Bottle Fillers

[Ryan]

What are peoples opinion about bottle fillers?

I am thinking about buying a CPBF, a Morebeer/Craftbrewer one that one person can use fairly easy. I know some people just turn down the pressure on their keg and fill from there, but I will probably want to keep the bottles around for a few weeks at least maybe months, so Im thinking a counter pressure bottle filler may be the way to go.

[denimglen]

I've filled bottles like this and this and no noticeable signs of oxidation so far (even in bottles up to a few months old).

You can even set something up to purge your bottles with CO2 to reduce the risk of oxidation further.

Cheaper than investing in a CPBF.

[Pilgrim]

I've tried both methods with hilarious results.
Points to note:
Method 1 - Make sure the tap is off before you connect it to the keg :-(
Method 2 - Make sure your faucet is forward sealing. Mine wasn't and sprayed me with beer from around the spindle :-(
I use method 1 now.

[Ryan]

I had a look at those sites - man some people crack me up! To try and *save* money they spend so much time, and in some cases on those sites - money as well getting something that is 'hand crafted'! Also a lot of those solutions are only good for a few days - no CO2 purging.

I think long term I will buy a CPBF, but for now I think I might get a stainless tube and attach it to my forward-sealing faucets, then fill some bottles a day or so before I need them.

[denimglen]

"I had a look at those sites - man some people crack me up! To try and *save* money they spend so much time, and in some cases on those sites - money as well getting something that is 'hand crafted'! Also a lot of those solutions are only good for a few days - no CO2 purging."

I don't CO2 purge and have bottles in my cellar that are at least 6 months old - no oxidation. Far more than a few days.

Yeah, I saved money, and yes it's 'hand-crafted', and I didn't need to piss around with a double handed, overpriced, counter pressure bottle filler. Can't really see how flaring a piece of stainless tube or sticking a broken racking cane in a tap is 'spending time', unless you're bad with tools? Maybe we should spend less time making beer and just go buy a dozen.

[James P]

I made one following denimglen's advise, saw a youtube video and did all that.. in the end....

$18 racking cane from HBS
$15 picnic tap from HBS
$3 driller rubber bung to fit bottle

Stick one in the other up the other.... counter pressure bottle filler.... done.

[Ryan]

Thats interesting to know that you have bottles months old with no oxidation issues. The people on those websites was talking about a few days to 10 days being ok with no C02 purging. I might cellar some bottles and see how they go.

The 'spending time' I was talking about was one guy basically making a CPBF from scratch. True, he might of save a little money, but if what you say is right and you have a good process then you might not need a CPBF.

Whats your method? Do you turn down your pressure?

[JoKing]

Hey Ryan. Good to see you discussing homebrew on here mate. I fill my bottles out of the tap - I have the same ones as you. I just make sure the foam goes up to the cap... and thats it. My current Case swap beers were filled like this 2 weeks ago... unsure how people are storing them, but I haven't had any complaints yet.

Cellaring some of your own might be a good idea... I reckon CPBF's are a waste of money.

[Martin Bridges]

I need to sort out my bottling approach. The main reason I haven't so far is that I only bottle 3 or 4 off each batch, and that's only to take to people's houses or enter into the occasional compo. Bottling 15 bottles for the case swap was a sodding nightmare, and as many of you have discovered, my technique is shoddy.

I just stick a short length of tubing on the end of my picnic tap , turn the gas pressure down and tilt the bottle. Still seems to result in massive fobbing, mainly due to an imperfect seal between the tap and tube, leading to air being drawn in. maybe I should look at shoving something inside the tap?

Having said that, I've not suffered from oxidation problems with beers stored for at least a few weeks.