filling bottles/growlers from my keg?

[zippythepin]

i just upgraded to a kegerator, and i was wondering if i had to buy a bottling gun or something like it to fill bottles or growlers, i tried just putting a hose from my tap to the growlers but all i got was foam and flat beer.

[Quin]

It works best if the bottles are real cold.
Turn off the gas and vent pressure in keg.
Set regulator to around 5 psi.
Tilt bottle at a 45° angle and try to fill without splashing.

You may have to adjust pressure up or down depending on you line length.

[zippythepin]

thanks for the great info, ill throw some bottles in the fridge before i try that agian.

[ajdelange]

"Beer Gun" type devices can be a help (especially ones that inject CO2 into the bottle before the beer goes in - this displaces the air and insures that your beer will stay fresh in the bottle longer). Gonnecting to the tap does work but it is better if you connect directly to the keg as the art here is to avoid physically disturbing the beer to the point where gas starts to escape. The connection should be through a long, small bore line (choker) so that the flow rate is, even with full keg pressure, slow. The beer thus experiences a gradual pressure gradient as it flows down the hose and CO2 is less likely to break out. Nevertheless, bottle and growler filling is a challenge. The only way to completely control foam is with counter pressure fillin in which the bottle is pressurized to nearly the same pressure as the keg and the beer filled against that counter pressure.