Bottling from a keg to be drank that night

Josh Hughes

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I’m not talking about bottling to keep. Let’s say I want to drop off a bottle for someone to drink that evening. Can I simply bottle from by keg like I would filling a glass, cap it off and then deliver? I know there are better ways if it’s intended to keep. Im thinking Just like one would do a growler. Sanitize bottle, put in freezer, fill, cap, deliver.
?
 
I do that all the time. Works fine. A piece of tubing to the bottom of the bottle makes for less mess. I use my growler filler.

I literally did that for 8 bottles on Saturday to give to the people I was doing some smith training with since we can't be close together sharing beer.
 
Here's a demo of the approach I use (starts about 5 minutes in) -
 
It’s really no different than filling a growler. I bought one of the growler fill hoses for this purpose.

Before I fill the bottles, I vent off most of the CO2 from the keg and fill the bottles very slowly with about 2 psig. I should probably invest in a counter-pressure filler, but this method works okay.
 
I’m not talking about bottling to keep. Let’s say I want to drop off a bottle for someone to drink that evening. Can I simply bottle from by keg like I would filling a glass, cap it off and then deliver? I know there are better ways if it’s intended to keep. Im thinking Just like one would do a growler. Sanitize bottle, put in freezer, fill, cap, deliver.
?
Get yourself some kind of tubing so you're filling from the bottom of the bottle. I use the tube from one of those plastic bottle fillers. Stuff it into a picnic tap and run your pressure down to about 5 psi. Then fill.
 
I should probably invest in a counter-pressure filler, but this method works okay.

I use a broken racking cane stuffed into a picnic tap with a drilled stopper on it. You just vent the pressure as the bottle fills by moving the stopper. Works well as a cheapo counter pressure filler
 
I use a broken racking cane stuffed into a picnic tap with a drilled stopper on it. You just vent the pressure as the bottle fills by moving the stopper. Works well as a cheapo counter pressure filler
That's what I use! Works great.
 
Growler-filling bottles is quite fine but there is a little degradation of the carb level. Make sure there's good carbonation, chill the bottles to below freezing, purge the keg and adjust pressure so that there's just enough to keep gas in suspension in the hose and beer just pours out in a steady stream with no head, use a filler wand or growler tube, cap instantly. Bottled like that, it should last for a good while.
If you want to up your game, over-carb the beer slightly 24 hours in advance and follow the same steps with a back pressure bottling-gun rig of some sort. ;)
 
I don't do it very often, but when I do it now just for travellers, I use PET bottles and a carb cap. I use a piece of 3/8"OD tubing jammed into a picnic tap. Turn off the gas, and vent all gas out of the keg. Turn regulator down to zero PSI. Attach a liquid line with the picnic tap, open picnic tap and it flows slowly. A combination of Co2 coming out of solution creating a bit of pressure, and possibly a bit of warming to the keg. If flow stops, I will reopen the Co2 and turn the regulator know until it starts to flow. Once the bottle is full I add the carb cap, hit it with some Co2, and loosen to vent it a couple of times, then hit it with 10PSI. It will keep as long as you want it to keep. I have a few carb caps, so I can either take one 2L bottle, or a few smaller ones.
 
Some good stuff here. For dropping the bottle off tomorrow I’ll have to just wing it. I’m going to look into some of this stuff for moving forward. Usually I bottle a few and add sugar, this time I didn’t have anything left that wasn’t super hazy and “trubby”. It was the Wayners.
 
You can definitely do a fancier method, but a tube off the tap will absolutely work for handing off a few bottles to your buddies.
 
I have a 10 inch (ish) piece of 3/8" tubing that fits perfectly on the end of the picnic tap. While I do get some foaming, not enough to worry about.

I need to try cooling the bottles, see if that helps.
A friend loaned me a counter-pressure filler, one I get all the plumbing right I'll see if I can make it work. Knobs and levers and such, Oh My!
 
So what if the bottle, growler, tin can etc. is not full. Free beer.....yes or no. I thought of investing in post keg filling equipment. I said no way. Folks getting free beer don't complain that the vessel is not full, at least I've not heard any complaints.
 
If it's not full and you don't do a counter pressure fill, the beer will degas into the empty space until the pressure is equal. Whether that's a problem depends on the beer and how much space you leave and how quickly you drink it.
 
Let’s just say I got him some beer but LOL!! It wasn’t super pretty
Free beer is better than no beer in my book :). Aka beer glutton:D

Ever herd of wakachangi beer?
I try not to take beer too seriously...
 

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