Bottle or Keg

[armymedic942]

Hello HBT,

I am brewing my first all-grain beer this weekend, and want advice on whether to bottle or keg...

I will be making a 10 gal recipie, and I am not real excited about the prospect of filling 100+ bottles.

Consistency is the key for me, I feel like i would get a better product going straight from my secondary to kegs.

I dont have any bottles yet, but figure the cost to setup a kegerator vs buyung bottles will be about the same ( i have found a second hand kegerator for 300 on Kijiji)

Advice?

 

[day_trippr]

I acquired over 500 bottles just by saving the empties, and I built my 6-tap keezer starting with a Craig's List 10cf freezer. Even if you paid say $15 a case for clean/unlabeled empties, your hundred bottles would be a lot cheaper than your $300 kegerator.

Anyway, keg, bottle, either way it'll be beer. But I wager everyone with a kegging system started with bottles, so maybe cutting straight to the end game might be the best choice

Cheers!

 

[Mike37]

Go straight to kegs, in my opinion.

When I started out, I was bottling 2.5 gallon batches. That was fun and tolerable. When I started doing 5 gallon batches, it was no longer fun or tolerable. More broken bottles, more frustration, not enough room, etc. I now keg my 5 gallon batches and I actually really look forward to doing it.

I can't even imagine bottling a 10 gallon batch. I know people here do it and love it, but I wouldn't do it. Just my opinion.

 

[Paps]

Bottling gets old and you will probably end up buying a keg system sooner or later so `in the long run` i think you'll be dollars ahead if you skip buying bottles alltogether.
If you do get bottles imho it's best to just save your old guinness ( or w/e it is you drink ) ones as that way you at least get beer with them.

 

[Varmintman]

Both have advantages and both have pitfalls. Kegging is easier and less work but the beer is harder to transport. Bottling is more labor intensive yet more portable.

I am going to my LHB tonight and taking a 6 pack of beer. All I need to do is pull it from the fridge and run.

 

[armymedic942]

I thought about that...I have a few growlers around that I figured would be good for Beer on the go

My biggest concern is consistency of my beer...sounds like kegging is the way to go