We no need no stinking beer gun...

[nostalgia]

I could see the stopper helping slow the flow if you bottle at serving pressure.
My question is why would you serve at that pressure? Am I missing something? Using a cane pressed into a picnic tap is so easy.

I'm not sure I understand the question. You mean why would I bottle at serving pressure? Convenience, especially when bottling off just a few:

• I don't have to disconnect the keg from my kegerator (I attach the hose to my faucet)
• I don't have to dig the keg out from the back of my kegerator (because it's invariably in the back)
• I don't have to fiddle with the settings on my regulator

-Joe

 

[JasontheBeaver]

Oh, ok.

 

[fxdrider]

I just used this contraption yesterday for the first time. Worked like a charm! At $5.99 for the replacement auto-siphon center tube and .99 for the stopper, that's $6.98 total! That's less than a tenth of the cost of the beer gun and accessory kit.

Works for me!

 

[TorribleBrew]

For those that use the BMBF for long term storage, do you clean out the picnic tap line before using to help prevent bacteria being transferred into the bottled beer?

Also, what is the longest you have stored a beer that you bottled using the BMBF before sending it on to a competition? How did it do?

Thanks!

 

[HollywoodMX]

I could see the stopper helping slow the flow if you bottle at serving pressure.
My question is why would you serve at that pressure? Am I missing something? Using a cane pressed into a picnic tap is so easy.

I built this and used it yesterday and it totally worked 100% for me. I was tapping from the keg tap to bottle before and it was very inconsistent carb in the bottles from fine to slightly flat.

I find this method with stopper and all produces less foam when filling and I my bottles were noticeably more carbed then my old way.

Another note, a 1L bottle was easier to fill then the 350ml.

 

[BierMuncher]

For those that use the BMBF for long term storage, do you clean out the picnic tap line before using to help prevent bacteria being transferred into the bottled beer?

Also, what is the longest you have stored a beer that you bottled using the BMBF before sending it on to a competition? How did it do?

Thanks!

I try to bottle my competition beers as freshly as possible. But...My "Tits Up" was in the bottles at least 5-6 months before it took home a "Grand Champion" high gravity contest.

If your sanitation methds are sound and your capping on foam, the bottles will keep as well as any commercially bottled beer.

 

[johnboy1313]

Works like a charm, thanks.

 

[TorribleBrew]

I try to bottle my competition beers as freshly as possible. But...My "Tits Up" was in the bottles at least 5-6 months before it took home a "Grand Champion" high gravity contest.

If your sanitation methds are sound and your capping on foam, the bottles will keep as well as any commercially bottled beer.

Thanks for the response. I look forward to trying it out this weekend.

 

[r2eng]

For those that use the BMBF for long term storage, do you clean out the picnic tap line before using to help prevent bacteria being transferred into the bottled beer?

Also, what is the longest you have stored a beer that you bottled using the BMBF before sending it on to a competition? How did it do?

Thanks!

BM is a little humble: I just had a stout and a Tripel bottled this way from 3 years ago - perfect pour!

Cold bottles, good sanitation, balanced CO2, and this method is rock solid.

:rockin: Cheers, Biermuncher!

 

[badbrew]

How many volumes of co2 do you lose by depressurizing and then capping the carbonated beer at atmospheric pressure? If the kegged beer is 2.5 volumes then what does it become after 2 weeks in the bottle?

 

[jcoxen]

If the beer is properly carbonated already, you're not lowering the carbonation of the beer - as long as you don't leave the pressure set low. All you're doing is lowering the dispensing pressure to reduce foaming. Once you're done bottling you should return the keg pressure to it's normal setting.

 

[badbrew]

If the beer is properly carbonated already, you're not lowering the carbonation of the beer - as long as you don't leave the pressure set low. All you're doing is lowering the dispensing pressure to reduce foaming. Once you're done bottling you should return the keg pressure to it's normal setting.

I'm not sure we're on the same page. I am talking about the pressure drop from keg airspace pressure to a bottle with no pressurized airspace. The bottle will draw co2 out of the beer over time to even the pressure between beer and bottle airspace. I'm just curious if it is more than say 20%. So if the volumes of co2 in the keg is 2.5 then when it's in the bottle with 1/2" airspace, does it drop to 2.0? Probably not a big deal, just curious.

 

[djt17]

Don't leave headspace; cap on foam.

 

[JasontheBeaver]

I'm not sure we're on the same page. I am talking about the pressure drop from keg airspace pressure to a bottle with no pressurized airspace. The bottle will draw co2 out of the beer over time to even the pressure between beer and bottle airspace. I'm just curious if it is more than say 20%. So if the volumes of co2 in the keg is 2.5 then when it's in the bottle with 1/2" airspace, does it drop to 2.0? Probably not a big deal, just curious.

I was concerned about this exact same issue. Especially when I read that some people fill several bottles at a time, then cap them all at once.
Personally, I fill a bottle and immediately cap it, one by one. It might be a slower process this way but I want my beer exposed to atmosphere as little as possible for both carbonation and contamination issues.
To answer your question, bottling in this method I do not notice any difference in carb levels between my bottled beer vs. my keg on tap.

 

[dezman]

I did this method (sort of) just to see how well it worked. I just stuck the racking cane on the tap and lowered the pressure. I didn't use the stopper or cut the angle on the cane. I was surprised to find out this worked just fine! Filled about a half a case of bottles to try to open up a keg. This is awsome! Thanks for this thread best idea ever!

 

[r2eng]

I am sure there is a little loss (PV=nRT and all), but I have never really noticed a difference in carb level between keg and bottle.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Note to all - Be carefully when attaching the racking cane to the picnic tap... I totally applied to much force and split the spout on my picnic tap. This caused a leak when trying to fill... made a huge mess

 

[JasontheBeaver]

Note to all - Be carefully when attaching the racking cane to the picnic tap... I totally applied to much force and split the spout on my picnic tap. This caused a leak when trying to fill... made a huge mess

Been there, broke that.... Shoulda warned you, my bad.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Used the plan in the OP and it worked beautifully. Also attached a second racking cane to a picnic faucet then to a keg filled with CO2 only, and used it to blow out the oxygen of each bottle before adding the beer. Not sure if this is effective, but it seemed to work.

Thanks for the great idea.

 

[elproducto]

I've always had trouble with foam using this setup.. and a lot of wasted beer. last night for kicks, I tried purging the keg, and dialing up to just 1-2 psi. I filled a chilled bottle right from the tap and it worked PERFECTLY. I gave it a tap to foam, and capped on that.

 

[Airborneguy]

Has anyone tried a similar set-up using a bottling wand? I'm looking to make a beer gun for filling a few bottles at a time (I'll never bottle an entire batch from a keg). My thoughts were to use a spare disconnect, attach some serving line, then attach a bottling wand to the end. Has anyone tried this before? Seems like its simple and should work.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Has anyone tried a similar set-up using a bottling wand? I'm looking to make a beer gun for filling a few bottles at a time (I'll never bottle an entire batch from a keg). My thoughts were to use a spare disconnect, attach some serving line, then attach a bottling wand to the end. Has anyone tried this before? Seems like its simple and should work.

Thats what I did. I think its the same diameter as the racking cane. First time I didn't have a problem, but the second time (see my earlier post) it split the picnic tap. So just be careful

 

[Airborneguy]

Thanks. I'm gonna make an attempt at this soon.

 

[fastenova]

I tried using a bottling wand and still got a lot of foam, but I was only using a few feet of 1/4" hose. I think the valve at the bottom caused a lot of turbulence at the higher flow rate I was using.

Going to try again sans bottling wand with 10' of 3/16 hose for serving and for bottling as well. I was also just using the inner portion of an auto-siphon. I picked up a racking cane for a few dollars that I'll shorten and angle the bottom of as well. I have high hopes!

Cheers!

 

[limeybrewer]

This works great for me thanks so much for the post. I made a slight change to mine. I found that depressing the bung to release pressure was a problem as it did not leave me a free hand to drink with!. I fixed this by inserting a regular sewing needle down the side of the racking cane within the cork. This tiny vent gives me perfect fills. I get fantastic results. slow steady fils and guess what? .... I can drink with my free hand !

 

[-TH-]

This works great for me thanks so much for the post. I made a slight change to mine. I found that depressing the bung to release pressure was a problem as it did not leave me a free hand to drink with!. I fixed this by inserting a regular sewing needle down the side of the racking cane within the cork. This tiny vent gives me perfect fills. I get fantastic results. slow steady fils and guess what? .... I can drink with my free hand !

thanks for the excellent tip! I will definitely try this next time...

 

[TrainSafe]

This works great for me thanks so much for the post. I made a slight change to mine. I found that depressing the bung to release pressure was a problem as it did not leave me a free hand to drink with!. I fixed this by inserting a regular sewing needle down the side of the racking cane within the cork. This tiny vent gives me perfect fills. I get fantastic results. slow steady fils and guess what? .... I can drink with my free hand !

You, sir, are a Genius!

 

[scotched]

Were any of you guys able to do this without making a mess? It took me a few tries to cap on the foam w/o getting beer foam down the bottle. I had to wash the outsides of my bottles.

 

[limeybrewer]

I do fill to foam comes out my little needle in the cork. I just use a large plastic container ($5 in target) and I fill my bottles in there. I use another as a Bath for the One step and I rinse in iced water before I fill them. Mess is there but its minimal. If I bottle 5g this way I lose under half a pint in spilage.

 

[enricocoron]

I didn't read this whole thread, but basically I am going to try a similar approach. There are these tiny CO2 cartriges for planted fish tanks with a little valve and a tube that you can place through a stopper to purge your bottles of air with a stopper on top. Then you shouldn't need to worry about tightly sealing your bottles as you fill, just dispense the beer slowly with a cut racking cane/picnic tap through an inverted carboy stopper and lift up slowly as the bottle fills, once it slightly overflows it should be just carbon dioxide left on the head. I'm trying it out for a couple of comtest beers this week, if it works I'll post some pics (by works I'm letting them sit a month before opening and compare it to bottle conditioned beers of the same brew).