Hazelwood’s Brewday Part 2

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Ah ok. Just looks a bit odd going in the bottle and reminds me of my keg washer in the way it cascades down the side

I wonder what PSI to have your keg set at to use this? Trial and error I suppose. I used to have mine set at 15PSI with the tapcooler, but I didn't have the gas connected or there was too much foam. It used to do about 10 bottles then I had to top up gas.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Ah ok. Just looks a bit odd going in the bottle and reminds me of my keg washer in the way it cascades down the side

I wonder what PSI to have your keg set at to use this? Trial and error I suppose. I used to have mine set at 15PSI with the tapcooler, but I didn't have the gas connected or there was too much foam. It used to do about 10 bottles then I had to top up gas.

You use the same pressure as the gas supply to the keg so the pressure is balanced.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Please could you explain a little further? I thought it was a guessing game when you press the purge button, with how much pressure you were putting in the bottle. Three seconds used to be about right for me. I had my keg set at 15 so I could be sure it was higher than the pressure in the bottle. Hope you know what I mean. Sorry for hijacking your thread a bit lol

Edit: a light bulb has just come on. Do you mean I need a gas T-piece? If so I don't understand what the purge button is for. Sorry to sound thick but I'm confused.

I do equalised pressure transfers all the time with my gas t-piece.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Please could you explain a little further? I thought it was a guessing game when you press the purge button, with how much pressure you were putting in the bottle. Three seconds used to be about right for me. I had my keg set at 15 so I could be sure it was higher than the pressure in the bottle. Hope you know what I mean. Sorry for hijacking your thread a bit lol

Edit: a light bulb has just come on. Do you mean I need a gas T-piece? If so I don't understand what the purge button is for. Sorry to sound thick but I'm confused.

I do equalised pressure transfers all the time with my gas t-piece.

Yes of course. The principle of a counter-pressure bottle filler is much like a closed transfer. You purge the bottle of oxygen and pressurise the bottle to the same pressure as the keg. At this point you can open the beer tap and because the bottle is pressurised to the same pressure as the keg, no beer will flow into the bottle. You then slowly bleed the pressure out of the bottle and beer will then gently (assuming you bleed off the pressure gently ) start to fill the bottle.

You can use a “T” piece (one to the keg, one to the tap) or if you use gas manifolds just feed the Boel itap from the same manifold the keg is plugged into. Either way, this feeds gas to the itap but not directly into the bottle. This is where the red button comes in, it’s a valve to let the gas into the bottle.

In use you fit the bottle and then purge it - open the bleed tap (that allows gas out of the bottle) and press the red button. The red button allows gas into the bottle and because the bleed is open, air is pushed out by the incoming gas. Once purged, close the bleed tap and press the red button again to pressurise the bottle. Open the beer tap. Gently open the bleed to allow gas to slowly escape from the bottle, reducing the pressure and allowing beer to flow in. When full close the beer tap and allow the remaining pressure in the bottle to escape - open the bleed more fully to be sure. Remove the bottle and cap it.

I’ve probably overdone it now

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Thanks H. Been unknowingly doing all this with my tapcooler.

The middle paragraph is very helpful. My question would be though, how long should you press the red button to make sure your bottle has equal pressure? I was assuming using the t-piece meant the gas went straight into the bottle, but it doesn't does it, as you say above. I think i've mostly got it now.

I don't fully understand what counter-pressure means.

Seems like from Heathy's video I just need some 3/8 line, 5/16 line and two 3/8 to 5/16 inline reducers.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Get a bottling wand £3.39

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Thanks H. Been unknowingly doing all this with my tapcooler.

The middle paragraph is very helpful. My question would be though, how long should you press the red button to make sure your bottle has equal pressure? I was assuming using the t-piece meant the gas went straight into the bottle, but it doesn't does it, as you say above. I think i've mostly got it now.

I don't fully understand what counter-pressure means.

Seems like from Heathy's video I just need some 3/8 line, 5/16 line and two 3/8 to 5/16 inline reducers.

You will hear the gas going in. During purging the gas is coming out again through the bleed so this will be a judgment call as to when you think the air has been purged. With the bleed tap closed you can press the button as much as you like, once pressurised you hear no more gas going in.

Counter pressure is describing pressure coming from two sources that are pressing against each other. In this case you pressurise the bottle to the same pressure as the keg so when you open the beer tap there’s no rush of beer because you have gas pushing from the keg “countered” by the gas pressure in the bottle pushing back. They cancel each other out so the beer in between goes nowhere. When you bleed off some pressure from the bottle, the pressure in the keg is now higher and is able to push the beer into the bottle.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Thanks again, all makes sense now.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

This morning I have another batch of my best bitter mashing after cleaning 4 empty kegs.

I also had another go with my Kegland counter pressure bottle filler, this time filling glass bottles. It was marginally better but still not a pleasure to use because it still feels clumsy and the filler still dumps beer from the filling tube on my bar floor. As the bottle reaches full I also get foam dribble out of the bleed screw and then have to top up the bottle after withdrawing the filler tube. I just feel irritated by all the shortcomings and compromises and I’m falling out with it very quickly.

Anyway, next up I have a Rye IPA to dry hop then back to my brew.

…all done. No issues and hit all the numbers so I’m happy. I might do the porter next.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

My bottling woes are finally over! A Boel iTap arrived this morning and I fitted it to my brew shed this afternoon. You can see it to the left of my beer taps in this picture.

What a joy to use! Easy to sanitise, an absolute dream to use, and zero mess. It’s a properly engineered and fit-for-purpose product and after my experience with the Nukatap, I can’t recommend the Boel enough.

I picked my most lively beer for my first test and took two short videos. The first shows the bottle filling, speed is determined by how much you open the “throttle”. The second shows the foam that comes out the top of the bottle (there isn’t much) and flowing away through the waste pipe that goes to the drain.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Mine hasn't come yet

When it does arrive I assume I'm ok to run PBW through it?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Mine hasn't come yet

When it does arrive I assume I'm ok to run PBW through it?

Yes, that’s fine.

 

[YeastFace]

My bottling woes are finally over! A Boel iTap arrived this morning and I fitted it to my brew shed this afternoon.

Where did you buy it from in the end?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Where did you buy it from in the end?

I bought it on-line from a company that didn’t want me to name them in case it resulted in negative publicity for them. Same price though as the company @Tess Tickle identified in post #507 above.

 

[Pennine]

I bought it on-line from a company that didn’t want me to name them in case it resulted in negative publicity for them. Same price though as the company @Tess Tickle identified in post #507 above.

Is it worth 150 big ones?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Is it worth 150 big ones?

A little less but yeah it’s still pricey.

I guess it depends on the person. I could use a £50 unit and suffer it’s shortcomings. However, the sheer pleasure of using this unit makes it a no-brainer for me. As I take part in most homebrew competitions, participate in most forum competitions and swaps, and often swap beers more informally, I will definitely get lots of use out of it.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I’ve decided to brew my next batch of English Porter tomorrow so today I’ll prepare the water and mill the grain in readiness. During my last brew I got an odd mash pH so I ignored it because it was my Best Bitter and I know that recipe is dependable. This morning I checked the calibration of the pH meter and it was reading half a point low so I’ve recalibrated the pH meter ready for tomorrow too.

On Sunday I’ll be kegging my Rye IPA, Monday I’ll be bottling beers for the Scottish Nationals and preparing for another brewday on Tuesday. Tuesday I’ll get another batch of Butterfly Effect on.

I also want to see how my brown ale is doing, it’s been conditioning for about a month now (kegged December 7th).

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

@Hazelwood Brewery

Mine has arrived - I've put it together but there's a huge red rubber seal left over that doesn't appear to go anywhere. Do you have one of those too? Also I thought the two connections on the back (for gas in and beer out) were gonna be metal barbs, but mine are plastic and they just click in.

Now I have to figure out where to mount it - that's the biggest problem, as we don't have a kegerator or keezer and it needs to be portable.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

@Hazelwood Brewery

Mine has arrived - I've put it together but there's a huge red rubber seal left over that doesn't appear to go anywhere. Do you have one of those too? Also I thought the two connections on the back (for gas in and beer out) were gonna be metal barbs, but mine are plastic and they just click in.

Now I have to figure out where to mount it - that's the biggest problem, as we don't have a kegerator or keezer and it needs to be portable.

I had 2 red seals, one for either end of the shank. Yours is a different model to mine so may not be quite the same. Maybe take a picture?

You could build a simple box for it, much like the one Sarah built in the demo video I posted earlier.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Thanks H. Who is that woman? I feel like I should know.

Having thought about it I think it may be for different sized bottles. What do you think? I'm assuming the bit with the metal bottom is for glass and the other for plastic?

I'm looking at my old wooden sideboard and having bad thoughts