Beer gun/counter pressure filler

[fury_tea]

Considering getting a Blichmann beer gun but the price puts me off a little. I'd only really use it for the odd few bottles when I'm going out to friend's or for kicking the end of the odd keg to free it up.

Anyone tried a cheaper alternative and had good experiences, or anyone got a BBG and feels it's worth it?

I almost bought it a few days ago but changed my mind at checkout.

 

[Sadfield]

I have one and love it. However, for what you outline above, definitely not worth the expense and setup time. PET bottles and a few carbonation caps would be better.

 

[dan125]

+1 for the BBG - use mine to fill 12-15 bottles from each batch and it works a treat, easy to clean, etc. But like Sadfield says, its probably not worth the cost or the faff to just fill a bottle or two.

 

[foxy]

Considering getting a Blichmann beer gun but the price puts me off a little. I'd only really use it for the odd few bottles when I'm going out to friend's or for kicking the end of the odd keg to free it up.

Anyone tried a cheaper alternative and had good experiences, or anyone got a BBG and feels it's worth it?

I almost bought it a few days ago but changed my mind at checkout.

Haven't a clue the price of a Blichmann beer gun but these are value for money.
https://www.keg-king.com.au/tapcooler-bottle-filler.html

 

[peebee]

+1. These things are pricy, but designed to allow "the odd bottle" to be filled. I'd like one, but already have a Pegus counter pressure filler at twice the price and not quite so convenient for "the odd bottle".

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/counter-pressure-bottle-filler/

You need to have the right taps (forward sealing), and changing to them if you haven't got them already can make it an expensive exercise.

As @Sadfield said, 2 or 3 carbonation caps can be cheaper (you can use them to pressure transfer).

 

[Horners]

I struggled a bit at first with my BBG but now I have it mastered, love it but as others have said I wouldn't be bothered to get it all set up just to take a couple of bottles on the road. On the other hand the barley wine I am egging today will force carb and bulk condition till I need that keg ad the whole lot will be transferred sediment free to bottles to lay down for Christmas.

 

[fury_tea]

I do have a carb cap, but I have like 100 glass bottles from my bottling days that are just going to waste on a shelf. Don't fancy buying more bottles, plastic or otherwise

I have intertap forward sealing taps so that's not a problem.

You've convinced me. I'll get the tap cooler when it's back in stock.

Could come in handy if I do a stout/porter or whatnot and want to age 10 or 20 bottles.

Cheers.

 

[Dr. Dirk]

If you're just filling up a few bottles to bring to your friends, then you could consider just filling them from the tap. I have an intertap flow control forward sealing tap, and have done this successfully numerous times. I'm sure the beer won't be properly preserved, but if you're going to drink it in the next few hours anyway then it won't matter. (Unless you want to bring them bottles that they can drink sometime in the future.) I usually pour a small amount into a cup to get rid of the "first-pour-of-the-day-foam" and then just fill them up, allowing the beer to run down the side of the bottle so as not to foam up too much. I have yet to let a bottle I've filled like that sit around a few days unrefrigerated; I keep meaning to do that experiment to see how long it can last. But I've had bottles in the fridge overnight and then drank them the next night and they were fine.