Draft beer from a bottle - is it possible?

[harvs]

Hi

I probably know the answer to this, but thought there may be an off chance of some interesting responses...!

I'm pretty happy with bottling my homebrew, and don't want to get into using kegs etc. However, when out for a pint in the pub, I really do enjoy that creamy feeling of a freshly pulled pint

I'm wondering if there's any way that it can be recreated using bottled beer and somehow forcing it though a sprinkler - just one bottle/glass at a time, and no messing about with gas bottles and regulators etc.

Has anybody tried this, or have some thoughts on how it can be done. Or am I just barking up the wrong tree

[jimw86]

In short, no. For draught beer you really need it on draught

[shandypants5]

Shake the bottle before you open it, then hold your thumb over the end and direct the spray into the glass.


Dunno why I am laughing, some of my bottles do champagne impressions even without shaking.

[trucker5774]

I have served from bottles via a beer engine. It's not quite the same as draught but it's a very good copy

[harvs]

I have served from bottles via a beer engine. It's not quite the same as draught but it's a very good copy

Yep - that's along the lines I'm thinking of. Something that can 'suck' the beer out of a beer bottle and then force it through a sparkler.

I'm not familiar with how beer engines work, but guess they may have everything under pressure, rather sucking out of the bottle? Maybe if you could adapt some kind of bottle top which had an inlet and outlet to the beer engine and can hold the pressure, that would work?

[trucker5774]

The beer engine is a simple pump with a non return valve. It is a bit like sucking up water with a bicycle pump and then squirting it out again through a sparkler

[harvs]

The beer engine is a simple pump with a non return valve. It is a bit like sucking up water with a bicycle pump and then squirting it out again through a sparkler

Ah, that's really interesting. So can you put the tube from the beer engine in the bottle (without any kind of top) and it will just suck it up?

[trucker5774]

Correct! Once you have pumped the handle a couple of times the pump will prime itself. The non return valve will keep the beer in the pump and the "dip tube" into the bottle will remain full due to the vacuum.............pretty much any pump will do the job as long as it is hygenic and you can be bothered cleaning it after use for just a couple of pints................no problem if you are having a session with a few mates!

[harvs]

Fantastic - thanks trucker!

Yep, I guess there will be some beer left in the pump, and the pump will need cleaning. But that shouldn't be a problem if I'm having a few in an evening...

Wow - getting excited now. Just need to look out for a pump!

[trucker5774]

There are usually plenty on ebay. That is one of the reasons I use 2 litre bottles..........they become mini kegs

[Dr. Dextrin]

If you're going to all the trouble of bottling, buying a beer engine and cleaning it after every session, why not just use a keg of some sort? It's probably a lot less hassle and the beer will taste, well.. just like draught beer.

For me, bottles do three things: the beer tastes different, it lasts longer and you can put them in a (small domestic) fridge. Possibly they're also a bit more portable. Apart from that. they're just hard work.

[trucker5774]

Doc. I bottle for all the reasons you have listed. I don't mind the work. On the rare occasion I use the beer engine with a bottle rather than a keg, it's just as simple to swap from one bottle to another as it is to pour it out. I really wouldn't be bothered doing it for a beer on my own, but the idea was just to give the O.P. the theory of how rather than should.................time for another bottle