We no need no stinking beer gun...

[Slappy White]

cheap and easy, just how i like it....thanks BM

 

[Domminigan]

But as you've noted in other threads, your water seems to be quite "clean" of any buggies.

I dunno if I'd trust my house's water supply for post-sanitizer rinsing. 90 years old house, iron pipes, etc etc.

Do what I did: break a faucet and replace all the pipes in your house with copper!

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Curious. Has anyone noticed a difference in how well this works when bottling when you first tap the keg from bottling when it's almost done? I did a brew with a buddy and split it with him. So one day when it was first ready I bottled about 3 six packs. No issues, was perfect bottling, moved real fast, less than 30mins. This past weekend we tried to bottle the last sixer and it was all foam. Bottled 3 more last night, same issue. Just now I went to pull a pint and all got about 1/4 of the glass and the keg kicked. Wondering if the smaller amount of beverage in the keg may have caused the foaming for some reason.

 

[BierMuncher]

...Wondering if the smaller amount of beverage in the keg may have caused the foaming for some reason.

Most likely due to the significantly higher ratio of gas to liquid in the keg.

I've bottled a lot from the last 1/4 of the keg. You have to make sure to bleed all excess pressure from the keg and then dial that PSI to about 4 or 5. It's also easier if you just blast the keg with enough of a burst of that 5psi gas to barely push out the beer. If you simply crank the gas to 5 and let the whole (mostly empty) keg pressurize, it might be a bit too much to insure a smooth flow.

Another thing is that if you are using frozen bottles...try using room temp bottles that have been rinsed in cold water. That really improved things for me. Most micro's don't freeze their bottles at filling time. They simply give them a cold, last minute rinse and then fill.

 

[Jonnio]

. It's also easier if you just blast the keg with enough of a burst of that 5psi gas to barely push out the beer.

That's how I have always done it, and if you just hit it really fast you don't have to worry about monkeying with your regulator. 12 psi only on for 1-2 seconds won't put 12 psi into the keg, so I just bleed off all the pressure, hit it real quick and start to fill. If beer doesn't come out I hit it real quick again.

Doing it this way I have never had a foaming issue with the BMBF

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

See, that's how I did and normally do do it. I've bottled numerous cases with the BMBF with no issue at all. Then these two near the end of the keg and all I get is foam. PSI and 2 or less, just to get the beer pushed out.

 

[Ceedubya]

I just did about a case using this method again. about 12 each of an Oktoberfest and 12 of a wheat beer plus a growler of the wheat. Both have been sittin in the fridge with about 11 PSI on them for over a month. I needed to get them out, so bottled them. Most will be drank today for the game, and over the next week or so. I plan to save a couple back for testing purposes.

The Oktoberfest ran great, not much foaming at all. The wheat seemed to foam a bunch, and I really had to be careful with it.

Still, better than buying a danged beer gun

The last time I did this I used one of these:

Hooked up the the CO2 tank with the rubber tip that came with it. I purged the bottles with this before putting in the BMBF. Not sure if it mattered, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

I have saved one of each from that batch, one purged one not. I will check in three months to see if there is a difference.

 

[bashe]

Next time I do this it will be outside. I am trying to get chocolate stout stains out of my carpet.
First the picnic tap fell off the racking cane and beer went everywhere. Second I did not have the hose to the liquid out on tight enough and it started spraying out all over my kegerator. But after all that it went pretty well. I bottled a 12 pack; the last six went much better that the first six. After the next twelve I should be a pro.

 

[nathan]

BierMuncher should have a special place reserved in homebrew heaven for his genius.
I spent today bottling up some brews for travel and competition and damn was it easy! I love the idea that I can bottle up some of my special brews without bottling a whole batch. I'm planning on trying my hand at filtering soon, so it'll be great to eventually bottle up filterred and perfect beers!
I ended up getting a counter pressure bottle filler for free, but now I'm not sure I want to go through getting fittings and setting it up. I may have to gift it to someone instead and stick to the BMBF.

 

[conpewter]

I just bottled 50 bottles today, 3 different beers. I didn't freeze the bottles, just sanitized them with the vinator before use, I did 10 bottle batches. This time I turned the pressure down to 2-5 PSI through a 10 ft line.

I actually didn't even need the counter pressure, there was hardly any foam throughout the whole filling process. I ended up flipping the picnic tap back to continuous on, so I'd just move quickly between bottles (As I got toward the end I'd lift the wand). I set the cap on each bottle right after I was done filling it, I always made sure there was a little bit of foam. This filled the bottles more than would be good for a competition, but I'm sure I could adjust it if I needed to.

Thanks again BM!

 

[Yambor44]

Is the purpose of the small stopper to help force CO2 into the beer or just for cleanliness?

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I just did a trial run on six bottles last night. It went much smoother than I expected.

I didn't freeze the bottles, just sanitized them with the vinator before use, I did 10 bottle batches. This time I turned the pressure down to 2-5 PSI through a 10 ft line.

I actually didn't even need the counter pressure, there was hardly any foam throughout the whole filling process.

I did freeze mine but I also had the pressure really low and didn't really need the counter-pressure (i.e. stopper) either. The last couple I just filled up without the stopper. And that was with only ~2' of 1/4" beer line with a bottling wand (not a full cane) stuck right into the picnic tap.

FWIW, I originally filled all mine to the top with liquid (letting foam overflow until liquid flowed out) but when I went to cap them I didn't get any foam up when I tipped the bottles...I had to dump a little bit out and then tip the bottle to get it to foam (this brew should be @ ~2.5-2.6 volumes CO2 and was @ ~35o F).

I used a kitty litter box (aka 'the swamp' to all my carboys ) to catch the overflows. I don't have a cat but that thing has been sooooo friggin useful over the years.

 

[conpewter]

Yep it is good to have something to catch the run-over. I used one of those storage bins that is probably 2' X 3' X 6" high.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

Yambor,
The stopper is your 'counter-pressure'. When you stick the cane with stopper into the bottle and seat the stopper only a little beer will flow and then the pressure in the bottle will build up to equal the pressure in the keg (at which point flow stops). In order to get the beer flowing again you have to 'burp' the bottle by ever so gently pinching the stopper or cocking the stopper to one side...whatever it takes to let a little pressure out without letting it ALL out at once. Then it's just an ON/OFF process...FLOW/BURP/FLOW/BURP/etc. until the bottle is full...then you'll have to flow a little more as you pull the cane out (because the cane displaces some beer in the bottle).

The idea is to get the carbonated beer into the bottle without gushing or excessive foaming. Then just tip the bottle to get it to foam a little bit (enough to just barely overflow) and quickly cap on that foam.

 

[nathan]

How full are you guys making the bottles? I was filling as I extracted the cane so I'd get to 1/4" or less, which foamed and spilled over enough, and I capped on that.
They definitely are more full than commercial bottles, but those guys may have different reasons for fill level.

 

[conpewter]

I've filled mine to various levels. The last run I filled everything to probably 1/4" to 1/2" to the top and put a cap on immediately after filling, there was almost always enough foam.

 

[surfbrewer]

I've found that just the displacement caused by the racking cane leaves almost the perfect amount of head space once it is removed (on most bottles anyway). I have rarely gone back and added more once extracting the cane.

 

[Yambor44]

Yambor,
The stopper is your 'counter-pressure'. When you stick the cane with stopper into the bottle and seat the stopper only a little beer will flow and then the pressure in the bottle will build up to equal the pressure in the keg (at which point flow stops). In order to get the beer flowing again you have to 'burp' the bottle by ever so gently pinching the stopper or cocking the stopper to one side...whatever it takes to let a little pressure out without letting it ALL out at once. Then it's just an ON/OFF process...FLOW/BURP/FLOW/BURP/etc. until the bottle is full...then you'll have to flow a little more as you pull the cane out (because the cane displaces some beer in the bottle).

The idea is to get the carbonated beer into the bottle without gushing or excessive foaming. Then just tip the bottle to get it to foam a little bit (enough to just barely overflow) and quickly cap on that foam.

So if you can get the bottle to fill without a lot of foam and without the counter pressure sequence, you are good to go?

I have always used the CPS and never have a problem with carbonation.

 

[Jif]

One burning question I have, is how do I deal with beerlines if they're already hooked up in my kegerator? i want to pull the line off and hook up a BMBF, but I'm worried about leaking beer all over the inside from the unhooked line. Will the tap hold the beer in the line, like when you put your thumb over the end of a straw full of water?

 

[BierMuncher]

One burning question I have, is how do I deal with beerlines if they're already hooked up in my kegerator? i want to pull the line off and hook up a BMBF, but I'm worried about leaking beer all over the inside from the unhooked line. Will the tap hold the beer in the line, like when you put your thumb over the end of a straw full of water?

If your disconnecting a ball lock, the ball lock itself shuts at disconnect so no beer will leak out of the line...except for a couple of drips.

 

[Jif]

Phew! That's good news. I've been wondering about that as I stare at my keg. I was planning to just shove the disconnect in my mouth when I had to pull it off. Time to order parts for a BMBF!

 

[TerapinChef]

So here's my story. I have never kegged my beers. I have everything I need to keg my beers, (A dozen cornies, 20# CO2, regulator, etc) but I just enjoy bottles of beer and I don't really have space for the draft setup that I want. I do, however, hate when I get an improper level of carbonation in my bottles for whatever reason, and I have been making some high gravity brews the last few months. So rather than repitch yeast, get them bottled and hope that they carbonate properly and are ready to drink in about 6 months, I was planning on kegging them and using the BMBF. But here's my questions:

1) Does anybody do this with a full 5G batch? It seems like it might take a REALLY long time.

2) Has anyone done 1/2 the batch one day and the other 1/2 the next? Not being a kegger, I'm not sure what would be required with the changing of keg pressures...

3) My beer fridge where I would be chilling this keg (I'm assuming it's better to carb at room temp then drop to serving temp if time is not an issue?) is in an area that is in no way near sanitary. Is it okay to bring the whole setup (keg/tank) upstairs and have it at room temperature for the duration of the time it takes to bottle it?

Thanks BM! I'll certainly be using this for a long time, once I get my draft setup built.

 

[Jonnio]

I have BMBF'd an entire batch once, took probably 45 minutes to an hour from start of rinsing and sanitizing 12 oz bottles to end of clean up.

There is no issue with doing it in pieces - just put the keg back to the desired pressure after your done and release the pressure when your ready to bottle again

Its actually better to carb at lower temperatures since more CO2 stays in solution as the temp drops. It doesn't hurt anything to carb at room temp, but you will need to have a much higher pressure to get the same carb level. It is ok to have the keg outside of the fridge during bottling, but I wouldn't dilly dally - you don't want the actual beer temperature to warm up or you will lose more CO2.

 

[BierMuncher]

...I wouldn't dilly dally - you don't want the actual beer temperature to warm up or you will lose more CO2.

+1.

It sounds like you were thinking of moving the rig and then bottling. This could be a real issue because a fully carb'd keg...once moved...really needs several hours to resettle or else you'll be pulling beer out of a "shaken" keg and get a lot of foam.

If possible, bottle right from your chiller.

 

[dunleav1]

From one Lamp lover to another...

I'm doing a Belgian parti gyle brew next month (tripel, belgian pale) and I'd like to bottle half of each batch and keg the other half.

I was wondering if you've ever done any higher gravity brews or bottle condition brews this way?

I saw you pic in the post on Corona bottles with yeast sediment and it got me thinking why do I need to add bottle sugar when I already keg.

 

[BierMuncher]

From one Lamp lover to another...

I'm doing a Belgian parti gyle brew next month (tripel, belgian pale) and I'd like to bottle half of each batch and keg the other half.

I was wondering if you've ever done any higher gravity brews or bottle condition brews this way?

I saw you pic in the post on Corona bottles with yeast sediment and it got me thinking why do I need to add bottle sugar when I already keg.

You'll have to help me out. I'm already half-past-druck this evening. What's your question exactly? And use big crayons so I can follow along please.

 

[Hugh_Jass]

Many thanks to Biermuncher for this thread. His technique worked like a charm. Managed to bottle off 12 bottles of Swimbo Slayer and Lil'Sparky's Nut Brown last night. Very little time and effort involved.
Prost!

 

[nathan]

if you chill everything ahead of time, and you test carbonation and it is good, you could probably pull it all out, go upstairs, and run it, but jsut be real gentle with that keg so you don't shake up sediment. Another option would be to make a beer-to-beer jumper, and run it to a chilled sanitized emtpy keg, leaving most of the sediment behind after a good cold conditioning. Get the carbonation right on the new keg and them move that for bottling

the 5g of beer should hold temp fairly well for an hour operation. Have a friend handy to cap and you can crank them out easily enough.

 

[Sigaro]

Awesome DYI setup. I purchased the 5FT NB picnic tap and a spare cane and assembled this for around $15. Worked like a charm. I can finally send some home brew around the country to my friends. Thank you for sharing this awesome, simple, perfect project.

 

[TimBrewz]

Thanks for this filler! I was stressing about bottle conditioning some brews with only 2 weeks to go before a homebrew comp. and the BMBF is exactly what I needed...just force carb and bottle with stuff I already own. I will report back about competition notes about carbonation levels.

Awesome, Thanks again.

Tim