Hey jb, my kids bought me a Blichmann Beer Gun for my birthday. I haven't used it yet, but I'll let everyone know how it works. I've read other forums where they have been bagged.

I like your ingenuity ...I almost asked for a cf filler, but I thought the Blichmann looked cooler

Oh no Jimmy, you haven't bought the Blichman!!!!

I hate to tell you this but I was one of the ones who bagged it and I certainly wasn't alone . I actually gave mine away. It would have to be one of my worst brewing purchases ever. Not only did it not really even work but how much time does it take to pull apart and clean? My goodness! I bought mine a few years ago so hopefully they have changed the design? Fingers crossed.

jmb, after that buying experience, seeing a few other counter-pressure fillers in action and then speaking to some experienced brewers I now have great confidence in bottling straight from the tap into the PET bottle and have done so for about 4 years now. Quite a few of these beers have been tasted a year after bottling and the majority, say 60% have been in very good condition, 30% have been a bit flat and 10% I wouldn't drink. Most however were consumed within a few months of bottling and all these have been excellent - can't think of a single dud even when I haven't purged the bottles with CO2.

If I want to keep the bottles for some time then I first purge the bottles with CO2. If I know I will be drinking them within a week or so then I won't bother.

Secondly I assess how the keg is pouring. I have a flow-restricted tap and so most of the time I can adjust the tap so the beer pours well. In these cases, I simply put the bottle up to the tap and pour the beer on an angle. Job done!

When the beer is pouring badly, I'll pour the beer into a chilled jug first and then let the head settle. Once settled, I then pour from the jug into the bottle, once again on an angle.

CO2 that is in solution on cold beer does not, "instantly," jump out of solution. This takes time and/or temperature. Very little time and temperature difference is involved in transferring from one cold vessel to another. You'd be very unlucky to lose 5% carbonation with the first method above and 10% with the second. So, there is really no problem with carbonation loss.

The second problem is oxidation. If you purge your bottles with CO2 there is hardly any risk of oxidisation - pretty much negligible. Even if you let your beer settle in a jug before bottling it, the head, which is pretty much all CO2, protects the beer from oxygen.

The third problem is infection. A counter-flow chiller is more likely to breed and distribute some horrendous bug than the above methods that rely on brief exposure to the ambient air. Once again, even if using a jug, the head of the beer will provide great protection.

So, I reckon, the trouble and expense of a counter-pressure filler is not worth it for a start. The fact that they don't work with heady beer anyway is the finish for me. I can't think of a single reason to buy one but they are still on the market because we think, when we start kegging, that they will make poorly pouring beers pour better. They don't.

Jimmy, as a fellow brewer who has taken many for the team, I am having a commiseration beer for you now . Just make sure that after you have used the gun for a while that you spread the word of your findings .

Spot ya,
PP

PistolPatch wrote:Oh no Jimmy, you haven't bought the Blichman!!!!

I hate to tell you this but I was one of the ones who bagged it and I certainly wasn't alone . I actually gave mine away. It would have to be one of my worst brewing purchases ever....
.... Jimmy, as a fellow brewer who has taken many for the team, I am having a commiseration beer for you now . Just make sure that after you have used the gun for a while that you spread the word of your findings .

Spot ya,
PP

Yeah, I know Pat! I did read a lot of negative feedback about the blichmann, but in the end I concluded the problem was with the people using the beer gun, rather than the device itself ...it's the old story Pat, a true craftsman doesn't blame his tools! I'm sure it'll work fine for me! :D

Anyway, I'll definitely keep you all posted.

Any beers that I bottle are done from the keg. I get my bottles cleaned and cold, then disconnect the gas-in line from the keg and purge the keg of enough CO2 to allow for a very slow pour from the tap.

I tilt the bottle and put the neck over the tap and begin to fill it. There should be only a slight amount of froth formed during the pour. If it is frothing too much, you haven't purged enough gas out of the keg yet.

As I am getting up to filling the beginning of the neck of the bottle, I tilt the bottle more upright to try to form froth. This layer of froth is all CO2 coming out of solution, which acts as a protective blanket pushing any air in the bottle out. The beer has displaced any air that was in the bottle, and the froth gets the last of any air out also.

Then the bottle is capped, and put into a bucket with a no rinse sanitising solution to clean up any of the froth that came out of the bottle.

This method works very well for competitions, losing only a tiny bit of carbonation in the process. If the rate of pouring slows too much, all you need to do is to reconnect the gas-in line briefly to the keg to give it a little more head pressure.

The only downside I have seen with this method is with beers that have a big aroma hit, where purging the keg does get rid of some of the aroma if you only bottle a few beers and then re-gas the keg for normal drinking, so I now tend to give a bigger hop addition for aroma if I know I am going to be bottling.

Matt

jimmysuperlative wrote:

PistolPatch wrote:Oh no Jimmy, you haven't bought the Blichman!!!!

I hate to tell you this but I was one of the ones who bagged it and I certainly wasn't alone . I actually gave mine away. It would have to be one of my worst brewing purchases ever....
.... Jimmy, as a fellow brewer who has taken many for the team, I am having a commiseration beer for you now . Just make sure that after you have used the gun for a while that you spread the word of your findings .

Spot ya,
PP

Yeah, I know Pat! I did read a lot of negative feedback about the blichmann, but in the end I concluded the problem was with the people using the beer gun, rather than the device itself ...it's the old story Pat, a true craftsman doesn't blame his tools! I'm sure it'll work fine for me! :D

Anyway, I'll definitely keep you all posted.

Yeah, it should be fine mate

... Seriously, I do have my fingers crossed for you though and hope it works out okay.

This is still a big bugbear for me, and I'm yet to master it

So no-one chills the bottles before filling?? I think I'm getting there, but maybe I'm not purging enough gas from the keg before I start. You'll have to give me a demo next time you're over Pat