26 replies to this topic

[mikebrad]

Anyone here use the Beer Gun that has used a more traditional CPF that pressurizes the bottle before filling? Is it able to maintain the same level of carbonation in the bottle as a normal CPF?Thanks.

[stellarbrew]

I haven't had a problem retaining carbonation in any of the bottles I've filled with my beer gun. I always put the bottle in the freezer ahead of time to keep the foaming down when I'm filling, so I don't lose the CO2 in solution. The only way to lose CO2 from your beer after the bottle has been capped is having some CO2 coming out of solution inside the bottle in order to reach equilibrium pressure in the bottle's head space. To compensate when I'm using my beer gun, I will dial up the keg pressure about 2 psi a few days before filling. This seems to work perfectly. My experience is that when used properly, the beer gun does every bit as good a job as a CPF, and its much faster and simpler.

Edited by stellarbrew, 22 June 2009 - 07:32 AM.

[3rd party JKor]

Wow, just looked up the Beer Gun. $70?Can this thing be DIYed?

[ChefLamont]

The other important thing to do when bottling is, right when you are bottling, reduce the keg pressure down to ~3psi. You want it flowing slowly and gently. That will reduce the foaming a lot.As another technique/data point I dont chill my bottles any more, I just soak them in starsan and dump them out right before they get filled. I get very little foam and I know they are sanitized.I have to say my beergun is one piece of equipment that I paid full price for when I got it, and if it ever went away, I would pay full price for it again. I have VERY few pieces of brewing gear i would say that about.

[Winkydowbrewing]

I have a counter pressure bottle filler...I used it about 2 times. It is such a pain to set-up, use, and break down. Ever since I heard about the beer gun I have wanted to throw my CPF out a window. Now everything is kegged anyway and I just fill a growler right off the tap if I need a to go order.

[3rd party JKor]

I have a CPBF. While it's not the easiest to use, it's not really that bad.BTW, where the heck is my bottle capper?

[mikebrad]

I have a CPF but since I keg everything and brew way more than I drink, I use it A LOT. I think it is one of the B3 models and it does a great job keeping the beer well carbonated. I just wanted something that was going to be less cumbersome but don't want to sacrifice results.

[Thirsty]

Wow, just looked up the Beer Gun. $70?Can this thing be DIYed?

The way this works, it would be very hard to DIY it. The accessory kit however, you do not need to pay full price. That is simply a liquid QD, some bevline, and a barbed flare swivel nut. I split the cost of this with my buddy, and we just swap it whenever we need it. My biggest dilemma is bottling beers over 2.5 vols, but I dont think any filler can accomplish this without foaming. I have been putting the bottle in a pitcher, letting it overflow till I get a close fill level, and anything that spills over collects in the pitcher. As enough collects I dump that into a waste pint glass, and drink that while bottling. Seperately I fill a pyrex measuring cup with a little extra beer, and when the overflowed foamed bottle relaxes and needs a top off, I fill off the measuring cup then cap.

[3rd party JKor]

The way this works, it would be very hard to DIY it.

How does it work? It's not obvious from the grainy picture that I saw.EDIT: Forget it, I checked the Blichmann website, it has a good graphic of the mechanism.

Edited by JKoravos, 22 June 2009 - 01:12 PM.

[Deerslyr]

Id like to wank on my BG. That stupid rubber stopper design is a huge POS. Yes, the little bastard popped off again while filling growlers. And of course didn't know it until i pull out when the growler was full. I had beer all over my walkin by the time i could get my hands on the co2 feed to stop things. Me and this thing have been fighting each other for years.

Is that a big fat "I hate this thing"?

[pods8]

Id like to wank on my BG. That stupid rubber stopper design is a huge POS. Yes, the little bastard popped off again while filling growlers. And of course didn't know it until i pull out when the growler was full. I had beer all over my walkin by the time i could get my hands on the co2 feed to stop things. Me and this thing have been fighting each other for years.

Have you heard of anyone else having this issue? I've seen you mention this multiple times over the years but I've personally had no issues and haven't really heard of it affecting others.I'm wondering if you're doing something funny when you put that thing on and off that is doing damage. You have fat fingers?

[3rd party JKor]

OMG! I can't believe you called Andy fat!

[Thirsty]

Id like to wank on my BG. That stupid rubber stopper design is a huge POS. Yes, the little bastard popped off again while filling growlers. And of course didn't know it until i pull out when the growler was full. I had beer all over my walkin by the time i could get my hands on the co2 feed to stop things. Me and this thing have been fighting each other for years.

I have had this happen before. When the wand is in the bottle, and your hand gets tired of holding straight up and down, you have the tendency to relax your arm and let the gun support the weight, meanwhile pushing down harder on the bottle. That little tip can either pop off or even slightly askew itself. You wont know it until you go to pull it out and the tip does not reseal itself spilling beer everywhere until you are smart enough to figure this out.

[ncbeerbrewer]

The other important thing to do when bottling is, right when you are bottling, reduce the keg pressure down to ~3psi. You want it flowing slowly and gently. That will reduce the foaming a lot.As another technique/data point I dont chill my bottles any more, I just soak them in starsan and dump them out right before they get filled. I get very little foam and I know they are sanitized.I have to say my beergun is one piece of equipment that I paid full price for when I got it, and if it ever went away, I would pay full price for it again. I have VERY few pieces of brewing gear i would say that about.

I have to agree with this point. You can get away with not chilling the bottles thats for sure. I did that a few times as well. I have the Blichman BG and I agree too I would pay full price for it if I need to. It was a Bday gift so that was sweet but the operation of it is superior. I have never used any other CFBF but we had a demonstration at our homebrew club meeting awhile back and it was painful to watch. The last time I used the Blichman I had a beer in one hand and the filler in the other. Can you really top that for ease of use?

[Deerslyr]

OMG! I can't believe you called Andy fat!

LOL!No mea culpa from me this time. I meant what I said and I said what I meant! Nah... didn't call Andy fat... just opining that his disdain for the BG is pretty big. Nothing like having a piece of equipment that's a PITA to use. My Sony DVD player doesn't play nice with my Sony Home Theatre... keeps popping and going into protective mode anytime we play a DVD... and there's no way to adjust it like they "suggest" on-line. (sorry for the off topic rant)

[Deerslyr]

That's Phat, with a "P"! I think Phat is cool isnt it??I guess i just got a bum stopper. I'm still disappointed in the design for a fairly high dollar piece of equipment. Wish i had Swagmans tools. He did a DIY design for mere pennies compared.I like the theory behind the BG. Its fairly easy to use. Ive had bottles stand true for a very long time. So, i really don't think a closed system is really needed. I mean the big guys even have a short spell where beer is open before capping.Its just my rubber stopper isnt to "Phat"!

Yes... you are Phat!

[Slainte]

Seperately I fill a pyrex measuring cup with a little extra beer, and when the overflowed foamed bottle relaxes and needs a top off, I fill off the measuring cup then cap.

Why are you pouring oxidized beer into your nice CO2 purged and filled beer bottle? That pretty much defeats the purpose of using a CPBF/Beer gun.

[Stout_fan]

... Wish i had Swagmans tools. He did a DIY design for mere pennies compared....

There's also a major chunk of talent involved there.Sometimes I think a major collection of tools just covers up a lack of talent.Please don't ask how I know this.