, etc. You do need to be cautious when using a sanitizer pitcher to set it in as it is spring loaded to release the liquid.

I wasn't able to fill bottles at serving pressure without foaming, even with cold bottles. So I just knocked it down to 4 psi and it just took a little longer. I purged fine before and after fill.

Buy it on sale. You'll be happy with it.
 
jimyson said:
I have one and like it. It's ergonomically correct, purges before and after fine, and allows me to bottle things that will last on the shelf longer than the poor mans beer gun, etc. You do need to be cautious when using a sanitizer pitcher to set it in as it is spring loaded to release the liquid.

I wasn't able to fill bottles at serving pressure without foaming, even with cold bottles. So I just knocked it down to 4 psi and it just took a little longer. I purged fine before and after fill.

Buy it on sale. You'll be happy with it.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it... I ordered mine yesterday. :ban:
 
Any bottle filler when used correctly completely purges the bottle, so there is no longer shelf life to be had. You should be capping on foam.
 
For those who buy this and don't have 1/4" flare fitting on their regulator or distributor will want to keep in mind that this kit comes with 1/4" nut on the air side. In my case, my regulator is barb and has hoses that use 1/4" flare with my disconnects, to extend that hose when the disconnect is removed, I needed to buy a 1/4" male to male flare. Hope that makes sense.
 

Similar threads

N
Using fermentation pressure to bottle
Replies
25
Views
1K
ninkwood
N
jasoux
For Sale Pumps, CFC, Last Straw, and Beer Gun
Replies
6
Views
766
jasoux
jasoux
R
California Custom Brew buckets with dump valves, last straw bottling wand, and brew bag hangers
Replies
2
Views
920
Wrendelar
Wrendelar
mtbr_brewer
For Sale Northern Brewer - Last Straw Bottle Filler ($50)
Replies
2
Views
588
mtbr_brewer
mtbr_brewer
A
For Sale Northeast Ohio - Barley Crusher, Kettle, Last Straw, Bottle Tree/washer, Books
Replies
0
Views
504
auhoppymatt
A
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top