We no need no stinking beer gun...

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I just had a local glass shop cut me some new sight glasses with 3/8" pyrex, and I had them cut me some extra 14" pieces for bottle fillers & flame polish the ends. I'll post some pictures in a bit. Since they're smooth & glass it really helps reduce foaming. If you want one PM me. Just be like $7 and a couple dollars to mail I think in the US.
 
I finally made my BMBF bottle filler and I love it. I'm filling my bottles straight from the tap. I got the idea after seeing a video by Joe Fisher on YouTube (sorry, I don't know how to post YT vids on here EDIT: Nevermind, I see the site does it automagically! :) )




I don't know if Joe is a member here or not, but the only difference I have is I have the 525ss. I think Joe's taps have a screw on bottle filler while mine uses two red Orings to hold the filler in place. Mine fits, to me, real loose in the tap too. I have to hold the filler to the tap with one hand while working the BMBF with the other hand to keep beer from shooting all over the place.

For those with the 525ss, what was your work around? I thought about just getting a short piece of tubing from HD or Lowe's that would fit over the tap and filler and use a couple of stainless clamps to hold them in place. It's sort of the same method Revvy uses with the bottle wand and bottling bucket.
 
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Bottled a 6 pack of my Oatmeal Stout last night. First time bottling from keg and I used the BMBF. Took a beer or so to get the hang of it but it was quick. I'll open one tonight to see how well I did :fro:

For cleaning the liquid disconnect, hose, picnic tap setup:

Some recommend disassembling the QD then pump cleaner/water back through the picnic tap with an auto-syphon. I found you just need to unscrew the top of the QD about a half turn and you will release the seal and can pump it that way. Full break down of the QD and picnic tap would be good every now and again for a full cleaning though.
 
I finally made my BMBF bottle filler and I love it. I'm filling my bottles straight from the tap. I got the idea after seeing a video by Joe Fisher on YouTube (sorry, I don't know how to post YT vids on here EDIT: Nevermind, I see the site does it automagically! :) )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXhYmTlHH50


I don't know if Joe is a member here or not, but the only difference I have is I have the 525ss. I think Joe's taps have a screw on bottle filler while mine uses two red Orings to hold the filler in place. Mine fits, to me, real loose in the tap too. I have to hold the filler to the tap with one hand while working the BMBF with the other hand to keep beer from shooting all over the place.

For those with the 525ss, what was your work around? I thought about just getting a short piece of tubing from HD or Lowe's that would fit over the tap and filler and use a couple of stainless clamps to hold them in place. It's sort of the same method Revvy uses with the bottle wand and bottling bucket.


I like this idea . How long does the beer stay carbonated for ? After you bottle


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ImageUploadedByHome Brew1394643753.074978.jpg I already had this stuff kicking around


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I like this idea . How long does the beer stay carbonated for ? After you bottle


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I gave some bottles to a friend of mine and he had no complaints after having the beer sit for a week. In the video I posted, Joe mentions a friend of his opening a Russian Imperial stout that was bottled that way after sitting for a year. It still tasted delicious.


Sorry I didn't reply sooner. Like the beer guns you made!


EDIT: I see your growler filler is the one with the double Orings. Does it stay in the tap fairly well, or does the CO2 pressure try to pop it loose from the tap? Mine would try to pop off. I just took a short piece of 3/4" tubing and a SS worm clamp to hold the filler to the tap. Works like a charm.
 
I dropped my auto-siphon and cracked the casing. Threw it in the trash but kept the racking cane inside for whatever I might need it for in the future. 5 minutes with a hacksaw and .49 for a #2 stopper and .89 for a #6 stopper and Im filling bottles and 64 oz growlers with the BMBG!!! Life is good!!!


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I gave some bottles to a friend of mine and he had no complaints after having the beer sit for a week. In the video I posted, Joe mentions a friend of his opening a Russian Imperial stout that was bottled that way after sitting for a year. It still tasted delicious.


Sorry I didn't reply sooner. Like the beer guns you made!


EDIT: I see your growler filler is the one with the double Orings. Does it stay in the tap fairly well, or does the CO2 pressure try to pop it loose from the tap? Mine would try to pop off. I just took a short piece of 3/4" tubing and a SS worm clamp to hold the filler to the tap. Works like a charm.




The growler filler fits really tight, it did not move . Tried a bottle after a few days and it was still carbonated well. Thanks for the reply cheers


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I dropped my auto-siphon and cracked the casing. Threw it in the trash but kept the racking cane inside for whatever I might need it for in the future. 5 minutes with a hacksaw and .49 for a #2 stopper and .89 for a #6 stopper and Im filling bottles and 64 oz growlers with the BMBG!!! Life is good!!!


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Used the basic BMBG from page 1 last night to kick a keg of Kolsch. Filled 2 64 oz growlers. I've been serving at 4 psi and while the first one did nicely the second one was flat when we opened it. It did foam at the end, and I didn't cap it quick enough. Also, I'll use a higher pressure next time, maybe 6-8 psi


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Attempted to bottle my Kolsch last night but all i got was half bottles of foam.
1. bled pressure from keg.
2. Turned pressure down to 2psi
3. Attached bottling wand with #2 stopper to picnic tap.
4. Stuck in first sanitized bottle.(stopper didnt fit bottle snug)
5. Fully opened picnic tap valve to begin filling.
It started ok but then quickly began foaming. I tried it on four diffdrent bottles and they all came out the same.
What am i doing wrong?

Thanks in advanced.
 
Attempted to bottle my Kolsch last night but all i got was half bottles of foam.
1. bled pressure from keg.
2. Turned pressure down to 2psi
3. Attached bottling wand with #2 stopper to picnic tap.
4. Stuck in first sanitized bottle.(stopper didnt fit bottle snug)
5. Fully opened picnic tap valve to begin filling.
It started ok but then quickly began foaming. I tried it on four diffdrent bottles and they all came out the same.
What am i doing wrong?

Thanks in advanced.

I can't tell you how to fix your problem , but with mine I had it at 12 psi for a week, I then turned it down to 5 psi to dispense all I got was foam, 48 hours later being at 5 psi it was better,

I hear people say that you need 6' of line rather than 4 or 5, but for me I havnt found that to be true, I am dispensing with 5' lines just fine.
 
Attempted to bottle my Kolsch last night but all i got was half bottles of foam.

1. bled pressure from keg.

2. Turned pressure down to 2psi

3. Attached bottling wand with #2 stopper to picnic tap.

4. Stuck in first sanitized bottle.(stopper didnt fit bottle snug)

5. Fully opened picnic tap valve to begin filling.

It started ok but then quickly began foaming. I tried it on four diffdrent bottles and they all came out the same.

What am i doing wrong?



Thanks in advanced.


Somewhat unclear but you turned off the gas before bleeding the pressure correct?

What pressure did you carb the keg to originally?

Also, how long is the serving line to the picnic tap?
 
Thanks Yewtah - I will try turning down to 2 PSI for a few days.

Geoffm33 - I carbed with 18psi at 50 Degrees = 2.54 volumes CO2. The house is 4ft. yes i turned of gas before bleeding.
 
3. Attached bottling wand with #2 stopper to picnic tap.


Biermuncher was using a racking cane, would this have anything to do with it ?
 
Since using the picnic tap to fill did you remove the spring and plunger from the bottling wand? That's how I've done mine and had no issues maybe give that a shot if you didn't already.


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So i tried again last night. After dropping temperature 5 degrees and bleeding pressure few hours prior. worked better but still had foaming. I think i narrowed it down to the stopper not fitting the bottle. it is very loose. LHBS said it was a #2 stopper but it doesnt make good seal to build pressure.
Where did you guys get stopper?
 
So i tried again last night. After dropping temperature 5 degrees and bleeding pressure few hours prior. worked better but still had foaming. I think i narrowed it down to the stopper not fitting the bottle. it is very loose. LHBS said it was a #2 stopper but it doesnt make good seal to build pressure.
Where did you guys get stopper?

I bought my #2 stoppers from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7VU52A/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

You can probably get them cheaper, but this is what I bought.
 
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I also use a #2 stopper. Some bottles may have bigger tops than others. I've noticed the Sierra Nevada bottles are looser than some while bottles like the ones from Lagunita's are a bit tighter.The stopper could be a bit smaller in diameter too. Mine looks like it's going to sink all the way in the bottles, but it still snugs up tight. On the Lagunita bottles, the stopper looks about half way in the bottle.


I'm bottling straight from the tap, at serving pressure. As the beer starts to fill the glass it will slow down as the pressure builds. When it looks like it's stopping, I just pinch the stopper til it starts to hiss a little and the beer starts creeping back up the bottle. Once it starts overflowing a bit (you'll hear the difference between foam and beer oozing from the bottle), I shut the tap off, throw on the cap and cap it.
 
Attempted to bottle my Kolsch last night but all i got was half bottles of foam.
1. bled pressure from keg.
2. Turned pressure down to 2psi
3. Attached bottling wand with #2 stopper to picnic tap.
4. Stuck in first sanitized bottle.(stopper didnt fit bottle snug)
5. Fully opened picnic tap valve to begin filling.
It started ok but then quickly began foaming. I tried it on four diffdrent bottles and they all came out the same.
What am i doing wrong?

Thanks in advanced.

Does your filling tube fit snugly into the picnic tap? If it doesn't air will get introduced where they meet and cause foam. Some of my taps do this so I have to hold the filling tube tightly against the inside spout of the tap.
 
My tubing didn't fit the cobra tap very well, I thought it was tight but it leaked beer. So I put a 2" section of siphon line on the tap with the tubing on that, now it's nice and tight. When I start running low on kegs I start bottling, when I get a bigger keezer I'll have to get some more kegs. :)
 
My cane fits snug inside the picnic tap. I will have to try different bottles to see if the stopper fits better.
 
To junior627, have you chilled your bottles? There is a bit of a learning curve. i found that with each bottling event i got less foam and wasted less beer. I now do this whole process at serving pressure and from the keezer taps.


Here is my version of the set up. Absolutely love it and very thankful for threads like these.

IMG_20140313_211702_823.jpg
 
I had bottles in fridge with keg so that they would be same temperature.
Do you not use rubber stopper Dolomieu?
 
i do use a rubber stopper. It's just not in the pick. I have several sizes for different growler, stainless steel growlers, etc..

If your bottles were in where the fridge with the kegs then you are fine. I have had foaming issues in the past due to not chilling them.

Personally (and i apologize if this has already been said) I would run through all your parts. remove the post and check the poppet. take apart your ball/pin lock connection and make sure it's clean. Make sure your hose connections from the connection is tight. make sure your connection to the picnic tap is tight. Make sure your picnic tap is clean and opening all the way up, (i have one that was not and caused foaming issues). If the racking cane is a touch loose give in a couple wraps of teflon tape before you put in in the picnic tap. then you just have to be sure the position of the cane in the bottle is not restrictive. I don't have an angle cut on my set up and you don't need it one you get use to position it to the corner of the bottom. Though the previous plastic racking cane i had was cut like in the OP. Lastly open the faucet all the way when filling.

I realize i probably covered previous suggestions, i apologize if that's annoying. I had a bit of time over lunch break so i figured i'd just type this out real quick in the hope that something may help your situation.

best of luck!
 
I got a # 2 stopper from my hardware store, had no hole though, I'll have to drill one myself, anyone know what size drill bit I should use ?
 
I just filled a growler with the BMBF with no stopper.

Turned the PSI all the way down. Purged the keg. Put the racking cane in the growler with the picnic tap open. Turned up the gas slowly until I got a pour.

No stopper, no foam.

I wouldn't do this for multiple bottles, but for a single growler it worked great.
 
I have about a gallon of Munich Dunkel in my keg and I want to put it in bottles to free up the keg to rack my Buffalo Sweat to the keg. Ive been filling growlers usin this method and the BMBG. Im new to kegging and such. What psi have most people been keeping their kegs at to serve and to fill bottles with. It seems like 10 psi a 38 deg may be a good setting


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."
 
Well, the tank had been pressurized at 10 psi, so I vented the keg and set at 5 psi and filled jus under a dozen bottles before the keg kicked. More headspace than I am used to seeing. Tried to cap on the foam. We'll see how things turned out.


"Sometimes Im right half of the time ...."
 
So, I need to bottle up whats left of a keg tonight and move over my oak aged ipa, but I do not have a #2 stopper and wont be able to get to a LHBS this week. What downsides is there if I do this, but do not use a stopper?
 
I never used a stopper before, and I used the spring loaded bottle filler up my picnick tap. Works for me.
 
Been brewing since last november, and they have lasted about 20 batches so far. I've bottled carry outs, and bottoms of kegs a few times with little foaming.

I do bleed the psi down to 3ish.
 
I like this idea . How long does the beer stay carbonated for ? After you bottle


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If your caps are on tight, forever.

The longest my keg-bottled cider has lasted for is 4 months, and it was as good as day 1. I'm certain I have some of last year's cider around, but I may have given it away. If I can find it I'll let you know how it is after 12mo in a bottle.
 
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