iamleescott
Newbie
Starting out...I'm committed to brewing my first brews and bottling them. But I'm curious...at what stage does everyone get tired of bottling, and make the investment into a keg system?
I didn't start kegging till about batch 35ish. Resisted kegging for as long as I could. Kinda glad I did, because I could concentrate on brewing. Took plenty of time to plan out my keezer build.
I didn't start kegging till about batch 35ish. Resisted kegging for as long as I could. Kinda glad I did, because I could concentrate on brewing. Took plenty of time to plan out my keezer build.
not to mention, I would rather spend money on upgrading the brewing side some more before even thinking about sinking that much money in kegging.
For me it was the hatred of cleaning, washing and storing bottles...plus the time and wondering if you added the right amount of priming sugar. I would not want bottle bombs in the fridge. You can rack 5 gallons into a keg in one minute and be drinking it two days later that's awfully nice. Lets face it waiting to taste your homebrew is the hardest part of brewing. Plus the fun factor of pulling a pint in your house far outweighs opening a bottle that can be done anywhere...this is of course is just my logic as to keggingI've never understood the hatred that some brewers have for bottling. .
I've never understood the hatred that some brewers have for bottling. I know it is real, but to me, bottling is just part of what I do to get beer, no worse than cleaning a mash tun or sanitizing a fermenter.
Based solely on what I read on HBT, and discounting the panicky new guys whose beer doesn't carb overnight, I see way more problems with kegging and dispensing than I do with bottling.
I am jealous of the great looking keezer builds, and I may build one some day, but I would probably just store bottles in it.
Where do you get your tanks filled? Takes $15 for 5# of food grade CO2 swap for me at the welding store down the street. Take it there instead of your LHBSI've been on the fence about it and went back and forth, bottling and kegging batches in half. Ended up going all bottling (I guess I'm the rare case). Here's my experience.
1. Kegging is expensive as hell where I live. Getting a CO2 refill / swap will cost about $40 for a 5# tank. $180 if you want a filled tank but don't have one to swap, and they give you a poopyty used tank. Then I'd still have to buy kegs. Startup costs would easily be over $300.
2. On the bright side, where I live, room temp is 72-80 degrees, so bottle conditioning isn't an exercise in patience. I've had fully carbed beers in 5 days, and 2 days in the fridge.
3. Bottling does take longer, I won't argue that. However, since I brew half batches at a time (2.5 gal), bottling about a case of beer isn't all that time consuming. And once you get the process down, it's easy. I personally find it a bit relaxing, though I could imagine doing 50+ beers being a pain.
4. I tend to not get hangovers anymore from overindulging. Having the convenience of pulling a tap and getting extra pours led to me drinking way too much lol. Those extra 'small pours' over time usually = 1.5-2 more beers. Whereas grabbing another bottle I tend to ask myself "do I really want / need another drink?"
5. Dealing with a leaking keg is a pain in the butt. Bottles don't leak! Of course there's always the possibility of bottle bombs, but that risk can be minimized by making sure FG is stable.
6. Even transporting a mini keg isn't nearly as convenient as throwing 6 or 12 bottles in a soft cooler. If you want to share / give samples to friends / family, it's easier to hand them a bottle.
So for someone like me, the biggest pro of kegging is time. But being a small batch brewer, the cost really doesn't make it worthwhile for saving say, 30 minutes of time. Sticking with my bottles With that said, if I started doing 10 gallon batches or something, I would definitely keg.
Where do you get your tanks filled? Takes $15 for 5# of food grade CO2 swap for me at the welding store down the street. Take it there instead of your LHBS
If I remember correctly he's in Hawaii somewhere. Paradise isn't cheap.
Aside from welders, you can also check fire extinguisher shops
How many of you bottlers put off pulling the batch off the fermenter because you don't have clean bottles?
Cleaning and sanitizing a keg takes the time it takes to rinse and sanitize three bottles. Then you drain the fermenter to a keg. That takes 15 minutes. So about 18 minutes to fill a keg.
Kegging is the way to go. I wouldn't doubt some people quit brewing because of the drudgery of cleaning bottles.