So i have my ginger beer kegged and all carbed up. In hindsight i realised i would have liked to bottle at least half of it. Is there any way of doing this without going to the expense of buying a beergun? I assume since its carbed already its ok to bottle?
This is what I use, with a disconnect of course. Pipe goes to the bottom on the bottle, bung goes in the top. Reduce pressure on the keg before you start. Turn on the tap and let some pressure out with the bung. Full bottles with no head. Just cap and you're good.
Thanks Mettatron,i wonder would that work if i used a bottling stick going through the bung?
Once the bung is on it'll be pretty tough to get off. It's tricky drilling the hole for it. Probably not that big a problem though. I just used a bit of tubing that I use for gas line as it's hard. The end is cut diagonally to keep it flowing at the bottom. If you use a bottling stick take the end off. Check it'll fit into a party tap too.
The EASIEST way to bottle from a keg:
-Get a "growler filler attachment" like this: http://www.homebrewstuff.com/growler-filler-attachment-for-draft-faucet.html
If you have a flow control tap, just pre-chill your bottles (to the same temp as the keg) and then fill them slowly to limit foaming. -If you don't have a flow control tap head you'll need to drop the pressure a bit on your keg 24 hours ahead of time (vent it every couple of hours so the CO2 pressure can equalize inside) and then just fill your chilled bottles directly.
-You get the most foaming when you start and stop the tap so quickly turn it ALL THE WAY on and off; the larger the bottle the less % foam you get. -This is acceptable for 750ml bottles with a double fill.
YES, this option is messy so keep towels around but then again EVERY bottling method is messy.
Adam
What Megatron has put together is essentially a counterpressure filler and will likely lead to less foaming vs. just a simple growler filler attachment. The growler filler attachment is SOOO easy, and doesn't spray you in the face though.
Adam
Quote from: biertourist on August 09, 2013, 07:33:03 PM
The EASIEST way to bottle from a keg:
-Get a "growler filler attachment" like this: http://www.homebrewstuff.com/growler-filler-attachment-for-draft-faucet.html
If you have a flow control tap, just pre-chill your bottles (to the same temp as the keg) and then fill them slowly to limit foaming. -If you don't have a flow control tap head you'll need to drop the pressure a bit on your keg 24 hours ahead of time (vent it every couple of hours so the CO2 pressure can equalize inside) and then just fill your chilled bottles directly.
-You get the most foaming when you start and stop the tap so quickly turn it ALL THE WAY on and off; the larger the bottle the less % foam you get. -This is acceptable for 750ml bottles with a double fill.
YES, this option is messy so keep towels around but then again EVERY bottling method is messy.
Adam
Thank you Adam and it looks a handy piece of kit but i don't think it will work with my flow control tap.
I've seen those in youtube videos and they hook them up to the little silver taps the Americans use. Any info on the diameter of the opening on those?
DM A handy way to do the tap filler I have may be to use the plastic pipe that comes on the tap itself. Just replace it with a bit of beer line then use the one that came with it to make the filler. Worth a try if you already have some beer line...
I usually put a baking bowl or bucket down and fill the bottles in that. It's not foaming or overfilling that's the problem, it's that I've never had a picnic tap that would shut off correctly.
Quote from: Metattron on August 10, 2013, 04:02:34 AM
I've seen those in youtube videos and they hook them up to the little silver taps the Americans use. Any info on the diameter of the opening on those?
DM A handy way to do the tap filler I have may be to use the plastic pipe that comes on the tap itself. Just replace it with a bit of beer line then use the one that came with it to make the filler. Worth a try if you already have some beer line...
I usually put a baking bowl or bucket down and fill the bottles in that. It's not foaming or overfilling that's the problem, it's that I've never had a picnic tap that would shut off correctly.
Maybe; the beer line that comes with the growler filler is VERY thick and has a very small inside diameter; this is what helps to reduce foaming and make the whole thing possible. (If you have a flow control tap head you can just slow down the flow and accomplish the same thing.)
Adam
The plastice bits on the end of our taps are only glued on. I gave mine a serious clean and the glue broke down. Friction hold them on now but they can be removed for cleaning. The tap (with them off) looks very like the US type ones. Maybe they're same fitting?
Quote from: imark on August 14, 2013, 09:51:41 PM
The plastice bits on the end of our taps are only glued on. I gave mine a serious clean and the glue broke down. Friction hold them on now but they can be removed for cleaning. The tap (with them off) looks very like the US type ones. Maybe they're same fitting?
I'm afraid I just don't know enough about the dispense side to say either way.
Adam