I'm in the midst of brewing a number of batches for my friend's wedding. Unfortunately, we don't have the ability to use kegs at his venue, so we will be bottling a ton of beer. We are doing two styles: a French Saison and an IPA. Given the delicate nature of the IPAs/hops in general, my plan is to keg the IPA and use the Blichman Beer Gun to bottle it, which will hopefully help keep it in better shape until we are ready to bring it to the event. Due to my particular equipment/fermentation/kegging setup and the number of batches needed (6 at the moment), I won't be able to do this with the saison, so I will need to bottle it. I've had some past issues with oxidation via bottling and I just wanted to see if anyone has been able to bottle a saison and have it hold up for up to 7-8 weeks without getting oxidized. My bottling process: Transfer beer from 6 gallon Better Bottle via 3/8in auto siphon into bottling bucket Should I be using a hose clamp where the hose connects to the siphon? I never have. Attach spring-loaded bottling wand to spigot using short length of tubing Fill bottles 4-5 at a time and then cap Should I start purging the bottles with CO2? I've definitely see some small bubbles happen at the spigot into the wand in the past. Is that enough to oxidize? Also, any tips when using the wand? I always push the spring down on the bottom of the bottle and sometimes I feel that the flow is too fast and that there is splashing going on down there. Any advice would be appreciated. Hoping to bottle the first batch next week and it will need to sit until the event in July. Wish I could brew everything closer to the event, but this is how the schedule works out. Thanks for looking!
“I just wanted to see if anyone has been able to bottle a saison and have it hold up for up to 7-8 weeks without getting oxidized.” I homebrew a Saison every year (been doing this for 15+ years) and I consistently obtain a shelf-life of one year (and sometimes even longer). Now, my bottling process appears to be different from yours: · I do not use an auto-siphon. I have read other homebrewers post that they have witnessed bubbles within their auto-siphons. · I do not have any spigots in my homebrewing equipment “I've definitely see some small bubbles happen at the spigot into the wand in the past. Is that enough to oxidize?” The challenge here is whether these bubbles are CO2 coming out of solution are is this indication of air (oxygen) ingress. How could you determine this? My personal philosophy is that during transfers when bottling I take all necessary steps to ensure that I witness no bubbles. FWIW I do not purge my bottles with CO2 prior to bottling. Cheers!
Thanks. If you aren't using siphons or spigots, how are you moving liquid from one vessel to another?
I did not say I did not siphon, I stated I did not use an "auto-siphon". I do indeed siphon but not via auto-siphon. If your auto-siphon is operating properly (i.e., not introducing air (oxygen) ingress) then this is not a problem for you. Is your auto-siphon working properly? Are your spigots working properly (i.e., no air (oxygen) ingress)? Cheers!
Personally, I despise the blichman beer gun because it's actually very hard to use, and wasteful. I always thought the point of the gun, and it's purported magic was that you could pre-purge what you're doing with co2; which is also the hardest part about using it and the reason why it's not uncommon to see beer on the ceiling after people try to use it. You're correct that splashing is not good as the liquid comes into the bottle. But the reason why is that you will get a low fill because what you're filling it with comes in too foamy. It's super hard working with foamy beer because you are fighting with it the entire time and wind up wasting an incredible amount. That just means that you should dial back your pressure so what you're bottling isn't coming in so hot. That violent transfer it seems to prefer, is honestly, the single reason I despise them.
Thanks for your reply. I've done a few beers with the beer gun and definitely agree that it takes a little getting used to before being comfortable. Regarding the splashing in the bottle, that's happening when I'm not using the beer gun. That's just happening with the standard spring-loaded bottle filler. Not sure there's any way to dial back pressure there.
The way my friend does it is keg it and carb it normally. Then when ready to bottle use a spring loaded bottling wand shoved into the plastic beer tap from the keg and fill the bottles. It works remarkably well. Can't comment too much on oxidation because we usually drink the bottled beer before the week is out.
That's curious. Any reason you don't just drink it from the keg? The main reason I'd consider kegging is to not have to bottle my beer so not really understanding the purpose there. This is my bottling technique and I have not had any issues with oxidation. If your hose isn't tight to the siphon its probably worth thinking about a clamp. My hoses are tough to get on and off so I know they are snug. Otherwise as mentioned above maybe try just siphoning it and see if that resolves the issue.
I've regularly had my bottled Saisons go a year+ with no oxidation. When I use the Blichman Beer Gun I always purge with CO2 because it's so easy, never had a problem. When I bottle from a bottling bucket I don't purge with CO2 and still never have a problem. I use the auto siphon to bottle from bucket (no spigot), just place end of tubing to bottom of the bottle. This works easily. It's always preferable to have one person bottling and another running the capper. When bottling an entire keg (already carb'ed) I stop around the mid-point and re-pressurize the keg for 'bout 15 minutes . . . then vent and continue. If you're really paranoid about oxidation when using the BBG, don't bottle until the day before the event . . . better yet, the morning of . . . For @MostlyNorwegian , my experience with the beer gun is exactly opposite of yours . . . do you chill your bottles?
For the spring loaded bottle filler if you don't push it down all the way but just enough that the beer starts to run to start it doesn't seen to foam as much and then once the entire tip is submerged push the rest of the way down
I have filled hundreds of bottles with my beer gun and have never had beer on the ceiling or any other problems really. Are you using it according to directions? There's nothing violent about the way a properly set up beer gun transfers beer. You can fill bottles with virtually zero foam if you want. And yes, you are supposed to dial back the pressure. That's part of the instructions. If you are dialing back the pressure because you didn't like the result before dialing it back, don't blame the beer gun.
I use one occasionally at work. I am pretty sure they were in the cooler before I bottled with it last time.
