Container fill station

A method of filling a container comprising:

• temporarily sealing an interior of a container by contacting an open end of the container with a seal bar to form a temporary seal;
• moving a fill head through a sealed opening in the seal bar to position a fill head outlet at a starting position within the interior of the container opposite the open end and near or at a bottom of the container;
• opening a fill head valve located in a fluid pathway between a liquid source and an outlet from the fill head;
• opening an outflowing gas valve in fluid communication with the interior of the container;
• and
• controlling a liquid flow rate through the fill head by regulating the gas flow through the outflowing gas valve;
• providing an inflowing gas valve in an input gas pathway between a gas source and the interior of the container;
• opening the inflowing gas valve to pressurize the interior of the container with a gas from the gas source;
• and
• lifting the fill head outlet from the starting position within the interior of the container toward the open end of the container at a rate that causes the fill head outlet to remain a pre-determined distance below a surface of the liquid as the container is filled.