Review on OneBom Stainless Steel Beer Bottle Filler - Food Grade Bottling Wand for Beer & Wine (Counter Pressure) by Robert Castro

I brew a new beer almost every weekend. When the judges at a homebrewing competition severely reduced my grade due to an apparent bacterial infection, I began to investigate the cause. It turned out that the plastic bottle filler I had used the most over the past 18 months had managed to contain some bacteria. I spent several evenings opening bottles from different batches and finding the most contaminated one. Each contaminated batch spilled out of the bottle, like in those Diet Coke and Mentos videos. It took a lot of work to pour the beer, clean and sanitize the bottles and clean up the mess. All because of an infected piece of plastic. My disinfection process seemed reliable. The bottle filler is impregnated with Star San before each use. The bottles were rinsed with hot water, washed in the dishwasher and also soaked in Star San. Bottle caps also spent time at Star San. Despite all that, the bottle filler picked up some bacteria that cleaning and sanitizing just didn't kill. and it ruined a lot of beer. After losing all those beers (some of which I think could win contests), I vowed that this would never happen again. This bottle filler seemed to be the answer to my prayers. It's almost entirely made of stainless steel (there's a seal near the lid, which of course isn't steel) so you can cook it to kill bacteria. The bottom can be unscrewed to clean the "straw" part inside. Bacteria shouldn't grow in it if you keep it clean and cook it regularly. All of this suggests it's not ideal. It is a bit more complex to activate the beer flow with it than with a plastic filler. It also has a much larger diameter than most plastic bottle fillers, meaning it won't fill a bottle with a narrow neck as completely as a narrower plastic bottle filler. The larger diameter also means you'll have to play around with it a bit to attach it to some of the narrower pegs. However, its durability and ease of cleaning (and disinfecting) make it a clear winner over the plastic variant.