Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure  (Read 6104 times)

Offline homoeccentricus

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2009
  • A twerp from Antwerp
poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« on: November 02, 2015, 01:30:56 pm »
Yo, people, what's the best procedure to bottle from a keg when not in possession of a beer gun? I don't need to fill a lot of bottles, so I don't want to buy this expensive toy right now.
Frank P.

Staggering on the shoulders of giant dwarfs.

Offline Stevie

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 6858

Offline PORTERHAUS

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 475
  • NW Indiana
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2015, 02:28:09 pm »
I do have a Beer Gun but I only use it if bottling up a lot of beer at once. But most of the time to bottle up a few bottles or a growler I just stick a bottling wand into the end of a standard picnic tap. I use the non spring loaded type. I purge the co2 of my keg and start filling. When things get really slow I turn on the gas valve to give it a hit of co2 to keep things flowing. If im bottling something that will be sitting around a while I purge the bottle with some co2.

Yeah the Beer Gun makes this all a little easier but it can still be done just fine without it.

Offline Joe Sr.

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4467
  • Chicago - NORTH SIDE
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline morticaixavier

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 7781
  • Underhill VT
    • The Best Artist in the WORLD!!!!!
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2015, 04:31:48 pm »
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24678

This is how I do it.  Easy.  Cheep.

Yup. I add a 2 inch length of tubing that fits over both the racking cane and the cobra tap end to prevent the cane from slipping free of the tap. if this happens you get a nice counter pressure beer geyser which is not at all fun.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline Joe Sr.

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4467
  • Chicago - NORTH SIDE
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #5 on: November 02, 2015, 06:03:38 pm »
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24678

This is how I do it.  Easy.  Cheep.

Yup. I add a 2 inch length of tubing that fits over both the racking cane and the cobra tap end to prevent the cane from slipping free of the tap. if this happens you get a nice counter pressure beer geyser which is not at all fun.

C'mon, that's the poor man's drinking fountain!
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27362
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2015, 09:31:17 am »
Yo, people, what's the best procedure to bottle from a keg when not in possession of a beer gun? I don't need to fill a lot of bottles, so I don't want to buy this expensive toy right now.

Buy a #2 or 2 1/2 one hole stopper.  Stick a piece of tubing through it so that the tubing sticking out the bottom is long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle once the stopper is seated.  Leave a few inches sticking out the top.  Stick the tubing coming out the top into a beer tap.  Seat the stopper in a bottle.  Open the tap.  The beer will fill about 1/3 of the bottle before pressure builds up and stops the flow.  At that point, use your thumb to very slightly crack the stopper and start the beer flowing again.  When the bottle is full close the tap.  No foaming and you retain the beer's carbonation.  This works so well I've never used anything else.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline tommymorris

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3873
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2015, 09:52:06 am »
Some people have worried about infection from the tap. Do y'all recommend any particular cleaning procedure (cleaning the tap) before filling a bottle.

PS. I have a beer gun. It is a pain to clean before and after use.

Offline PORTERHAUS

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 475
  • NW Indiana
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2015, 09:52:51 am »
Yo, people, what's the best procedure to bottle from a keg when not in possession of a beer gun? I don't need to fill a lot of bottles, so I don't want to buy this expensive toy right now.

Buy a #2 or 2 1/2 one hole stopper.  Stick a piece of tubing through it so that the tubing sticking out the bottom is long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle once the stopper is seated.  Leave a few inches sticking out the top.  Stick the tubing coming out the top into a beer tap.  Seat the stopper in a bottle.  Open the tap.  The beer will fill about 1/3 of the bottle before pressure builds up and stops the flow.  At that point, use your thumb to very slightly crack the stopper and start the beer flowing again.  When the bottle is full close the tap.  No foaming and you retain the beer's carbonation.  This works so well I've never used anything else.

Is this done at serving pressure?

Offline Joe Sr.

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4467
  • Chicago - NORTH SIDE
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2015, 09:54:11 am »
Some people have worried about infection from the tap. Do y'all recommend any particular cleaning procedure (cleaning the tap) before filling a bottle.

PS. I have a beer gun. It is a pain to clean before and after use.

I bottle for a picnic tap, so I take a clean tap and line and run sanitizer through it prior to bottling.
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline Joe Sr.

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4467
  • Chicago - NORTH SIDE
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #10 on: November 03, 2015, 09:55:27 am »
Yo, people, what's the best procedure to bottle from a keg when not in possession of a beer gun? I don't need to fill a lot of bottles, so I don't want to buy this expensive toy right now.

Buy a #2 or 2 1/2 one hole stopper.  Stick a piece of tubing through it so that the tubing sticking out the bottom is long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle once the stopper is seated.  Leave a few inches sticking out the top.  Stick the tubing coming out the top into a beer tap.  Seat the stopper in a bottle.  Open the tap.  The beer will fill about 1/3 of the bottle before pressure builds up and stops the flow.  At that point, use your thumb to very slightly crack the stopper and start the beer flowing again.  When the bottle is full close the tap.  No foaming and you retain the beer's carbonation.  This works so well I've never used anything else.

Is this done at serving pressure?

No. I find it works best a very low pressure.  5 PSI max on my system.  It's also advisable to overcarb slightly to compensate for any loss in the bottling.  I know Denny says he gets no foam, but I always get some.
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline duboman

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1578
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #11 on: November 03, 2015, 10:52:29 am »
The only thing I'll add is that it really helps if you get your bottles really cold as well

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Peace....Love......Beer......

The Commune Brewing Company-Perfecting the craft of beer since 2010

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27362
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #12 on: November 03, 2015, 10:54:31 am »
Yo, people, what's the best procedure to bottle from a keg when not in possession of a beer gun? I don't need to fill a lot of bottles, so I don't want to buy this expensive toy right now.

Buy a #2 or 2 1/2 one hole stopper.  Stick a piece of tubing through it so that the tubing sticking out the bottom is long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle once the stopper is seated.  Leave a few inches sticking out the top.  Stick the tubing coming out the top into a beer tap.  Seat the stopper in a bottle.  Open the tap.  The beer will fill about 1/3 of the bottle before pressure builds up and stops the flow.  At that point, use your thumb to very slightly crack the stopper and start the beer flowing again.  When the bottle is full close the tap.  No foaming and you retain the beer's carbonation.  This works so well I've never used anything else.

Is this done at serving pressure?

Yep.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline tommymorris

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3873
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #13 on: November 03, 2015, 11:53:57 am »
I have done the method Denny describes before. The stopper slows/stops the flow of the beer into the bottle (it's counter pressure). To keep it going slow at serving pressure you would need to be delicate when letting air in.

Offline klickitat jim

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8604
Re: poor man's bottling from the keg procedure
« Reply #14 on: November 03, 2015, 11:57:58 am »
Ive had good luck with a bottling wand shoved into a cobra/picnic tap. I drop pressure to about 5psi. I purge the bottles with CO2, then fill till liquid is coming out and cap quickly.