Can I force carbonate and bottle?

[atchafalaya]

I agreed to brew a beer for a friend's wedding, this Saturday. I started early last month and have it in a secondary fermenter ready to bottle. I've run out of time to bottle condition it, though, and my buddy wants it in bottles with labels commemorating the wedding.

Can I force carbonate it somehow and then bottle it? I seem to remember something about this a couple of meetings ago.

[alms66]

You can force carb it in the keg and then use a Beer Gun to bottle it - I think the club has one.

[atchafalaya]

Awesome. How can I arrange to use it? Also, is there a cheaper source for bottles than Marcello's? I don't have enough yet.

[sdspespo1]

contact yeastmiester

[alms66]

I and others in the club have a ton of bottles, how many do you need?

[atchafalaya]

48; probably less, looks like it came in under five gallons. Thank you!

[yeastmeister]

Houston, we have a problem. Atchafalaya posted a pic of his fridge on facebook, and I realized that he has pin lock kegs.

The club doesn't own a beer gun. I own a counter pressure filler, but it is setup for ball lock, with non removable connectors. I don't want to cut my lines, they are almost too short as it is.

Pin lock guys, how do you bottle? Can any of you help out?

[aleguy]

Looks like it's time for the picnic tap method then. Seriously overcarbonate your keg and then vent it right before you start bottling so the beer pours VERY slowly. fill the bottles with a picnic tap and cap on foam. If it doesn't foam over the top when you have it filled properly, just give the bottle a good thump and it should foam up.
Bottled beer generally runs about twice the carbonation levels of kegged beer, so it's important that you get your co2 volume correct for bottles. You also need to pour the beer very slowly so you get beer in the bottles, not just foam. I have done it this way many times and it works just fine, but it's very difficult to get perfect head space in every bottle. If you really want to get fancy, you can cut the bottom off a standard bottle filler and insert that into your picnic tap. That way you will get the perfect head space every time. Make sure you are just using the tube without the valve though or you will only get foam. Gene may still have some of those curleycue thingys that go into the keg dip tube, they are supposed to eliminate foaming, but I don't know if they ever actually worked.

[Jerm]

chill your bottles before filling them helps keep foam down.