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Author Topic: Bottling from keg  (Read 2018 times)

Offline sdevries42

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Bottling from keg
« on: September 16, 2016, 02:06:32 pm »
I need to bottle some beer from a keg. Can I just dispense beer into the bottle from the keg and cap it? Any tips or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

Offline denny

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2016, 02:09:51 pm »
You can do that but the carbonation won't last long.  There are commercial units that work well, but I'm cheap...I use one of these...https://web.archive.org/web/20130404072439/http://www.strangebrew.ca/Drew/cheap.html

Seat the stopper and start to fill the bottle.  Soon the pressure will build up and stop the flow.  At that point, very slightly crack the stopper to restart the flow.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline Steve Ruch

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2016, 04:05:59 pm »
You can do that but the carbonation won't last long.  There are commercial units that work well, but I'm cheap...I use one of these...https://web.archive.org/web/20130404072439/http://www.strangebrew.ca/Drew/cheap.html

Seat the stopper and start to fill the bottle.  Soon the pressure will build up and stop the flow.  At that point, very slightly crack the stopper to restart the flow.

That is awesome. I bookmarked it for future reference. Cheap is wonderful. I'm thinking about getting a keg setup with the money I got for my gluten free article and being able to bottle some of each batch would be great.
« Last Edit: September 16, 2016, 04:08:49 pm by Steve Ruch »
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Offline juggabrew303

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2016, 04:14:48 pm »
Nice Denny thanks for posting that link.  Ive been over flowing the bottles to push out O2 then cap.  Would you still have to do that with this setup?


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Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2016, 05:21:41 pm »
You can let the foam rise an them cap them. You can also purge the bottles with co2. Use cold bottles. If they're wet from sanitizing that's ok. Cold and wet minimizes foaming.


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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2016, 05:27:40 pm »
+1.  And filling with no more than 4 psi (after venting the keg) helps minimize excessive foaming. Excessive foaming = more carb loss. Chilling your beer gun/filler as well as the bottles helps, too, as does chilling the beer colder than normal.
Jon H.

Offline el_capitan

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2016, 07:01:44 pm »
I used a homemade rig like that for about a year, and it does work.  Then it started creating tons of foam and not working very well.  I was wasting a ton of beer and ending up with major carbonation loss.  I bought the bullet and bought a Beergun - and it has been awesome!  What an improvement.  Shortly after I bought my beergun, I saw that Northern Brewer came out with their own version which has the added bonus of bottling at serving pressures, so you don't have to dial back the psi on the regulator like you do with the Beergun.  I haven't used the NB version, but I do love my Beergun. 

Offline kramerog

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2016, 10:30:56 pm »
If you want to take beer to a party then a carbonator is awesome. 

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Offline denny

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #8 on: September 17, 2016, 10:26:32 am »
Nice Denny thanks for posting that link.  Ive been over flowing the bottles to push out O2 then cap.  Would you still have to do that with this setup?


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I just shoot a bit of CO2 in them first.  I've had beers bottled this way win in comps so it DOES work.
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 denny

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #9 on: September 17, 2016, 10:27:11 am »
+1.  And filling with no more than 4 psi (after venting the keg) helps minimize excessive foaming. Excessive foaming = more carb loss. Chilling your beer gun/filler as well as the bottles helps, too, as does chilling the beer colder than normal.

The beauty of that stopper method is that the bottles fil so slowly I don't get foam in them.
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 HoosierBrew

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2016, 12:38:33 pm »
+1.  And filling with no more than 4 psi (after venting the keg) helps minimize excessive foaming. Excessive foaming = more carb loss. Chilling your beer gun/filler as well as the bottles helps, too, as does chilling the beer colder than normal.

The beauty of that stopper method is that the bottles fil so slowly I don't get foam in them.


At 4psi I get very little foam either, Denny.
Jon H.

Offline tommymorris

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #11 on: September 17, 2016, 01:15:32 pm »
Nice Denny thanks for posting that link.  Ive been over flowing the bottles to push out O2 then cap.  Would you still have to do that with this setup?


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I just shoot a bit of CO2 in them first.  I've had beers bottled this way win in comps so it DOES work.
What do you use to shoot co2 into the bottle?

Offline denny

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #12 on: September 17, 2016, 02:12:34 pm »
Nice Denny thanks for posting that link.  Ive been over flowing the bottles to push out O2 then cap.  Would you still have to do that with this setup?


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I just shoot a bit of CO2 in them first.  I've had beers bottled this way win in comps so it DOES work.
What do you use to shoot co2 into the bottle?

I use flare (screw on) QDs so I just unscrew one and stick the end of the hose in the bottle.
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

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Re: Bottling from keg
« Reply #13 on: September 17, 2016, 02:20:46 pm »
Nice Denny thanks for posting that link.  Ive been over flowing the bottles to push out O2 then cap.  Would you still have to do that with this setup?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just shoot a bit of CO2 in them first.  I've had beers bottled this way win in comps so it DOES work.
What do you use to shoot co2 into the bottle?

I use flare (screw on) QDs so I just unscrew one and stick the end of the hose in the bottle.
Thanks, good idea.