Beer Gun, Bottling, Yeast and Natural Carb

[HansBlix]

After looking through countless threads about the Beer Gun I can not seem to find an answer to my problem.

I plan on fermenting in a corny and doing a closed transfer to a secondary, mixing in the priming sugar and letting it carbonate naturally. Here is where my problem lies.

I plan on then bottling with a beer gun from the secondary, the beer already having been carbonated naturally and then capping. Being a Wit, I would like to get some yeast in every bottle as if it was bottle conditioned. Should I just roll the keg around a bit and get the yeast mixed through out and then bottle using the beer gun? Has anyone done this before or do you see any problems with this setup? Will the flavor be different than if it was conditioned in a bottle vs keg conditioned and then bottled?

 

[rycov]

whats the point of carbing in a keg if you want yeast in you're bottles?

 

[HansBlix]

Its so much easier to just prime the keg and fill than to get out the buckets and a few cases of bottles

 

[rycov]

you don't have to prime each bottle, you could prime in a bucket and then pour into bottles. its going to be the exact same amount of work as what you're trying. the difference being that instead of waiting for the beer to carb in the bottles, you're waiting for it to carb in a container. (so you're going to have to clean either a keg or a bucket.)

but i think if you're set on doing it this way then you could shake the keg once its carbed to get the yeast back into suspension, then let it sit for an hour so you don't get a bunch of foam. let us know what you end up doing.

 

[HansBlix]

I agree with you about mixing in bulk and the bottling vs kegging and the same amount of clean up and time. I think i might give this a shot and see how works out. Try something different. Thank you!

 

[rycov]

yeah, i guess its not like you're adding any more clean up either. maybe it will work out well. one positive i could see would be guaranteed even carbonation from bottle to bottle.

 

[HansBlix]

EXACTLY! A closed transfer and batch consistency are the two main reasons I want to try this. Like you stated before foaming is my biggest concern. I am also worried about the level of yeast suspension while bottling. I could also see how the first half contains more yeast per bottle than the 2nd half of the keg due to the fact that I have to let the keg sit for a bit after I roll/shake it. I am not sure how quickly the yeast will start to settle again/consistently stay in suspension. Also It just seems like the Beer Gun isn't really set up for particles in beer and they certainly don't work well with foam. If it does work it seems like there are more advantages than disadvantages. There is only one way to find out I suppose.

 

[HansBlix]

A bit off topic but do you know how micros prepare their bottle conditioned beers? I don't know if they prime each bottle, if its inline with the filler, batch prime so to speak and then directly to bottle or carb and then bottle from a brite tank. Bottle conditioned is bottle conditioned so I believe the carbing and bottling from a brite is probably a no go.

 

[rycov]

yeah i imagine the beer is flat going in, but i'm not sure how they would prime. i haven't ever thought of that.

 

[killian]

I would just add the priming solution, push the beer to the 2nd keg mix and then bottle by pouring through a picnic tap.

 

[HansBlix]

Would racking to secondary keg, add priming sugar, mixing and the directly bottling flat have any adverse effects on yeast considering you are pushing with co2 into bottles?

 

[killian]

LOL, I dont think so.

 

[rycov]

no not at all.

 

[944play]

I've used a keg as a bottling bucket. Conditioning in the bottles allows the active yeast to uptake the oxygen you're sure to introduce as you fill them.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/priming-keg-bottle-conditioning-92692/