I’m thinking about switching from bottling to kegging to have more control over carbonation. But if I did want to bottle a few from the keg, is there an inexpensive way (without buying a beer gun or other accessory)to do that and still retain an accurate carbonation level?
Also do the “picnic taps” work ok when dispensing beer?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
There are many different ways.
Here is one: turn off gas to keg, bleed most of the pressure through the release valve, purge bottle with CO2, fill at an angle straight from tap, and cap on foam.
If you have Intertap faucets, you can use the growler filler attachment and a piece of tubing to fill the bottle from the bottom.
You can also build a sort of counter pressure filler by adding a stopper.
If you aren’t going to consume the bottled beer pretty much immediately, you have to have a way of purging the bottle with CO2
Well… you don’t “have to”… it’s not like there’s a law.
I’ve seen a bottle wand modified and fit onto a cobra tap as a “poor man’s beer gun”.
http://www.craftbrewing.com/blog/poor-mans-beer-gun/
As well as Intertap mentioned above, if you have Perlick‘s you can also get a bottle/growler filler to fill from the bottom.
You could clean your bottles empty them right before filling and pour off of like 1-4 psi from your taps. Hit the bottle with a screw driver (handle part) and then cap on foam. That’s how I fill growlers, though I have a growler attachment. But if your beer is carbonated and you purge the keg, then push at a low psi, cap on foam. You should be ok.
I, not sure how long they would store that way, but it’s pretty much the same as a bottling gun, minus the purging your bottles with co2 part.
I use the Blichmann beer gun to great effect.
I have been using picnic taps for several years (since I started kegging) and they work fine. I am contemplating an Intertap keg faucet https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Intertap-Stainless-Keg-Faucet-P4045.aspx though for the price, picnic taps are pretty decent.
I use something like that with a Perlick flow control faucet.
The adapter I use is available here: https://www.chicompany.net/beer-store/ball-pin-lock-kegs-parts/ball-lock-keg-parts/faucets-for-ball-lock-kegs/qd-adaptor-for-flow-control-faucets
Mine is a very expensive solution. But, I can connect directly to the keg and serve at full pressure.
I fill bottles with the Perlick Growler Filler adapter: https://www.amazon.com/Growler-Filler-Perlick-600-Faucets/dp/B00MZBW276
I don’t purge with CO2 as I never leave beer in bottles longer than a few days.
I’ve used nothing but picnic taps for 20 years. To bottle, I put a piece of tubing through a one hole #2 (maybe 2 1/2) stopper. The diameter of the tubing is such that it fits inside one of the picnic taps, and and it’s long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle while sticking up a few inches above the stopper. I unscrew a QD from one of my CO lines and use that line to purge the bottle. I put the end of the tubing into a picnic tap and seat the stopper in the bottle. I open the picnic tap and the bottle fils about 1/3 of the way before back pressure stops the flow. I then use my thumb to gently crack the stopper just a bit, so the flow starts again. When the bottle is full, I close the picnic tap, remove the stopper and cap. Easy, cheap, and effective.
This does sound easy, and simple to get parts for. As a related question, when purging with CO2, I am wildly guessing because of course, it’s not visible. For a bottle, would three seconds be about right? And I assume CO2 will float away pretty quickly so I should purge, fill, & cap each bottle at a time?
I fill my bottles with Starsan and push the Starsan out of the bottle with 1-2 lbs pressure of Co2. It’s exactly the same concept as purging a keg that’s filled with Starsan.
Hey banjo-guy, didn’t you have a thread a while back with a linked video on your DIY bottle filler? I thought of that reading this thread. It might be time for a link or a bump. If I’m recalling another forum member, apologies.
Robert. That was my video. I just took it down. The filler itself is shown in Pimp My System. I was a little surprised that there was so little interest in the gadget. It’s really easy to use and make.
I’ll repost the video or make new one.
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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #8 on: August 18, 2018, 05:12:59 PM »
Quote
I’ve used nothing but picnic taps for 20 years. To bottle, I put a piece of tubing through a one hole #2 (maybe 2 1/2) stopper. The diameter of the tubing is such that it fits inside one of the picnic taps, and and it’s long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle while sticking up a few inches above the stopper. I unscrew a QD from one of my CO lines and use that line to purge the bottle.
What is the QD that you’re talking about? I’ve never kegged and I am clueless.
Thanks for yoiur help.
QD is short for quick disconnect. It is the adapter used to connect the hose to the post on the keg. Denny takes the QD off the gas hose, puts the hose into the empty bottle and turns on some CO2, then fills the bottle using his homemade device (above).
I do it this way, too. It works great, doesn’t cost much, and is easy to clean. I keep a wallpaper tray nearby to set the filling assembly in while I cap the bottles. I use a Vinator Bottle Rinser with Star San just before filling each bottle and drop the caps in there to sanitize, too. Any of the methods will foam less if you can get the bottles and equipment good and cold before filling.
This is too clever for words. I haven’t bottled anything in ages, but have no desire to mess with my old counterpressure rig ever again. I was thinking, how could I do this, given that I have only one keg at a time on tap in my keezer and thus only one gas line? Then I realized: if I put a “tee” on the gas (recycled from CP rig,) and send one leg to the keg, I could put a second picnic tap on the other gas leg and use that to “purge”* the bottles. And it gets better. I have a ball lock adapter for my Intertap faucet. Running the liquid picnic tap off the regular draught line would add considerable restriction, further reducing foaming. This would be just easy enough to set up and clean that I might not mind filling the odd sixer.
*Put that in quotes lest I invite a lesson on gas laws, TPO etc.
Do you have any way of controlling where the star san is going when it exits the bottle under the incoming pressure of the CO2 or do you just let it dribble out into a bucket or dish pan?
I tried doing that by running CO 2 through a keg that had no beer in it with the CO 2 going through the liquid out post with a picnic tap and bottle wand and stopper. Once the bottle was about half empty it just made lots of bubbles in the star san in the bottle. What is your set-up like? Thanks
Look under the Pimp My System sub heading for Oxygen Bottle Purging Gadget. I have a few close up pictures of what I did. It’s easier to see the picture than to explain it.
I run the Starsan into a container. It works very well but Denny’s way is probably just as good and a lot easier.