We no need no stinking beer gun...

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BansheeRider said:
What is the purpose of the stopper, to build pressure?
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly. By allowing some pressure to build inside the bottle, it helps keep the CO2 in solution (just like how inside the keg itself, the CO2 stays entirely in solution, because the pressure of the CO2 in solution is exactly equal to the pressure being supplied by the tank/regulator). When exposed to the lower-pressure atmosphere, the CO2 will come out of solution. So pressure inside the bottle helps keep the CO2 in solution in the beer.
 
I bottled 20 gallons last week two nights after work for a wedding on Saturday. I did 10 gallons on Wednesday night, I was having serious foaming issues, it took forever to fill a bottle and I spilled (foam) way too much. Thursday night I changed the tubing to a 5' section (original line that came with my kegging kit) and on the first bottle, it filled much faster with almost no spillage. The second bottle, the lever on the party tap broke off. Me and the groom filled +/- 90 more bottles using vise grips to actuate the tap.
Lesson learned: have a back up party tap, they are cheap.
We brought 183 bottles to the wedding (Centennial Blonde and Cream of 3 Crops), they were gone in less than 2 hours, only 1 flat beer.
Thanks BierMuncher!

image-723219720.jpg

This is from the second night
 
allenH said:
I bottled 20 gallons last week two nights after work for a wedding on Saturday. I did 10 gallons on Wednesday night, I was having serious foaming issues, it took forever to fill a bottle and I spilled (foam) way too much. Thursday night I changed the tubing to a 5' section (original line that came with my kegging kit) and on the first bottle, it filled much faster with almost no spillage. The second bottle, the lever on the party tap broke off. Me and the groom filled +/- 90 more bottles using vise grips to actuate the tap.
Lesson learned: have a back up party tap, they are cheap.
We brought 183 bottles to the wedding (Centennial Blonde and Cream of 3 Crops), they were gone in less than 2 hours, only 1 flat beer.
Thanks BierMuncher!
Click to expand...

That's legit!
 
Thanks BierMuncher! I haven't bottled for a decade, but have wanted to get back into having a few bottles so I can share, compare and yes, free up my kegs just a little earlier. Your process was easy to assemble from off-the-shelf materials and worked like a champ. I'll be spending the next couple of weeks/months sampling my efforts to see how my process fared. :mug:
 
I bought a new racking cane and a drilled #2 stopper last night. I already had a picnic tap assemble for serving. I just wanted to test it out right away, so I only filled one bottle. I skipped chilling the bottle and just went for it. Worked beautifully. Can't wait to crack it open when I get home!

Thanks for saving me 100 bucks! I was about to buy a Beer Gun! :D
 
Hey guys, I read 72 pages and I'm now partially blind. I never did see a clear answer to a question I had but did not post. It may be somewhere within this thread but I never saw it. I have Perlick 525SS taps. There is an adapter that was posted here a couple of times from Center Line Technologies. That one does not work on the 525 taps which have no threads. But, I did find a solution and it is basically the same thing but has o-rings instead of threads and it is $12.99. That pushes the total cost up a little, but it is still less than a commercially made counter pressure filler. I can use this to fill occasional bottles and I also have 12 Tap A Draft bottles that I can fill with this.
http://www.homebrewing.org/Jug-growler-filler-for-Perlick-525_p_3539.html
 
I bought one of those from Northern Brewer, and it must have been for a different model of Perlick Faucet than the one I have as it did not fit. :(
 
Has anyone ever seen an adapter that fits the Krome Dispense tower faucets (non-Perlick)?
 
I used this method and it worked great! I tested a beer five days after bottling and it was still carbonated. I changed one thing however, I used my spare bottling wand rather than a cut racking cane. If you have a bottling wand just connect it to the picnic tap and you're set.
 
I bottled a case last weekend, and I don't think I lost any carbonation at all. This method worked like a champ. I was *this* close to dropping a bunch of money on a Blichmann beer gun setup, but now I'm glad I didn't!
 
I bottled four days ago and popped one just to see... I did not get the "pfffft" and CO2 cloud that one gets from a beer carbonated in the bottle, but the beer itself was properly carbonated and went down well. Previous entries say this is normal. I'll do another "test" (if I can wait that long) next Saturday and post my results. Of note: I did not chill my bottles prior to filling. Will do so next time to see the difference.
 
MGBBob80 said:
I bottled four days ago and popped one just to see... I did not get the "pfffft" and CO2 cloud that one gets from a beer carbonated in the bottle, but the beer itself was properly carbonated and went down well. Previous entries say this is normal. I'll do another "test" (if I can wait that long) next Saturday and post my results. Of note: I did not chill my bottles prior to filling. Will do so next time to see the difference.
Click to expand...

Chilling bottles slows the co2 release from the liquid.
 
My stuff arrived yesterday to make my filler. Tonight I tried the Perlick adapter and it would not fit. I'll try it again tomorrow with some keg lube. Has anyone else tried one of these fittings for the 525 SS?

DSC_0600.jpg
 
Question, after bottling with your method and I give the bottles to friends, will it be ok if the bottles get back to room temp for awhile before going into the fridge?
 
Is there any reason instead of a racking cane that you cannot use a piece of tubing to put over the picnic tap spout?

I just thought this may be a little easier so you dont have to deal with jamming the racking cane into the picnic tap? Any issues?
 
oasisbliss said:
Question, after bottling with your method and I give the bottles to friends, will it be ok if the bottles get back to room temp for awhile before going into the fridge?
Click to expand...

In think warm beer will loose carbonation after a while.
 
anico4704 said:
Is there any reason instead of a racking cane that you cannot use a piece of tubing to put over the picnic tap spout?

I just thought this may be a little easier so you dont have to deal with jamming the racking cane into the picnic tap? Any issues?
Click to expand...

The racking cane fits perfectly, and so does a bottling wand. They key is to have a drilled stopper that fits, this would be difficult with tubing I would think.
 
oasisbliss said:
Question, after bottling with your method and I give the bottles to friends, will it be ok if the bottles get back to room temp for awhile before going into the fridge?
Click to expand...

Sure. Some of the co2 may escape the liquid if there is space for the co2 to escape. Shouldn't impact the carb level too much .
 
BansheeRider said:
The racking cane fits perfectly, and so does a bottling wand. They key is to have a drilled stopper that fits, this would be difficult with tubing I would think.
Click to expand...

Got it thanks for the response. I will go with the racking cane then. All the supplies are in my cart for like 5 bucks. Awesome!
 
I don't use the cork, use a beer line about 14-16 inches long and have 1 epoxy mixer stick in the dip tube and it works great. Holds plenty of carb and easy peasy

Toy4Rick
 
I am having real trouble with bottling "big head" beers.
Few days ago I tried to bottle Scotch Ale and decided to give up after 3 bottles: due to big foaming issue it was impossible to get 1" head space in bottle, instead it was rather 3-4" of space after foam settled. Cooling the bottles didn't help..
I had same problem with stout..

It works great for other (light) beers. I drop the temperature night before to 38F and lower bottling pressure to 3-5 psi, bottle with 6 feet hose (0.20" ID) and use drilled stopper to build pressure in bottle.

Anyone have similar issues with bottling beers with big head?
 
diS said:
I am having real trouble with bottling "big head" beers.
Few days ago I tried to bottle Scotch Ale and decided to give up after 3 bottles: due to big foaming issue it was impossible to get 1" head space in bottle, instead it was rather 3-4" of space after foam settled. Cooling the bottles didn't help..
I had same problem with stout..

It works great for other (light) beers. I drop the temperature night before to 38F and lower bottling pressure to 3-5 psi, bottle with 6 feet hose (0.20" ID) and use drilled stopper to build pressure in bottle.

Anyone have similar issues with bottling beers with big head?
Click to expand...

I usually set the pressure to less then 3. Whatever gets me a nice slooowwww flow and purge the keg right before bottling.
 
Why do you purge it night before?
You think pressure is still too high if we purge it before bottling and set regulator around 3?
 
diS said:
Why do you purge it night before?
Click to expand...

Ex: If you've been force-carbing at 12 PSI and do not purge first, then the beer is going to come out at 12 PSI from the pressure that is in the keg. It doesn't matter if you just dropped the regulator all the way down to 3 psi, there is still 12 PSI in the keg. Therefore you need to release all the pressure, and then repressurize to 3 PSI. The slower you go with the flow, the less carbonation you'll lose.

Also, I don't know if it makes any difference, but I use 8' if beer line on mine. Works like a champ.


diS said:
You think pressure is still too high if we purge it before bottling and set regulator around 3?
Click to expand...

Sounds perfect.
 
Sure, I always vent the keg and then set the regulator to get slowest but still reasonable flow.
Most beers are not a problem, it is just brews with big head.. Suppose I still have to manage my process and setup, 1st thing will be to try with longer beer line.
 
diS said:
Sure, I always vent the keg and then set the regulator to get slowest but still reasonable flow.
Most beers are not a problem, it is just brews with big head.. Suppose I still have to manage my process and setup, 1st thing will be to try with longer beer line.
Click to expand...

What do you do with the bottles before filling? Mine is saniter/ice bath. Freezing cold. Brrr
 
kapbrew13 said:
What do you do with the bottles before filling? Mine is saniter/ice bath. Freezing cold. Brrr
Click to expand...

Usually nothing and everything went just fine, but this time (due to foaming issues) I put them in freezer and it didn't help..
There has to be some catch, I am suspecting on pressure/line length.
 
diS said:
Usually nothing and everything went just fine, but this time (due to foaming issues) I put them in freezer and it didn't help..
There has to be some catch, I am suspecting on pressure/line length.
Click to expand...

Could try long hose. I like my 8' hose. Experimentation is part of the fun of brewing.
 
I did not freeze any of the bottles I did (+/- 110 bottles in 2 nights). I used a 10' line the first night and it foamed like crazy. The second night, I switched to a 5' line and they filled perfectly. Both nights my kegs were purged and the regulator was set at 3psi, it does take some experimentation.
 
My beer line is ~16 inches, set reg to 1-2 psi, purge the keg and fill into frozen bottles. If I get a bit of foam, just fill until the liquid reaches the top then stop. Once the filler tube is removed the headspace is perfect. Cap after every 2 bottles to avoid any foam buildup

Works like a charm
Rick
 
Sorry I should not have guessed, it's actually 17 inches, total. This is used for filling bottles or glasses. I don't have any longer lines

image.jpg
 
Toy4Rick said:
Sorry I should not have guessed, it's actually 17 inches, total. This is used for filling bottles or glasses. I don't have any longer lines
Click to expand...

You need a real beer line ...
 
For anyone looking for Perlick 525ss fitting, I found one that works. I had purchased one that turned out to be too large for my 525ss taps. That particular model had black o-rings. The one that fits has red o-rings and can be purchased on ebay. I tried it and it fit w/o any leaking. The one at homebrewing.org turned out to be too large. They gladly took it back and are still one of my favorite vendors for keg stuff.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/320896717175?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
 

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