Dave Halse

London Amateur Brewers, 3 December 2012

Counter Pressure Bottle Filling

Contents1. Why Do We Do It?

2. How Do We Do It? Video Demonstration by MoreBeer

3. Principles Behind the Design MS Word: UK Build Costs / USA costs

4. A Word about Threads

5. More Tips

6. Alternate Methods

7. Practical Demonstration

Why Do We Do It?

• To transfer beer from a keg to a bottle For Competitions For Parties For Gifts

• To avoid oxidation

• To maintain carbonation

• To avoid bottle conditioning (yeast) Pros and cons to bottle conditioning

How Do We Do It?

1. Purge the bottle with CO2

2. Pressurise the bottle

3. Fill with beer under pressure

4. Release the pressure

5. Cap on bottle before excessive foaming or loss of CO2 occurs

6. MoreBeer Video – 3.5 minutes

Tip: Practise good cleanliness and sanitation. Everything here is ‘cold-side’ and anything that touches the beer risks infection if dirty.

Principles Behind the Design

1. Different types of design, but the same principle

2. The principles behind the design Marty’s build

3. Proposed build and associated costs in the UK to build a stainless CP bottle filler

MS Word document

4. USA costs (excluding postage, duty, VAT, handling charges,

tax, stamp duty, NIC, and any visa charges) MoreBeer / NorthernBrewer / MidWest Supplies

A Word about Threads

1. NPT = National Pipe Thread (American)

2. BSP = British Standard Pipe

3. An additional letter either means ‘Tapered’ or ‘Parallel’. Ie you will see BSPP or BSPT

4. NPT is not compatible with BSP, except at one diameter (1/2” BSP)

5. An inch is not an inch here… confusing?1. 1/2” BSP has an outer diameter of about 21mm

2. 1” BSP has an outer diameter of about 33mm

More Tips

1. Cold beer and bottles means less foaming

2. Get the head-space right! Too much head space results in a less carbonated beer

3. Release the pressure fully before capping, or it is likely that beer will spray everywhere

4. Slightly over-carbonate your beer. It’s expected that bottled beers have higher CO2 volumes, and you lose a little with filling

5. Wear safety goggles. Bottles may explode under pressure

Alternate Methods

• The Beer-Gun– Requires low carbonation to begin with

• The modified party-tap– No purging or pressure relief

• Straight from the kegerator tap– Risk of Oxidation– Excessive foaming– But quick and good for fairly immediate

consumption

Practical Demonstration

Watch closely, unless I fail to decompress the bottle, then get back fast.

Listen for the change in sound as the bottle becomes fill, and the change in sound after the bottle has decompressed to a sufficient state

End

Practise makes perfect. You’re unlikely to get this right first time,

and be prepared to get soaked in beer.