Bottling guns -- are the worth it?

[wyzzyrdd]

I am thinking of getting a bottling gun. What experiences have people had? Do you recommend them? Do you recommend a specific brand?

thanks, pdm

[UndeadFred]

You know, they get really good reviews, and you can get what likely is the same exact unit as the Blichmann for $32 if you are willing to buy from China on AliExpress. If I would have known that when I built my fully functional but clunky $25 counterpressure filler, I probably would not have bothered. I might import a beer gun anyway.

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[carrisr]

I like my Beer Gun. I've seen ads for something very similar. The BG is easy to use and clean/sanitize. I don't use it as much since I only bottle for comps or events. I could probably lend you mine if you want to try before buying.

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[wyzzyrdd]

Thanks Randy, I may want to do that.

I could pick it up Sunday at Lion Bridge if that works for you.

pdm

[wyzzyrdd]

I have some small meads that I want to both back sweeten and carbonate. So I will force carbonate instead of using priming sugar to condition in the bottle or keg. But I also want to bottle quite a bit of it as well. So a bottle gun may become my best friend.

[UndeadFred]

They need to have the pressure on the regulator turned down to a few PSI unlike a counterpressure filler but I suspect that is a minor inconvenience. Otherwise they are basically a growler filler with a rubber cap on it to seal the fill as you are pulling out the "gun" and a second line with a push button valve to purge. Very simple.

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[UndeadFred]

I used that method to backsweeten and carbonate a cider with my counterpressure filler and it worked great, by the way.

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[Matt F]

Not the cheapest or easiest to use, but I think gives you the best finished product is a counter pressure filler. I have a More Beer with CO2 guage and mfl connections. Easy to clean. Breweries big and small use them to fill bottles for major comps.

[wyzzyrdd]

So, I will also need to look into a counter pressure filler.

[karl]

I have the Listermann Counter-Philler and rather dislike it. It's difficult to clean and really difficult to keep seated during the siphoning, resulting in foaming and spray as well as beer in the CO2 side. I'd recommend looking elsewhere. And, you're welcome to borrow it too.

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[Matt F]

You could borrow mine too. Test a few options before you buy. Everybody likes different stuff for different reasons. Nice to test drive before you buy. There is a video of mine in action on the product page which was very helpful for getting to know how to use it. Use it wrong and you spray beer all over. You can save $20 by dropping the pressure gauge which you don't need but is nice to have, but the mfl connectors work better for easy cleaning.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/delux ... ?site_id=7

[carrisr]

Beer Gun also has CO2, so better than a growler filler.

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[czubak]

They need to have the pressure on the regulator turned down to a few PSI unlike a counterpressure filler but I suspect that is a minor inconvenience. Otherwise they are basically a growler filler with a rubber cap on it to seal the fill as you are pulling out the "gun" and a second line with a push button valve to purge. Very simple.

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Or add a good length of beer line tubing and run it at serving pressure and fill 45 bombers in a little over an hour. This was the Blichman and I was borrowing it and plan to buy one for big beers I want to sit on the shelf for years.

[whitedj]

I cut up a racking cane I hook up to a cobra tap with a stopper to make a seal. Not as good, but easy and simple and cheap. I don't use it very often perfer to spend $ on other items.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24678

[czubak]

I cut up a racking cane I hook up to a cobra tap with a stopper to make a seal. Not as good, but easy and simple and cheap. I don't use it very often perfer to spend $ on other items.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24678

I have the same thing and it works well for a quick couple fills.