Practical benefits of meheen vs GWkent counter pressure filler

[morrillt]

Hey guys I am getting started on a 10BBL brewery and looking to bootstrap a bottling line, every penny counts.


Specifically I want to know what compromosies I am making if I go with: GWkent system: https://www.gwkent.com/4-spout-spark...g-machine.html, it would appear is straight counter pressure filling (while we bootstrap for a Meheen / double preevac system).

Clearly the Meheen is going to have improved oxygen levels and faster BPMs.

BPMs are less of a priority for me.

Really what I want to know is what kind of shelf life difference could I expect between the two systems? Am I silly to consider the GWkent, is it good enough to get me started? Would love practical advise and feedback on how I might be able to get started bottling and save some cash and get a logistical understanding of what tradeoffs I am looking at if I go this route.

If the trade offs are too high Ill just stick to kegging until we can afford a meheen.

Best
Todd

[BlackH2O]

counter pressure fillers

How many bbls will be bottled during each run?

I am not familiar with the GW Kent filler, but what I saw in the video would make me question the pro's of this device. At least for that price. Most counter pressure fillers work the same, just the degree of automation changes. We do limited bottling, 25 - 60 cases, now as there is a very strong aversion to traditional 22oz bottles getting any shelf space here. That being said I would match our DIY 4 head bottler that cost less than $600 with this unit. With the meheen all bets are off tho. I would only question the future of bottles, most breweries in our area are going cans and as such so is retail shelf space. But this may be just a regional thing with cans.

Geoff

[morrillt]

How long of shelf life are you getting with your diy? Guessing the morebeer counter pressure filler setup?

How many bbls will be bottled during each run?

I am not familiar with the GW Kent filler, but what I saw in the video would make me question the pro's of this device. At least for that price. Most counter pressure fillers work the same, just the degree of automation changes. We do limited bottling, 25 - 60 cases, now as there is a very strong aversion to traditional 22oz bottles getting any shelf space here. That being said I would match our DIY 4 head bottler that cost less than $600 with this unit. With the meheen all bets are off tho. I would only question the future of bottles, most breweries in our area are going cans and as such so is retail shelf space. But this may be just a regional thing with cans.

Geoff

[BlackH2O]

How long of shelf life are you getting with your diy? Guessing the morebeer counter pressure filler setup?

We turn over our bottles quickly, however we have not had a returns and have some bottles left that have been in the bottles for several months. As to the bottler is actually a hybrid of all that I have seen that can be adjusted for different bottle sizes in about 5 minutes. I have made ones for several other nano's in the area. Thinking about adding some automation but never seem to have time,but still works pretty fast if we could cut out all the joking around when bottling. The morebeer filler has serious issues so I modified mine with manifolds like the GWK one and feed it with a .75 hose from our bright tank. Like I stated before we never bottle a full batch since kegs are a large part of our business model. However one my fillers is used by a local nano who bottles 7 bbl batches.

Not trying to sell you on my version but it's possible to do without paying big bucks as long as you have a couple people help, which we do who do it just to be part of the process. Plus we get a few low fills that we give them. We're still less than 2 years old and every dollar saved is a help. I hate spending money if I can avoid it, but I am a tinkerer.

The trade off is a little extra labor so you have to weight that when considering a counter pressure setup with an automate meheen type setup.

Good luck

If you pm me an email I would be glad to send you pics of our setup. I just finished a upgrade. Be wary of those $200 DIY setups cleaning chemicals will eat up the cheap hardware components in a couple of months.

[morrillt]

can you post a photo / links?

can you post a photo / links? Would love to see a video of you using it