b23 wrote:Are you out there, Tasty?(
Sorry I missed this thread.
I have a counter pressure bottle filler and a beer gun but outside a few trials when I got the beer gun, I've been bottling everything by the slow fill method for about three years. I take a chilled sanitized bottle, flush it with CO2, tilt it, and fill it at 2-3 psi as I slowly bring it upright. I always cap on foam so if there's not enough foam, I increase the pressure to create more. And to be consistently lazy, I do this standing over my 38F chest freezer so I don't have to move the kegs.
Equipment wise, it's a two cobra-tap operation. I've got one hooked up to CO2. That one has a piece of sanitized racking cane stuck in it so I can flush the bottles from the bottom up. The other has the beer hooked up and although I guess a piece of racking cane could make sense there as well, I feel I get less O2 without it. A bottle filler with a foot valve could work.
That's basically it. I've used this method in beers I've sent all over the US including that Pliny clone DIPA I sent to Boston in 2007. They've all been filtered and force carbonated to slightly above the target volumes of CO2. I rarely get any judges comments that would indicate a flaw that could have been caused by bottling. But let's put this in perspective. These beers are usually judged within two weeks of shipping. I long term store beer that's been bottled this way but it's kept refrigerated. Beer I'm taking off premises to share the same day, I don't flush with CO2.
But why take a chance with this method. Do a test since there's probably no equipment to buy. Bottle a few up, drive them around in the car for a few days, let them sit at room temperature for a week, chill and taste them beside a pour from the keg. What works for me may not work for you. I still may buy one of those B3 all-stainless CBFs. They are so cool.
Tasty McDole
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