27 replies to this topic

[ScottS]

It doesn't seem to matter how much money I spend, they are all crap. They leak air at the top joint, they leak beer at the valve, the valve sticks open, etc.I keg 95% of the homebrew I make, but I need to bottle once in awhile. What do you use, and how do you like it?

[japh]

I have one of those simple spring-loaded plastic ones. Always done me right, although I didn't put the end on tight enough once and it leaked a lot. Are you filling from a keg, or priming and letting it bottle condition?

[MtnBrewer]

I've got the big pimpin mac daddy stainless bottle filler with the valve at the top. It works pretty well. It will still dribble a little bit while you're changing bottles but it works better than the plastic one that I used to use.

[EWW]

I agree they are all crap. Here's what I've been doing for those batches that I do bottle...I keg. I will rack the beer to the keg with a measure of priming sugar at the bottom of the keg, then I purge the keg with CO2 a couple times, shake the keg a bit to mix in the priming sugar in real good, and then add just enough CO2 to the keg to push the beer into bottle. I use a cobra tap with a piece of hose slipped over the tap that is just long enough to reach to the bottle of the keg to bottle. It takes a bit to figure out the fill level, but it has worked well for me and I see minimal negative O2 effects at 1+ years since I started doing this.Hope that helps

[ScottS]

When I'm filling from a keg, I use a trick I learned from MrBeer/Trub - just jam a short piece of racking cane into the cobra tap and fill like that. It works pretty good, no where near as good as a counter-pressure deal, but good enough for the rare times I need to take some beer with me.The only time I'm really filling bottles is when I'm bottling a batch for my brother or something. Then it bottle conditions.The only other time I'm filling bottles is when I'm doing a huge batch of mead. The cash flow doesn't justify a commercial bottle filler at this point, so I just did the usual homebrew siphon and bottle filler route for 4 hours. For that ordeal, I just bought 3 crappy bottle fillers and pitched them as they became difficult.

[LibraAle]

Is your mead mostly carbonated or still?

[ScottS]

I've got the big pimpin mac daddy stainless bottle filler with the valve at the top. It works pretty well. It will still dribble a little bit while you're changing bottles but it works better than the plastic one that I used to use.

Is that the one made my Lisser... uh, Listin...., damn, can't remember the dude's name....I went through two of those before declaring them crap too, just expensive crap. Mine leaked air into the valve at the top, meaning that when filling, it aerated the finished product nicely (), and when not filling, it leaked badly.Maybe it's me.

[ScottS]

Is your mead mostly carbonated or still?

All still.

[JReigle]

When I'm filling from a keg, I use a trick I learned from MrBeer/Trub - just jam a short piece of racking cane into the cobra tap and fill like that. It works pretty good, no where near as good as a counter-pressure deal, but good enough for the rare times I need to take some beer with me.The only time I'm really filling bottles is when I'm bottling a batch for my brother or something. Then it bottle conditions.The only other time I'm filling bottles is when I'm doing a huge batch of mead. The cash flow doesn't justify a commercial bottle filler at this point, so I just did the usual homebrew siphon and bottle filler route for 4 hours. For that ordeal, I just bought 3 crappy bottle fillers and pitched them as they became difficult.

I would still rack it into a keg. But, instead of force carbing it, get a picnic tap with 6-8 foot hose and use the co2 pressure to fill the bottles right from the flat keg. Carbtabs/carbonation drops work very well for this if you're only bottling a few. You can batch prime by adding the bottling sugar solution to the keg before you fill it if you intend to bottle the whole batch.I like this method since I hate bottling wands, bottling buckets and depending on gravity to move the beer.

[LibraAle]

All still.

I'd just use a bottling bucket, then, with some hose on the end of the tap so that it doesn't splash into the bottle.

[MtnBrewer]

Is that the one made my Lisser... uh, Listin...., damn, can't remember the dude's name....I went through two of those before declaring them crap too, just expensive crap. Mine leaked air into the valve at the top, meaning that when filling, it aerated the finished product nicely (), and when not filling, it leaked badly.Maybe it's me.

I don't remember where I got it. I just looked at NB and B3 and didn't see it at either of those places. 99% of what I don't buy locally comes from one of those two places so I have no idea where I got it. My only complaint is that I left it in a tray of StarSan one time and it turned the steel black on one side. Didn't affect its operation.

[Mashman]

I have the SS Lister one as well. The first one I had leaked air badly. It ruined the first BW I ever made, basically the thing was horribly oxidized within a few months. If you are going from the keg to bottle you can go about it two ways. 1. Get a beer gun, it is simple and probably the best Gadget money I've spent homebrewing or 2. You can put a racking cane directly into the nozzle of a cobra tap. Both ways have worked well for me, the biggest advantage is being able to purge the bottle with CO2 from a beer gun.Mashman

[dagomike]

I've got a big stainless version and no crap on it. I just use the bottling bucket spigot. When I pull it out, there just enough headspace. I rarely bottle from a bucket though. I think it's just easier to go from a keg with BeerGun, even if it's not carbonated.

[ScottS]

How much do these Beerguns run?

[dagomike]

Like $70. Comes down to how much you bottle. Can be a time savings.

[dagomike]

LOL.I LOATH bottling, and the BG seems to be the best thing going in the least painful department. Obviously it ain't perfect easy enough to clean/sanitize and gets the job done.

[pods8]

Dont get me started on the BG! That little black thing....Anyways, I like my BG. I use to bottle and to sanitize bottles. It acts like one of those push sprayers on bottle trees only better. The BG gets a little bit used too, but in the end I like it. I just have a love/hate relationship with the black thing.

I think you have fat fingers, I've still never had a problem with it...

[Mashman]

That little black thing is cheap, but very easy to lose when you most need it. Mashman

[BrianBrewerKS]

I still use the cheap plastic spring loaded bottle filler as well. It's not perfect by any means, but I only bottle maybe 1-2 batches per year (keg rest) so I deal with it.In other news, I've got a Beer Gun. I've used it a total of once. It's not that it doesn't work, I just rarely bottle my beer...and when I do I find it just as easy to bottle it the old fashioned way.