jceg316
Landlord.
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2014
- Messages
- 2,811
- Reaction score
- 1,160
I started kegging about 2-3 months ago and I'm loving it so far. Still need to properly build a keezer but that's another story.
Anyway, I do find myself wanting to fill bottles on quite a regular basis but don't have a good way of doing this. I've been researching ways to do this and it seems each has pros and cons, so it would be really good to hear anyone's opinions if they use certain methods. I will add I do have a fermzilla as well and bottling straight from here would be good.
Counter pressure bottle filler. Pros: relatively cheap and keeps the transfer oxygen free and beer stays carbonated; Cons: it looks really slow and quite fiddly. Maybe works if you're filling one or 2 bottles but there are times I'll wanna fill quite a few.
Beer gun. Pros: looks really simple to use, probably the most simple to set up and use out of all. It has the ability to purge O2 as well; Cons: I have read mixed reviews about the cheaper ones but the Blichmann is supposed to be great but it's expensive. Cost isn't too much of an issue if it's a thing that works and is the only bottling device I end up buying. Beer needs to be very cold and preferably the bottles cold before pouring beer in, otherwise it can foam a lot meaning mess and beer loses its carbonation. Sounds like a faff when considering filling 5+ bottles.
Tap cooler counter pressure bottle filler: This looks like a really good solution. A counter pressure filler which plugs into the taps. The benefits of a regular counter pressure filler but more wieldy and quicker; Cons: quite expensive and I'm wondering if there's a "learning curve" to it? In videos it looks very simple but something tells me it will require some practice before I get it right. The cost is quite high - £95 at TMM - however kegland have released one way cheaper that Angel homebrew will have in stock, but I don't know when.
Boel iTap bottle filler: a tap I can install on my keezer once it's built. Seems as equally foolproof as the beer gun but with the benefits of the CP bottle filler. I would go for this but... Cons: it can only hold glass bottles, swing tops or plastic bottles. This is a fairly big drawback as I do bottle in swingtops as well as crown caps. If there is an easy work around for swing tops I could probably live with that. I think this is the most expensive one at ~£110. Again if it's a thing that works and is worth the money I don't mind paying.
What are your opinions on these solutions?
Anyway, I do find myself wanting to fill bottles on quite a regular basis but don't have a good way of doing this. I've been researching ways to do this and it seems each has pros and cons, so it would be really good to hear anyone's opinions if they use certain methods. I will add I do have a fermzilla as well and bottling straight from here would be good.
Counter pressure bottle filler. Pros: relatively cheap and keeps the transfer oxygen free and beer stays carbonated; Cons: it looks really slow and quite fiddly. Maybe works if you're filling one or 2 bottles but there are times I'll wanna fill quite a few.
Beer gun. Pros: looks really simple to use, probably the most simple to set up and use out of all. It has the ability to purge O2 as well; Cons: I have read mixed reviews about the cheaper ones but the Blichmann is supposed to be great but it's expensive. Cost isn't too much of an issue if it's a thing that works and is the only bottling device I end up buying. Beer needs to be very cold and preferably the bottles cold before pouring beer in, otherwise it can foam a lot meaning mess and beer loses its carbonation. Sounds like a faff when considering filling 5+ bottles.
Tap cooler counter pressure bottle filler: This looks like a really good solution. A counter pressure filler which plugs into the taps. The benefits of a regular counter pressure filler but more wieldy and quicker; Cons: quite expensive and I'm wondering if there's a "learning curve" to it? In videos it looks very simple but something tells me it will require some practice before I get it right. The cost is quite high - £95 at TMM - however kegland have released one way cheaper that Angel homebrew will have in stock, but I don't know when.
Boel iTap bottle filler: a tap I can install on my keezer once it's built. Seems as equally foolproof as the beer gun but with the benefits of the CP bottle filler. I would go for this but... Cons: it can only hold glass bottles, swing tops or plastic bottles. This is a fairly big drawback as I do bottle in swingtops as well as crown caps. If there is an easy work around for swing tops I could probably live with that. I think this is the most expensive one at ~£110. Again if it's a thing that works and is worth the money I don't mind paying.
What are your opinions on these solutions?
