Last month I discussed how you can save time by kegging your beer instead of bottling it. This month I will discuss how you can use your kegging system to bottle beer!  Bottling from a keg is a great technique if you ever want to give a sample of your brew to a friend or if you need to finish off an almost empty keg. 

Bottling from a keg is simple and cheap.  You will need:

 A picnic tap

A section of plastic racking cane that will fit inside the nozzle of your picnic tap

A small cork that will fit over your racking cane and fits inside a 12 ounce bottle 

Bottles caps and a capper

Sanitize everything.  Next put the cork, racking cane and picnic tap together, use the photograph for guidance.  Put the racking cane into the bottle and dispense beer into the bottle until it fills just about the shoulder of the bottle.  As the beer leaves the racking cane it will tend to foam inside the bottle.  You should let the suds settle before topping off the bottle.  You will want to leave at least an inch of head space between the mouth of the bottle and the surface of the beer.  During the filling process you may need to occasionally lift the cork out of the bottle in order to burp the gas that will build up behind the cork.  It is important to keep everything clean.  I usually have a large sanitized bowl to put the racking cane down in between bottle fills.  If the beer inside your keg is already carbonated there is no need to use priming sugar, just cap your bottles and you are done!   

So there you have it.  One more reason why owning a kegging system is cool!