Bottling from a Keg

[jeffpn]

This year, I plan to brew my Holiday Cheer twice. Once for me, kegged. Once for friends, bottled, to accompany the cookie platters my wife makes for friends and family. What is the best way to bottle from a keg? I’d like to do that, just for kicks. I know carbonation suffers that way. My options that I can think of are to keg it, force carb, and let it sit chilled a couple weeks before I bottle it. Or, I can prime the keg with corn sugar, let it sit at room temperature for a couple weeks before chilling to bottle. Maybe that would give a more suitable carbonation? If those fail, I could just bottle without kegging. I’d like to bottle from the keg, to reduce sediment, and play with my bottling gun.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I bottle from the keg for trips, I have a device just for this purpose but I've found an easy way thats faster, the 1/2" silicone hose for your pump fits perfectly over the tap spout and inside the bottle, but you need to turn the pressure way down to 2 psi and create a pinch at the top of the bottle to let air out as your filling, I just do it with my finger it works great

 

[jeffpn]

I have the bottling gun. No need to improvise there. Low pressure is key, for sure. I just want to insure that there is sufficient carbonation in the bottle for the people who drink it.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

you have to carbonate first in the keg or it will dissipate and just a force carb will create too much foam

 

[jeffpn]

There are a couple ways to carbonate the keg, as I mentioned in my first post. I can force carb, and let it sit a couple weeks for the CO2 to absorb, or I can prime it with corn sugar. That’s my question. What’s the best way to make sure that the final bottled product has a sufficient level of carbonation? Or would either way work? For those who regularly do this, what’s your method?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

force carb and let it set is better, just for the less mess and clearer beer

 

[KC]

I'll bottle from my kegerator for comps. Final product ends up clearer.
If you freeze the bottle beforehand, it will lose less carbonation during transfer.

 

[J A]

If you have CO2 and kegs, there's absolutely no reason to prime and carb. Carb the keg with with burst or set and forget method, let it settle for a couple of weeks at the proper level of carb, bottle from keg.
I usually over carb just a little by letting the keg sit overnight at slightly higher pressure if I know I'll be bottling. Like KC says, make the bottles at least as cold as the beer, drop the keg pressure so that the beer just comes out nice and easy, use a tube of some sort to deliver it to the bottom of the bottle, make sure there's just a little foam pushing out when it's filled. drop a cap on it immediately and crimp the cap as quickly as you can.

 

[Head First]

I have force carbed and kept for a year or 2. As stated slightly over carb, fill chilled bottles slowly and cap quickly. Gotta love the lack of sediment this way. If you are a beer snob a little sediment is easy to handle. If not, improperly poured can cloud and leave the wrong flavor.
The best part of doing the force carb is taste testing til it is just right.
Always just chilled in frig but frozen bottles should work very well.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

correct, you need to overcarb or it will be short when you open the bottle