I bought a BeerGun and brewed a very simple APA as my test batch to get a handle on the process. Kegged it, force carbed to style, no problems so far. I bottled about half of the keg. I chilled the bottles in the freezer, and lowered the dispense pressure to around 5 PSI. I had no issues with foaming, but I did lose a LOT of beer out of the hole where the beer tube passes through the brass elbow. I'd say roughly 25% of the beer that went through the tube ended up coming out of the hole and spilling onto my work table. Obviously I hate to waste beer, but the huge mess was an even bigger headache. Due to the beer loss, it took 60+ seconds to fill each 12 oz bottle. Now, three or four weeks later, the beer in the bottle is still carbed, but probably at 50-75% of what the carbonation level was at when I bottled it. Each bottle was capped immediately after it was filled. Are these normal experiences? Does it sound like I got a faulty BeerGun?
Not normal at all, I would try to contact the store you bought it from or try Blichmann themselves to see what can be done in terms of a fix or replacement.
I never have beer come out of the brass elbow. The small tube that fits in the larger tube is we're the beer flows. The little rubber tip stops the beer flow. The brass valve on the elbow controls the CO2 flow when you purge the bottle. The stamped metal bracket that is spring loaded is what you pull to have beer flow. There are plenty of YouTube videos, one with John Blichmann showing operation.
Something is terribly wrong. If its not error on your side blichmann really stands by there products and you need to contact them.
Regarding your carbonation issue: It is important to start/complete the entire bottling operation fairly quickly after you purge your keg down to the 5 psi level. I make my purge step next to last . . . the last step is to pull the trigger on the gun. As soon as you reduce the pressure your beer starts to off-gas, those CO2 molecules in the beer go charging into the 5 psi headspace. This takes a while, but you don't want to waste any time here. If your phone rings or you need to wind your watch, I would re-pressurize to normal pressure and give the beer some time to re-absorb some CO2. You are correct to cap after each bottle is filled. But if you have a lot of bottles to fill I would stop at the mid-point, repressurize the keg at least as long as it takes to drink a beer, then re-bleed and finish the remainder. It also doesn't hurt to boost the pressure about 1 psi the day before.
What oddnotion, hopfenunmaltz, vikeman, mikehartigan, koopa, psnydez86, and portlargo said. Hopefully Blichmann will be willing to take pity on you and replace your beer gun and reimburse you for your 250+ seconds and wasted beer.
