BeerGun Listing...EB

Buying, building and using brewing equipment and apparatus. Product reviews and questions.

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wottaguy
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BeerGun Listing...EB

Post by wottaguy »

All....

I just listed my beer gun here if anyone is interested. Just thought all would like to know....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0344427120


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Visit my blog @ http://www.wottashomebrewblog.blogspot.com

On Tap:
HL Pale Ale
HL Lite Lager
Bottled:
HL Simcoe Pale Ale
HL Wizeguy Weizenbock
HL Reveur Saison
HL Dry Stout
HL Kentucky Common
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Legman
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Post by Legman »

Hey Wottaguy,

Does that thing really work any better than using a picnic tap with a bottling wand? I occasionally fill a few bottles for friends or beer competitions, but it's just such a pain in the !@#.....and messy. :roll:
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wottaguy
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Post by wottaguy »

Hey Legman...

I found myself using the picnic tap and racking cane more than I used the beergun. I recently started to use a Counter Pressure Bottle Filler and am getting great results with that, and i'm very much pleased with how easy it is to do. I still keg all my beers, but if I want to enter any comps, or give out samples to friends, i just fill a few bottles and send them in. or give them away. I really enjoy using the CPBF a lot.

(_)3
Visit my blog @ http://www.wottashomebrewblog.blogspot.com

On Tap:
HL Pale Ale
HL Lite Lager
Bottled:
HL Simcoe Pale Ale
HL Wizeguy Weizenbock
HL Reveur Saison
HL Dry Stout
HL Kentucky Common
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Post by jawbox »

Now I had the opposite experience. I hated the cpbf and gave it to a friend as soon as I bought the beergun. I like being able to give a quick shot of CO2 then fill all with one hand. Another quick shot of co2 on top and cap.
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wottaguy
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Post by wottaguy »

hey jaw...

What about the cpbf didn't you like? Just wondering here...i feel it does a better job of transering the beer to the bottle and seems to retain the carbonation to the bottle a lot more too. I find using it not hard at all and i enjoy using it too.

The beergun was a little finicky to use as you have to get the pressure on the keg just right. I usually just pull the trigger on the beergun then dial up the co2 pressure until beer starts to flow. With the cpbf I just set the pressure to around 10 psi then purge and pressurize the bottle, then crack open the needle valve and open the beer valve, and the beer starts to flow. I can control the flow a lot easier by either choking up or releasing the needle valve. When the bottle is full and a little foam or beer passes out of the needle valve, shut the beer valve off then cap on the foam. This process comes to me really easy and i like the results i'm getting with it too.

To each his own I guess...! :)

(_)3
Visit my blog @ http://www.wottashomebrewblog.blogspot.com

On Tap:
HL Pale Ale
HL Lite Lager
Bottled:
HL Simcoe Pale Ale
HL Wizeguy Weizenbock
HL Reveur Saison
HL Dry Stout
HL Kentucky Common
shaggyt
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bottle filler and picnic tap

Post by shaggyt »

Will using these two components produce descent carbonation for temporary bottling?

Say I wanted to take a few bottles to the golf course, would they remain carbonated? If so, how long would the beer stay carbonated using this method, ballpark guess?

Most of my finances have gone towards kegging so it would be difficult to get the account's (my wife) approval on a cpbf or beergun at this point.

Stories/advice/experiences please.
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Legman
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re:bottle filler and picnic tap

Post by Legman »

This is what I use when I fill bottles from the keg. Well, actually it's a piece of racking cane and a picnic tap. It does work, but I think it's a pain in the !@# and can be rather messy.
I use this method when sending brews to competitions or sharing with friends. Part of the trick to this is to first get your bottles cold. Then bleed off the pressure from the keg and set your gauge to about 2 psi or so. Slow filling is the big key to this. Otherwise, it foams up a lot and you end up wasting beer trying to get a full bottle.
After you cap it, it will stay carbonated just like any other bottled beer. But you can expect to lose some carbonation in the process.

Something I did try recently for a camping trip, was to just fill pint mason jars straight from the tap. This didn't work too bad and they did remain carbonated. I wasn't extremely pleased with it, but it was a lot easier to do than trying to fill bottles. But in the end, it did do the job......and if you don't mind drinking your craft brew out of a mason jar. :wink:
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Length of hose

Post by shaggyt »

Would using longer, chilled length of hose connected to the tap reduce foaming? Or create more foam?
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Re: Length of hose

Post by conman »

shaggyt wrote:Would using longer, chilled length of hose connected to the tap reduce foaming? Or create more foam?
I cant remember where I saw it but the hose length is important for pressure equalization in order to retain as much c02 as possible when using a picnic tap. I have done it several times with good results. as you have probably read, the colder the better is absolutely the right thing to do whether you are a homebrewer or a commercial brewer.
I practically freeze everything that is involved during the bottling operation everytime. I also primarily keg everything unless its something special that i want to keep for a while and try it later.
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Suthrncomfrt1884
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Post by Suthrncomfrt1884 »

I'm not sure if I agree with using cold hose. If it's outside of your refridgerator, then no. Just to show my reasoning behind it, try filling a glass of draft beer into a chilled glass (as I'm sure most people do) compared to a room temperature glass.

I tend to get a LOT more head on a chilled glass than the room temp. Now, I'm not big into the chemistry part of brewing, so I couldn't give a positive answer to the chilled hose senario, it's just my thoughts on it. Maybe it would work because the beer isn't actually hitting oxygen until it's in the bottle.

As far as hose lenth goes, I find that anything over 5-6 feet actually makes it worse. You're goal is to equal the pressure of the keg. I would think 4 or 5 feet would be sufficient for this.

I still think that unless you're using CO2 to force the air out of the bottle, you'll end up with flat beer after an hour or so.
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