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Blichmann Beer Gun

PetenNewburg

Grandmaster Brewer
Joined
Feb 1, 2011
Messages
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Location
Newburg, PA
  I tried the Blichmann Beer Gun on a Grolsch Clone I made, it works great!!  Getting to a happy medium with keg & co2 psi was a bit touchy, but once it's adjusted it went very quickly!

  I think the best set up for the co2 would be double regulators (with check valves) with beer side set around 4 - 7 psi and the co2 flush side set at 10 psi.  Having both come off one regulator the beer side drops psi every time you purge a bottle, which allows some carbonation to "come out" of the beer resulting in more foam/ beer loss.

  I popped the top on my first bottle after a few days in the refrigerator and the carbonation was very good.  I double filtered it before kegging.  Bottles are nice and clean with no trub at the bottom.  I have a Double Imperial IPA that will be double filtered, kegged @ 22 psi for 4 days then bottle with the beer gun for test #2.
 
I bought the beer gun a few months ago and it's been sitting on my brew supply shelf as I have been leery of trying it. I have a converted chest freezer with two 5 gallon kegs and my co2 tank/regulator inside. I have been thinking I should get a second tank and regulator set up for the beer gun and that has held me up using it. I guess it's just getting over the first time, but I'd hate to waste brew going through a learning curve. Another issue is getting the keg and the bottles at near the same temperature. I don't have room in my chest freezer for bottles.
 
My co2 bottle & keg were at around 40 - 45 degrees temp sitting in the garage.  I did have more waste than normal as it was my first use of the beer gun and also had a regulator that was not holding settings.  Loss was about a bottles worth.  The regulator was a real pain in the a$$, I bought a new TapRite to replace the Beverage Elements Chinese unit.  I also would highly recommend being able to set pressure separately between keg & purge.  There are a few good videos on YouTube showing it in use.  I really like the idea of purging oxygen from the bottles and being able to set exact carbonation. 
  I will not bottle without it!  I rack from fermenter into a clean & purged keg, push through a filter and if desired a Hop Randell into a second keg.  Force carb to desired amount for a couple days, then bottle.  The beer does not get exposed to oxygen after it leaves the fermenter.  Little to no sediment in bottles, consistent flavor and carbonation!
 
I'll have to watch the you-tube vids maybe that will spark me to use it. I have a nice oatmeal stout I'd like to bottle and share with a few friends. Thanks for the heads up.
 
  That was why I bought it.  I had only planned to bottle a dozen or so, but I noticed a liquid side leak on the keg so I just bottled the whole keg.  I checked one of the bottles the next day and it was really well carbed. 
  Forgot to mention I kept a pot full of sanitizer handy when bottling.  I used that to sit the gun in while capping and to sanitze the caps.  When I was done I used it to rinse off the bottles.

  All in all it was pretty slick!
 
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