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BREWTREE.COM
COUNTERPRESSURE FILLER
INSTRUCTIONS
ALL TESTING OF FILLER SHOULD BE DONE WITH WATER BEFORE USING IT FOR BEER (so you won't waste any good brew)
How to connect the filler:
You must connect a beer line and a co2 line to the hose barbs at the top of the filler tee (it does not matter which side of the filler you use for either line)
Use 1/4" inside diameter vinyl tubing. To avoid kinking, use reinforced vinyl tubing. (Vinyl tubing is available at most hardware stores and comes in clear and braided (reinforced) types.)
Make sure to use STAINLESS worm drive clamps on each tubing connection (on both your filler and keg, unless you like to take showers in beer.
You should also leak test all gas connections by spraying them with soapy water and watching for bubbles. This will prevent you from wasting co2 and means less trips to get your co2 tank refilled.
Connect the other end of the beer line to your keg dip tube connection (i.e. a cornelius keg liquid connector, or a SANKEY liquid out barb from the tap).
You will need to TEE off from your co2 line going to the keg, so you can connect both the filler and your keg to the co2 line coming off your co2 tank.
The filler is equipped with an automatic check valve that regulates the pressure in the bottle. You will have to play
with the adjusting screw with the filler on the bottle until you can see it
lets CO2 out of the bottle about 1 psi less than your Co2 regulator dispense
pressure. (this is because things under high pressure want to come into an equilibrium with lower pressures). This means that beer will flow from your 1 psi higher pressure keg to your 1 psi lower bottle.
YOU NEED TO HOLD ONE END OF THE ADJUSTING SCREW STATIONARY, WHILE TURNING THE OTHER END...otherwise you won't be able to adjust the pressure regulator, and will just have the adjusting screw turning indefinitely. NOTE: YOU NEED TO REMOVE THE VALVE TO ACCESS BOTH SIDES OF THE ADJUSTING NUT/SCREW. Hold the nut with a nut driver while turning the screw with a phillips head screwdriver.
There should be a label attached to the relief valve. If not, this is what it should have read "Factory Preset to open at 5psi. Each full clockwise turn of tension nut adds 1 psi"
How to sanitize the filler:
There are 2 methods available to sanitize the filler:
(1)The filler can be boiled with the rubber stopper and plastic check valve removed.
(2)Use oven mitts to protect your hands. Then, boil 2 gallons of water and fill a clean corny keg. Make sure filler is attached and hose clamps are secure on connections from keg liquid connector to bottle filler. Seal keg lid and pressurize with co2. Aim bottle filler into a 5 gallon plastic bucket and open liquid valve. Run all 2 gallons of boiling water through filler. Repeat this process with iodophor solution. Your filler is now sanitized.
Using the filler:
Here's a quick rundown on using the filler (you can probably get carbonation
levels off of the web for other fillers). You will usually overcarbonate
your beer/soda by several volumes of co2. When you are ready to fill
bottles, make sure the keg you are drawing from is as cold as possible -
this greatly minimizes foaming, as the beer will warm up on its way to your
bottle. The warmer the beer is, the harder it will be to bottle, and the more beer you will lose on the floor.
The filler is equipped with an automatic check valve. You will have to play
with the adjusting screw with the filler on the bottle until you can see it
lets CO2 out of the bottle about 1 psi less than your Co2 regulator dispense
pressure.
Place filler on bottle - seating stopper
Open Co2 valve - purge bottle for 5 seconds
close Co2 Valve
Open Beer valve
bottle will fill - automatic blowoff valve will blow to let co2 out as
bottle fills.
When bottle is full, close beer valve, pull off filler - and cap bottle (this is really a 2
person job - have someone ready to cap immediately - it is best to cap on
foam if possible - this greatly minimizes air getting in your beer.)
The dispense pressure is about 10 psi (5 to 10 psi should be ok) - it all
depends on how fast you want to fill and the results you get.
You can check out our Carbonation Calculator to help you carbonate your beer for drinking, then just add on several volumes of CO2 for bottling (since you will be loosing some carbonation in the process)
