We no need no stinking beer gun...

[RoundKid]

A few questions:

1. If I natural carb at room temp, is it ok to hook up gas and fill bottles before chilling keg? Will I even need to chill lines and bottles? Any changes to the "cap on foam"



2. What if I natural carb at room temp and fill bottles under pressure right away BEFORE it is carbonated.



Thoughts?

1. No. It will be at a higher PSI at room temp and will foam everywhere. It has to be cold. You can naturally carb, but then you have to chill before filling bottles.

2. This would be fine, but it is basically just using a keg as a bottling bucket.


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[drthrob]

Ok. I am doing something incorrectly. Every beer I have tried with this method has come out flat in the bottles. Not sure what I am doing wrong. It's a shame because these are competition worthy beers that I cannot send off like this. I am following instructions to the letter without (to my knowledge) error. Can someone tell me the areas that might be causing the most difficulty? The beer comes out of the tap perfectly carbed, yet is flat with this bottling method. Do I need to turn up the carbonation for a few days prior to attempting this?


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[GilSwillBasementBrews]

Are you removing the spring loaded tip from the bottle wand. I found mine was knocking a lot of co2 out of the beer when I filled. So I remove that and usually get good results.


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[drthrob]

Are you removing the spring loaded tip from the bottle wand. I found mine was knocking a lot of co2 out of the beer when I filled. So I remove that and usually get good results.


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I have been using a racking cane like the original post. It isn't a foaming issue as near as I can tell, it's just co2 retention. Maybe I need to make sure the cane is touching the bottom or very nearly doing so.


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[geoffm33]

I have been using a racking cane like the original post. It isn't a foaming issue as near as I can tell, it's just co2 retention. Maybe I need to make sure the cane is touching the bottom or very nearly doing so.


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Have you tried testing the bottles at intervals after bottling? Like immediately after, an hour after, then 3 hours after, next day? If they taste fine just after being capped, then maybe it's a cap/capping issue and you are leaking co2 out.

 

[drthrob]

I cap them then usually wait a day or two at room temp to let co2 come out of solution. I get a fizz when I open the bottle and I have never had a problem bottling the old fashioned way. There is just no head on the beer itself. Very frustrating. I do not think it is an issue with the beer itself because it is fine in the keg.


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[solbes]

While I have used Biermuncher's idea/setup successfully many times in the past for beer, it did not work out so well for a sparkling white wine that I tried to bottle on Friday night. Of course I thought I'd go for a force carbed "lite" champagne level carbonation (4.5 vols) on my elderflower wine.

I was just about to "burp" the stopper after the champagne bottle was 1/3 full and the stopper blew. Now I know why baseball players wear goggles after winning a pennant when they have champagne fights. It stings...Oh the humanity. I did end up laughing at myself for being pretty stupid in this endeavor.

Anyway the whole thing was a mess. I ended up bottling on Sunday after relieving most of the pressure. Still was a mess, but kept it out of my eyes. We'll have to comsume those 8 bottles in the next few months as I'm sure they got pretty oxidized. Guess if I ever do it again I will probably bottle carb and deal with the sediment.

 

[Dolomieu]

I cap them then usually wait a day or two at room temp to let co2 come out of solution. I get a fizz when I open the bottle and I have never had a problem bottling the old fashioned way. There is just no head on the beer itself. Very frustrating. I do not think it is an issue with the beer itself because it is fine in the keg.


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I don't understand the bold part. Let CO2 come out of solution?? Why? You should cap on foam and not need CO2 to come out of solution over a day or two. I don't get what that step is supposed to accomplish.

IF you are having capping issues and letting the beer warm up you will lose CO2 (from solution) faster at room temp than fridge temp. That's if you are having a real issue with carbonation. Do you have access to another capper to try? Is there any real reason to let the beer warm up?(the answer is NO)

IF it's a head retention thing then maybe we need to ask about you bottle cleaning practices. Could be that you are using dish soap and the residues could be causing the issue like a surfactant.

I use this method regularly now and it's definitely something you have to work the bugs out of.

 

[drthrob]

I don't understand the bold part. Let CO2 come out of solution?? Why? You should cap on foam and not need CO2 to come out of solution over a day or two. I don't get what that step is supposed to accomplish.

IF you are having capping issues and letting the beer warm up you will lose CO2 (from solution) faster at room temp than fridge temp. That's if you are having a real issue with carbonation. Do you have access to another capper to try? Is there any real reason to let the beer warm up?(the answer is NO)

IF it's a head retention thing then maybe we need to ask about you bottle cleaning practices. Could be that you are using dish soap and the residues could be causing the issue like a surfactant.

I use this method regularly now and it's definitely something you have to work the bugs out of.

Let me clarify. I bottle at 33 degrees. As the bottle warms, the CO2 dissolved in solution should come out some into the headspace. The reason I allow this is because these bottles are going to be shipped and then cooled at a distant location (competition site) so I need to know if they will be properly pressurized at their destination. I DO cap on foam. That is the reason for the method. I am confirming they will be as I want them come competition time.

As to bottle cleanliness, these are brand new bottles bought for the express purpose of sending off to competitions. I use either star san or the iodine one (green and white bottle, can't recall name off hand) mixed in solution and coat the bottles inside after rinsing with a spray bottle. These are placed in the freezer before attempting the bottling then given a spritz with solution right before I fill.


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[geoffm33]

I cap them then usually wait a day or two at room temp to let co2 come out of solution. I get a fizz when I open the bottle and I have never had a problem bottling the old fashioned way. There is just no head on the beer itself. Very frustrating. I do not think it is an issue with the beer itself because it is fine in the keg.


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I'd taste taste a cold beer you bottled next to one right from the keg after a few hours. If the carbonation tastes different, ie: the bottle taste under carbed by comparison then you are losing carbonation during the bottling. If it tastes the same, then test another bottle at a longer interval to see if it's the cap/bottle leaking.

 

[therackman]

Is there any reason a bottling wand couldn't be used rather than the racking cane? I admit I have not read the entire thread.

 

[geoffm33]

Is there any reason a bottling wand couldn't be used rather than the racking cane? I admit I have not read the entire thread.

I haven't tried it, but it's reported that it could lead to foaming. Some have used the bottling wand with the head removed to allow a free flow. Others, IIRC, have used a bottling wand intact with no issues.

 

[eluterio]

Ive tried this and down that if to work but if you have too much pressure from the keg it willl blow the tip.

 

[GenIke]

When I decrease the keg pressure do I need to purge the keg or can I just turn down the pressure and fill?

 

[ButcherBoy]

Purge the keg to get it down to the new pressure, fill your bottles, then increase back to your normal pressure. I use this method regularly, it works very well, I generally find the pressure for trouble free filling is about 4-5 PSI. YMMV.

 

[mtnagel]

Others have mentioned not dropping the pressure, so I have been keeping it around 11-12 psi that I keep it at and filling has been fine. In fact I get so little foam that I find I have to swirl the bottle a bit to get some foam to come up so that I can cap on the foam. Maybe unnecessary, but it makes me feel better.

 

[Larzean]

Please disregard my post, it's not really related to the thread at hand.. Def will be doing this tho

 

[mbbransc]

Let me clarify. I bottle at 33 degrees. As the bottle warms, the CO2 dissolved in solution should come out some into the headspace. The reason I allow this is because these bottles are going to be shipped and then cooled at a distant location (competition site) so I need to know if they will be properly pressurized at their destination. I DO cap on foam. That is the reason for the method. I am confirming they will be as I want them come competition time.

As to bottle cleanliness, these are brand new bottles bought for the express purpose of sending off to competitions. I use either star san or the iodine one (green and white bottle, can't recall name off hand) mixed in solution and coat the bottles inside after rinsing with a spray bottle. These are placed in the freezer before attempting the bottling then given a spritz with solution right before I fill.


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Are you re-chilling the beer before sampling?

 

[drthrob]

Are you re-chilling the beer before sampling?

Yes. To update this, I finally bought a Blichmann beer gun and have had no problems since.


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[AnimalDoc]

Quick Question

I was going to bottle a few bombers tonight. After doing so, can the bottles sit at room temp until a get the to there destination? I'm driving from Colorado to California.

Cheers

 

[drthrob]

Quick Question

I was going to bottle a few bombers tonight. After doing so, can the bottles sit at room temp until a get the to there destination? I'm driving from Colorado to California.

Cheers

Shouldn't be an issue.


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[AnimalDoc]

Shouldn't be an issue.


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Thanks a bunch!

Cheers


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[gometz]

Sorry if this has been answered before. I have tried this method twice now in the last week and it always seems like I end up with half carbonated beer.

First time was an IPA, keg was maybe 40*F with 8 psi (warmed a bit as I let the trub settle).

Second time was a Helles, keg at 35*F with 12 psi (trying to rectify the problem I had with the IPA). Chilled the bottles overnight in the chest freezer at 40*F. Well I opened a few bottles last night, nice head on a strong pour, but very little carbonation coming up.

Now a potential mistake, bottles would foam enough to fill most of the neck, so I wouldn't get them all the way full. This isn't true for all of them though.

I didn't follow the purge step, is this my problem?

 

[JasontheBeaver]

I think you are undercarbing to begin with. I usually go with 20psi at around 40-45F depending on the style of beer. Google "carbonation volume chart" for a handy reference for this sort of thing.

Sorry if this has been answered before. I have tried this method twice now in the last week and it always seems like I end up with half carbonated beer.

First time was an IPA, keg was maybe 40*F with 8 psi (warmed a bit as I let the trub settle).

Second time was a Helles, keg at 35*F with 12 psi (trying to rectify the problem I had with the IPA). Chilled the bottles overnight in the chest freezer at 40*F. Well I opened a few bottles last night, nice head on a strong pour, but very little carbonation coming up.

Now a potential mistake, bottles would foam enough to fill most of the neck, so I wouldn't get them all the way full. This isn't true for all of them though.

I didn't follow the purge step, is this my problem?

 

[gometz]

I think you are undercarbing to begin with. I usually go with 20psi at around 40-45F depending on the style of beer. Google "carbonation volume chart" for a handy reference for this sort of thing.

That seems extremely high, according to the charts that's about 3 volumes. I guess that's the question though, am I supposed to overcarbed, purge, and then bottle?

 

[gometz]

Errr, maybe those were the early bottles that foamed. The one I just opened its great.

 

[Larzean]

Anyone have an idea on different stopper sizes for different bottles? Growlers, flip top bottles, etc?

 

[bhowie4]

I feel like this is dumb question that should have been covered before but I was unable to uncover anything.

So, I tried this out today and it was just foam....foam everywhere. I'd like to try again, and I even think I know what I was doing wrong (pressing against the bung too much while filling and not letting the pressure build).

Here's my question though: how are you guys cutting the tip of your bottling wand/siphon tube? I tried using a small hack saw but would just wind up breaking the tip off about halfway through sawing. What was left behind was just a jagged piece of plastic.

Thanks for any help you can throw my way. Again, I feel like it's a dumb question but I've gone through 2 bottling wands already trying to find a solution.

 

[geoffm33]

Oops, sent in accident. Ignore. Can't delete from the mobile app.

 

[geoffm33]

Might as well reply after my false start!

I didn't cut mine at all, I used sand paper on a block of wood and sanded it down at an angle.