Being that I’m new to kegging, this might be a silly question…
If you bottle a beer from a keg and cap it immediately, will it stay carbonated indefinitely?
If done right (without loosing too much CO2 to foaming), yes.
Well…continue lol…elaborate on how to do it right
Sanitize bottle, cap and faucet
Turn off gas to keg
Vent most of the pressure from the keg
Purge bottle with CO2 (optional)
Gently fill bottle from tap (holding the bottle at an angle to prevent foaming)
Cap on foam
Turn gas back on to keg
If you are filling multiple bottles, you might need to give the keg a shot of CO2 every so often to keep the beer flowing at a good rate.
What tools are you using? Counter pressure bottler, BeerGun, Bottle Filler and stopper?
Anyway, chilling the beer lines and gear can help reduce the foaming during transfer. Fill the bottle until beer (not foam) is at the rim, then remove your filler. Enough foam should form that you can “cap on foam” to minimize oxidation.
I do the all above PLUS I use a piece of flexible tubing that is the right size to fit over my tapper. Think about getting a growler filled somewhere - the tube goes to the bottom of the growler to minimize foaming in the growler. Fill slowly. Works great.
I have a BeerGun but I assumed Frank meant just filling out of a keg tapper.
Yeah,for me that’s always been hard to do in a way that doesn’t get really foamy without something to create some counter pressure.
I agree, love the BeerGun. Using the tube that goes to the bottom will fill a growler fairly efficiently. Nothing like counter pressure though !
http://www.strangebrew.ca/Drew/cheap.html
Look at tip #4. That’s what I’ve always done and I’ve been pleased with the results.
I use a ghetto beer gun, it works just super and cost about 8.00. Just google “DIY beer gun” and you should get a ton of info. Super easy.
I’m not using any equipment to do this yet…haven’t tried it because I didn’t know it was a good idea or not 
Normally when I bottle, I just use a bottle filler with a stopper. So, I should be able to find a hose that will stretch over the tap faucet and use that.
Jon, the only places I’ve gotten growlers filled, the assclowns just filled them like a glass of beer lol.
So, the reason why I want to do this is to fill a few bottles off a keg for competition purposes. Or should I just fill the bottles out of the fermenter and use those carbonation tablets?
Denny… Those are some magically engineered items! I likey!
I pretty much only fill bottles for competition purposes as well. I’ve had great results with the method I posted above (I’ve not gotten dinged for oxidation, low carbonation, etc.).
I’ve never tried the carbonation tablets, but I’ve heard bad things.
I use a rig like Denny linked, and it works really well. The key is to chill your bottles and also wet them inside before filling to reduce foaming. Vent your keg pressure, then set the regulator to 2-3 psi, just enough to push the beer. As you fill, you’ll need to press in on the rubber stopper once in a while to vent the head pressure and keep the beer flowing. Fill until foam comes out the top and beer reaches the stopper. This means you’ll spew a bit of foam out, but the losses are very minimal. Then cap it up. You can put a cap on, hold the cap and give the bottle a quick sideways turn to stimulate a burst of foam. This displaces any oxygen in the headspace. Quickly crimp a cap on and you’re good to go.
I’ve kept beer for over a year this way with no loss in carbonation and no degradation in quality.
Thanks guys! All good advice… Seems like an easy and legit practice.
def don’t do the carb tabs. seems they never fully dissolve in my experience.
all the methods/contraptions above work well - I’ve used them all and still do based on what I’m filling off of.
good luck!
I use pretty much what Denny uses. A piece of an old racking tube fits perfectly inside the cobra tap. Phils Philler fits, too.
I recommend bottling with the bottles in some sort of tub. I always have some overflow and it helps contain the mess.
I’ve used pretty much every type of carbonation tablet manufactured. I have not been particularly happy with any of them.
Nooooooooooooo!
Do what works for you but when I tried those tablets my lovely IPA developed a gnarly flakey precipitate/sediment that turned me off from those things forever. Effing gross.
No tablets… Understood… Have never used them