Kegging, but need bottles for comp.

[oc eric]

So, is anyone interested in having a bottling day? All you need is your keg and some bottles.

Just because there weren't any takers this time, doesn't mean it wasn't a good suggestion.

[BARL Brewing]

I just attempted to bottle from the keg today using tubing and stopper method. WOW! I made a nice mess of beer on the garage floor, not to mention the wild differences in fill levels.

I would be interested in a demo at this months meeting if anyone has experience with this method and is willing
Brian

[kevinham]

I just attempted to bottle from the keg today using tubing and stopper method. WOW! I made a nice mess of beer on the garage floor, not to mention the wild differences in fill levels.

I would be interested in a demo at this months meeting if anyone has experience with this method and is willing
Brian

Did you remember to turn the pressure WAY down and vent the keg?

[BARL Brewing]

Did you remember to turn the pressure WAY down and vent the keg?

I did turn the pressure down to 1-2 psi but now I don’t remember if I let off the keg pressure or not.
I may have hade an issue with my method anyway:
I didn't have the tubing hooked up to a faucet or a shut off valve of any kind except on the co2 regulator, which I tried to shut off at the appropriate time. I had the bev out d/c to 5/16" tubing to a racking cane in a #2 stopper.
Originally I was going to run tubing off the end of my faucet outside the fridge door but, I didn’t have big enough tubing to go over the perlick faucet end, and even so that same tubing wouldn’t have fit in the #2 stopper.

[bwarbiany]

When I've bottled off kegs in the past, I've always used a standard bottling wand (jammed into a cobra tap, it fits perfectly). This gives you at least a check valve on the fill, and has you filling from the bottom.

I never messed with the #2 stopper, and don't think I had trouble with carbonation... I'd fill and let it foam over until I had the right liquid level, then cap. Basically it's the same method used by breweries to fill growlers, but I suppose they're not concerned with long-term storage.

[maltbarley]

Originally I was going to run tubing off the end of my faucet outside the fridge door but, I didn’t have big enough tubing to go over the perlick faucet end, and even so that same tubing wouldn’t have fit in the #2 stopper.

Use tubing that will fit inside the faucet. It will also fit inside a #2.

[bwarbiany]

Another question...

I have a chilled and carbonated keg ready to fill from. But it's in a different fridge, and I don't particularly want to pull the CO2 out of the kegerator unless I need to...

Has anyone ever tried filling from the gas in port? I.e. vent pressure (maybe leaving enough that the lid doesn't leak), and use gravity (with the cobra tap/bottling wand method) to empty the keg?

Or on the liquid out side, using the inherent pressure in the keg to start the fill, then loosening the lid of the keg until all pressure is vented and a natural siphon is formed?

Actually, I think that latter method might work best...

[maltbarley]

For as inexpensive as CO2 is, that sounds like a lot of trouble and it makes me think you aren't flushing bottles, either.

[kevinham]

If you aren't filling that many bottles, I don't think you would need the CO2. Vent some of the pressure (not as much as you would if it was hooked up), and there should be plenty of pressure to push enough beer to fill a few bottles I would think.

[oc eric]

Another question...

I have a chilled and carbonated keg ready to fill from. But it's in a different fridge, and I don't particularly want to pull the CO2 out of the kegerator unless I need to...

Has anyone ever tried filling from the gas in port? I.e. vent pressure (maybe leaving enough that the lid doesn't leak), and use gravity (with the cobra tap/bottling wand method) to empty the keg?

Or on the liquid out side, using the inherent pressure in the keg to start the fill, then loosening the lid of the keg until all pressure is vented and a natural siphon is formed?

Actually, I think that latter method might work best...

They make a special "tank jumper" just for that purpose... $14.95

[bwarbiany]

I think I might fill about 16 bottles, so not sure I'll have enough CO2.

Can you siphon carbonated liquids? Or will the CO2 come out of suspension and create a bubble at the top of the siphon?

Maybe I should just pull out the CPBF I bought and actually put it to use...

[jward]

Or on the liquid out side, using the inherent pressure in the keg to start the fill, then loosening the lid of the keg until all pressure is vented and a natural siphon is formed?

Actually, I think that latter method might work best...

I would just knock the pressure down to a few PSI and use that pressure to fill. Without the pressure the CO2 will be coming out of all of the beer and that will help keep the push going. I don't think you will need a siphon. Unless you are emptying the keg you don't want the O2 from an open keg either.

[bwarbiany]

Moot point. The keg didn't seem to have any pressure, and the kids were asleep, so I'll just wait until tomorrow and try again.

I might have to bottle of my current serving keg, though, in case the alternate is no longer properly carbonated.

[Marotte Brewery]

For as inexpensive as CO2 is, that sounds like a lot of trouble and it makes me think you aren't flushing bottles, either.

I tried my new bottle filler tonight to take a beer to a buddy's house. It worked great, but raised a question. I don't see the need for flushing bottles with CO2. If you fill a bottle with CO2, then fill it with beer from the bottom using either the wand with stopper or beer gun, you still have to remove the tube that filled the bottle from the bottom. Unless you can do this in a closed CO2 environment, you are leaving plain air in the top of the bottle, as the beer "flushed" all of the CO2 out of the bottle.

Am I missing something?

[lexuschris]

Good point. I suppose you could always raise the filling tube up as you fill, so that when you are nearly out of headspace, you are displacing almost no volume. Then you could leave a nice little pool of CO2 atop your brew...

Bonus points for style
--LexusChris