BeardedBrews
Well-Known Member
Hey HBT,
I spent untold hours debating, researching, shopping, and generally wanting but not buying Blichmann's beer gun. What I kept finding were descriptions of the precise alignment of stars that must be present in order to obtain a clean bottle fill. For the investment price I just couldn't justify what seemed like a finicky device, so I didn't buy it. A couple weeks ago a friend got out of brewing and sent me his so I finally had a chance to test it out.
My initial impressions are EXTREMELY positive. Here is a video of my second bottle fill ever (including an overfill and run-off due to user error). The tupperware had beer in it when I started from flushing the line.
https://goo.gl/photos/31C29HaDGqHjAVQM6
1. Hook Up - I pulled the ball lock from a IIPA on tap that had a fairly high carbonation level. No adjustment to the regulator, I left it at serving conditions of ~12psi 38F. I simply snapped on the gun with what looks like about 10' of line.
2. Bottle Prep - Bottles were at ~70F freshly shaken with StarSan but no other special treatment.
3. Filling Location - I filled on top of the keezer ~48" lift?
4. Filling Results - I bottled 6 stubby bottles (Alaskan Brewing) in a few minutes with almost no overflow. The fill levels were very close, and there was minimal beer loss to foam.
5. Cleanup - The biggest challenge was popping the retaining clip off of the end of the beer gun to allow free flow and dry storage. I worry a bit that the clip may become loose, and I'm not certain it even has to be removed for cleaning. Otherwise, just as easy as cleaning a bottle wand style BMBF on a cobra tap.
Summary:
The big question is if this thing is worth $100. I will update after I bottle a few more gallons, but for me I think it might be. I found it easier, cleaner, and faster than the "we don't need no stinking beer gun" approach with the added benefit of being able to direct CO2 purge the bottles.
I spent untold hours debating, researching, shopping, and generally wanting but not buying Blichmann's beer gun. What I kept finding were descriptions of the precise alignment of stars that must be present in order to obtain a clean bottle fill. For the investment price I just couldn't justify what seemed like a finicky device, so I didn't buy it. A couple weeks ago a friend got out of brewing and sent me his so I finally had a chance to test it out.
My initial impressions are EXTREMELY positive. Here is a video of my second bottle fill ever (including an overfill and run-off due to user error). The tupperware had beer in it when I started from flushing the line.
https://goo.gl/photos/31C29HaDGqHjAVQM6
1. Hook Up - I pulled the ball lock from a IIPA on tap that had a fairly high carbonation level. No adjustment to the regulator, I left it at serving conditions of ~12psi 38F. I simply snapped on the gun with what looks like about 10' of line.
2. Bottle Prep - Bottles were at ~70F freshly shaken with StarSan but no other special treatment.
3. Filling Location - I filled on top of the keezer ~48" lift?
4. Filling Results - I bottled 6 stubby bottles (Alaskan Brewing) in a few minutes with almost no overflow. The fill levels were very close, and there was minimal beer loss to foam.
5. Cleanup - The biggest challenge was popping the retaining clip off of the end of the beer gun to allow free flow and dry storage. I worry a bit that the clip may become loose, and I'm not certain it even has to be removed for cleaning. Otherwise, just as easy as cleaning a bottle wand style BMBF on a cobra tap.
Summary:
The big question is if this thing is worth $100. I will update after I bottle a few more gallons, but for me I think it might be. I found it easier, cleaner, and faster than the "we don't need no stinking beer gun" approach with the added benefit of being able to direct CO2 purge the bottles.
