Bottling from a carbonated keg

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Yesterday I bottled my entry for the NHC, my first time bottling (aside from screw-cap bottles). While it went well - I have my 6 bottles :D
- it was a messy process. The counter-pressure filler I borrowed from a friend definitely reduced the foaming and waste, and the bottles are more-or-less filled, but beer was everywhere.

The counter-pressure filler seems like a relatively cheap version, but I can't imagine a $100 Beer Gun being much different.

So I ask, if you bottle from a keg, how do you do it and what works best in your opinion?

Setup.jpg
 
In the past, and not very often, I have disconnected the gas, pulled a couple beers, release the pressure and filled a couple of bottles right from the tap. Not ideal, but it has worked.
 
I have a separate beer line for this with a picnic tap on the end.
Push a piece of 3/8"OD clear tubing in the picnic tap, it fits very snug in there.
I do this to fill growlers when going to visit people.

Steps
Turn off the gas.
Vent the Co2 completely from the keg
Turn regulator down to zero
remove the liquid line from the keg
connect filling line to keg
I normally get a little bit of flow as soon as I connect it, I run this into a glass to get O2 out of the line
purge the bottle (I have to Co2 bottle, makes this easy)
place the tube into the bottle
turn up the pressure until the gauge just starts to move
turn gas on
adjust pressure to adjust flow
It is slow going but I typically don't spill anything more than a few drops, and have no foaming issues.
 
Another solution for bottling part of a batch for whatever reason you may wish to.
This is actually a way to bottle condition part of a batch, then put the balance on Co2 as per usual.
I don't think that BJCP judges view bottle conditioned beer any differently. They sure shouldn't anyway.
I did this last fall on two batches that I wanted to save some to age for a year.
On kegging day I dosed 6 bottles with priming sugar, then bottled from the keg with a bottling wand attached to the out post.
I plan to brew both of these beers again soon, and bottle the whole batch by batch priming in the keg. Making it essentially a fancy bottling bucket. I will take some pictures when I get around to this. I bought a high quality stainless steel bottling wand for this purpose.
It has a positive shut off which I thought would be important when pushing the beer with Co2, as opposed to gravity.
Hope this helps!
 
That does help. This is a hefeweitzen, with 4 volumes of CO2, so it tends to be a bit fizzy.

My normal dispensing routine is what @Frankenbrewer recommended: a little foam is wasted but generally not much. I do this for my screw-cap quart growlers (brown boston rounds).

Adding sugar to still wort for carbonation seems, uh, primitive and capricious. But obviously that is my (lack of) comfort zone talking.

Goal for 2021: Bottle-condition at least half a batch.

@Craigerrr I will try your method once I get a couple more bottles, this weekend.
 
I get almost zero foam when I bottle carbonated beer from the keg with the picnic tap method.
You almost don't need to turn the regulator up to a pound or two.
After venting the keg completely the Co2 will start coming out of solution creating just a wee bit of pressure.
Good luck with it.
Oh! One other tip,
Do your bottling over an open dishwasher, no muss, no fuss, just some dirty knives!
 
Yesterday I bottled my entry for the NHC, my first time bottling (aside from screw-cap bottles). While it went well - I have my 6 bottles :D
- it was a messy process. The counter-pressure filler I borrowed from a friend definitely reduced the foaming and waste, and the bottles are more-or-less filled, but beer was everywhere.

The counter-pressure filler seems like a relatively cheap version, but I can't imagine a $100 Beer Gun being much different.

So I ask, if you bottle from a keg, how do you do it and what works best in your opinion?

View attachment 14732
 

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Similar to craigerr, I will vent and set to about 3 psi and use a party tap, but I then use my bottling wand inserted through a small drilled rubber stopper and then into the end of the party tap.
I open up the party tap and insert the wand and stopper into the bottle. I snug up the stopper and then push the wand down until it starts to dispense
The pressure builds and stops the flow and then I'll "burp" the stopper just to release a little pressure. This allows the bottle to fill slowly and right up to the top.
Shut off the party faucet, remove the entire setup and cap.
Works pretty good but take a little practice to get it down.
Good luck!
Brian
 
On the rare occasion I bottle from keg/fermentor I use the picnic tap method craig and brew mentor alueded too.

Craig details it pretty spot on.
I cap on the foam is all that way limiting 02 in headspace.
 
I would add temperature in there as well. The colder the beer gets the more benign it becomes and the less the CO2 wants to break out. I put kegs in the fridge the night before when bottling, if I can get them down to 2-4 degrees (celsius that is) I can often get away with zero spillage.
 
Had to make room in the kegerator. Luckily there wasn't much left in the keg I had to pull out. Used picnic tap with a bottle length of tubing. Worked like a charm. Just glad only 4 bottles.View attachment 14758
I'll have to chew your ear about how you added the hazel nuts I have a Macadamia Nut tree growing next to my house which drops nuts in my yard I'd like to have a crack at imparting them into a rich malty brew.
 
ya I do it all the time. I turn the PSI down to 1 or 2, and I hook up a picknick tap with a hose the length of the bottle. Release the pressure in the Keg first. Then poor a small amount to drink for priming the tap. Then fill bottles and slowly as you can. Yes you will get a little foam but shouldn't be too bad.
 
Had to make room in the kegerator. Luckily there wasn't much left in the keg I had to pull out. Used picnic tap with a bottle length of tubing. Worked like a charm. Just glad only 4 bottles.View attachment 14758
Wow love the sound of that beer, been looking for a nice Hazel Nut Brown ale, is that recipe available somewhere? Thanks Steve
 
Wow love the sound of that beer, been looking for a nice Hazel Nut Brown ale, is that recipe available somewhere? Thanks Steve
Steve. all I did was brew a pretty strong brown ale and then added Hazelnut extract to the keg. I kind of over did it with the extract.
 
Steve. all I did was brew a pretty strong brown ale and then added Hazelnut extract to the keg. I kind of over did it with the extract.
Thank you for the response, I want to do a Brown with a bit of a higher ABV and with Hazel Nut. I am kind of new to the game only 2 brews so far, golden ale and NEIPA, but wanted to do a brown next. As far as extract I read 1oz to 5 gallons, but some say during fermentation some say in the keg, so not truly sure.
 

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