Fri Feb 27, 2015 4:26 pm
Properly clean and sanitize your bottles and cover them with a piece of sanitized aluminum foil to prep them before bottling. Put the bottles in your fridge so they are at least as cold as the beer going into them. Overcarb your beer slightly before bottling (about 2-3 psi higher than desired). Always bottle 1 extra one first to make sure the CO2 is running well and the beer gun lines are cold for when you bottle your comp beers. Purge the bottle with CO2 for about 10-12 seconds and run your beer gun CO2 at about 4-5 psi (if the beer is flowing too slowly don't be afraid to turn it up 1-2 psi more). Do your best to cap on foam with an oxygen barrier cap for best results. Store them in your fridge until you ship them out to the comp as I have found the CO2 will "normalize" in the bottle over a couple days after bottling them.
BTW you will need an extra keg to push sanitizer through the beer gun lines prior to bottling. Good luck at the NHC!
"A bad man is a good man's job, while a good man is a bad man's teacher."