I have pin lock kegs and they all weigh 10.5 lbs +/- 1 oz. Filled to the brim with water they hold, by weight, 5.6 gal.
Is it just me or are bottled conditioned Homebrew better than kegged?
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GrowleyMonster
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When I put 5 gallons of beer into an empty keg, the keg contains 5 gallons, according to my calculations. I'm not quite sure how to break it down more than that. That means that a standard corny keg is pretty near full.
Boy am I late to the party. Just verified side by side comparison my bottle aged Dubbel is better in flavor then the kegged version. Might note my WCIIPAs were better bottled also. My issues started when kegging IPAs.
Oxygen murders hoppy beers. To get an IPA in a keg without it self-destructing requires all kinds of diligence...
Cheers!
Cheers!
There are advantages to both methods. It would be hard to say one is categorically better. Might be your bottling is scavenging stray oxygen. Sometimes good to age on the bottled yeast a bit for further cleanup. Kegs are so easy though and have their benefits too.
Agree. When it comes to hoppy beers, if they taste better bottle conditioned, it says more about your oxygen ingress while kegging because the refermentation in the bottle will clean up some of the oxygen that is picked up in the bottling operation itself. If the same amount gets in the kegged beer, that's that.
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I've not done a side-by-side, but kegging wins hands down in terms of time and storage of product.
i have bottled many bottles of beer and cider. Does bottle conditioning make better packaging...depends. I will say kegged beer is much simpler and less bothersome than cleaning bottles.
the nostalgia of cracking a bottle of homebrew does exist and is very enjoyable. but all my general beers will be kegged. Heavy beers i bottle which is not very often.
planning this summer for a golden heavy kviek beer that probably will be bottled and aged. second runnings will turn into a light blonde ale which will be kegged.
worst part of kegged beer is there is no evidence of how many you had....may or may not be a bad thing.
Better equipment with kegging makes packaging of beer better. Bottled conditioned beer could be considered to a certain style guideline as more oxygen is introduced as other as stated.
the nostalgia of cracking a bottle of homebrew does exist and is very enjoyable. but all my general beers will be kegged. Heavy beers i bottle which is not very often.
planning this summer for a golden heavy kviek beer that probably will be bottled and aged. second runnings will turn into a light blonde ale which will be kegged.
worst part of kegged beer is there is no evidence of how many you had....may or may not be a bad thing.
Better equipment with kegging makes packaging of beer better. Bottled conditioned beer could be considered to a certain style guideline as more oxygen is introduced as other as stated.
I would've said this until a move to a one level house eliminated my excellent basement storage zone for beer (and wine). But I have no opinion about quality differences, at least now that I have good oxygen avoidance going in my kegging. And a couple of hefty bottled batches will do okay stored in closets.
I’m going to throw this out there: just because it’s kegged doesn’t mean that you can’t “bottle condition” your beer.
About the same time that I learned about closed transfers, I also started naturally carbonating my beers in the keg. I use a floating dip tube and don’t have to worry about picking up any yeast.
The combination of closed transfers and “bottle conditioning” my kegs has improved my beer and made things way easier for me over bottling.
About the same time that I learned about closed transfers, I also started naturally carbonating my beers in the keg. I use a floating dip tube and don’t have to worry about picking up any yeast.
The combination of closed transfers and “bottle conditioning” my kegs has improved my beer and made things way easier for me over bottling.
Bottling highly carbonated beers work best, Belgian's, etc. I just can't get that level of carbonation in a keg, or better put, get it out of the keg properly. Just an overcarbonated foamy mess.
This is a nice alternative to spunding. On occasion I've transferred a finished beer into a purged keg with priming sugar in it. Not only do yeast break down some oxidation products, but tank CO2 is usually poorly specced for oxygen content, and there's at least a theoretical problem there.
The down side is that keg conditioning means you can't immediately chill the keg, which is usually a good idea to maintain freshness.
capt82
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I have only bottled my beers for 15 years and played around with those 1 gallon mini kegs so I can't say kegged beers don't condition well. I always brew 6.5 gallon batches which yields about 65 bottles of beer. I average 1 beer a day so a batch lasts me about 1 1/2 - 2 months. The beer always improves in that time. I had some of my worse beers turn to be some of my best after 1 1/2 months of conditioning. I have never had a bottle bomb but have had some Saisons over carbonated after 1 1/2 months of conditioning. I learned those need to be drunk faster or prime with less than the required volumes of CO2. Maybe I had issues as an infant, but I still love nursing a bottle.
But wouldn’t the same apply to conditioning in bottles? When I did bottle, I didn’t chill them immediately, but left them in a closet while they carbonated and conditioned. I only transferred them to my refrigerator a few at a time as they were consumed.
The result (for me, at least) was that my bottles stayed unchilled longer than my kegs. As soon as I am satisfied that my keg is carbonated and conditioned, the whole thing goes in the cooler.
Bottled Imperial Stout, Saison, and my Tripel are better than kegged. My Kolsch, lagers, and the rest I keg. I do find in those styles the bottles are better. Kegging hoppy beers now that I learned how to pressure transfer, crash, and all the extra PIA steps. Bottling those big beers is nice too that it doesn’t take up a tap for ages. Kegging is just too easy to not keg. If I had to bottle all my beers now, I’d have to punt.
One of my hefeweizens I brewed last year, I ran off 2 gallons from my fermentor into one of those 2.2 Gal Oxebar kegs and after tasting it for a week or two I was pretty dissatisfied with it (mainly the malts and other flavor aspects, but also the esters were a bit lacking because I changed up my temperature control method and the temperature ran lower during the primary ferment than the previous batch). I disposed of those two gallons, added an appropriate amount of glucose via syringe to the keg, and keg conditioned two gallons at 72°F for a week and a half and then put it on tap. Noticeable improvement, just straight up pumped more esters into the beer. I'll be doing this with all of my ester-forward styles going forward. Imagine you would never want to do this with lagers.
Personally, I think kegged beer tends to taste better. I also think a lot of this depends on the beer. My brother and I regularly brew together; I keg mine and he bottles his. All from the same wort.
When he shares a bottle with me, there's some off-putting flavor that I don't get with the beer from my kegs. I seem to remember this with my bottled beer before I started kegging. In summary, the beer from my keg just tastes better IMO.
Possibly there's some oxidation or some other "thing" behind this. Maybe related to the addition of priming sugar or maybe its his fermentation process and lack of "good" temperature control. But this has been my experience
When he shares a bottle with me, there's some off-putting flavor that I don't get with the beer from my kegs. I seem to remember this with my bottled beer before I started kegging. In summary, the beer from my keg just tastes better IMO.
Possibly there's some oxidation or some other "thing" behind this. Maybe related to the addition of priming sugar or maybe its his fermentation process and lack of "good" temperature control. But this has been my experience
fluketamer
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difficult not to respond to this thread.
yes its just. you.
no just kidding. for me my beers definately improved when i started kegging as compared to my bottle conditioned beers. and i attribute it to this to less oxygen exposure overall and more cold time.
when i used to bottle i would transfer to a bottling bucket (oxygen) . then bottle (more oxygen) then carb at room temp for 2-3 weeks then cold condition for 1 week in fridge.
when i keg i cold crash and then do gravity transfer to purged keg. then into the kegerator for 1 to x number of weeks.
after fermentation my beer is kept cold from then on. to me this makes the difference.
yes its just. you.
no just kidding. for me my beers definately improved when i started kegging as compared to my bottle conditioned beers. and i attribute it to this to less oxygen exposure overall and more cold time.
when i used to bottle i would transfer to a bottling bucket (oxygen) . then bottle (more oxygen) then carb at room temp for 2-3 weeks then cold condition for 1 week in fridge.
when i keg i cold crash and then do gravity transfer to purged keg. then into the kegerator for 1 to x number of weeks.
after fermentation my beer is kept cold from then on. to me this makes the difference.
Closed transfer into a CO2 purged keg is the key here...
That is a key.
Not using a "secondary fermentation" vessel is another key.
Also, not cold-crashing without "make-up CO2" is a very important key...
Cheers!
Not using a "secondary fermentation" vessel is another key.
Also, not cold-crashing without "make-up CO2" is a very important key...
Cheers!
A tangent: a guy I used to sing with claimed that some beers are better drunk from the bottle, and others from a glass.
No argument with anyone's perceptions, just saying it's subjective AF. Maybe less so for BJCP trainees and the like.
For me, two of the "same" beers (two bottles from a batch, two pours from the same keg) ain't the same. Very similar of course.
No argument with anyone's perceptions, just saying it's subjective AF. Maybe less so for BJCP trainees and the like.
For me, two of the "same" beers (two bottles from a batch, two pours from the same keg) ain't the same. Very similar of course.
Interesting experiences here. I stopped bottling in the late 90s. I bottled for the first few years of home brewing but once I obtained the necessary equipment to do closed system transfers I only keg mine. I have a good counter pressure bottle filler but I haven't used since I perfected kegging.
Kegging is hands down better than bottling. 1st done correctly there is no exposure to oxygen. 2nd no priming surger is added that increases oxygen exposure and impacts taste. 3rd it is drinkable quicker and 4th it requires less work, less cooler space and as a result it provides a better carbonated and yes better taste.
Once fermentation is complete I simple force transfer to a serving keg that has been cleaned, sanitized and purged of oxygen. It then goes directly into a cooler to cold crash and be carbonated with bottled CO2. Depending on the type of beer brewed it is ready to tap within a few days or let it lager there for lagers.
Kegging is hands down better than bottling. 1st done correctly there is no exposure to oxygen. 2nd no priming surger is added that increases oxygen exposure and impacts taste. 3rd it is drinkable quicker and 4th it requires less work, less cooler space and as a result it provides a better carbonated and yes better taste.
Once fermentation is complete I simple force transfer to a serving keg that has been cleaned, sanitized and purged of oxygen. It then goes directly into a cooler to cold crash and be carbonated with bottled CO2. Depending on the type of beer brewed it is ready to tap within a few days or let it lager there for lagers.
Maybe the Coke in the small bottles was better. 
I have had the same Belgian Quad poured side by side with bottle conditioning and keg carbonation and that particular beer was better out of the bottle. In this case, and knowing the brewer's skillset and process, I can't conclude any of it had to do with oxygen exposure. The argument about a bottle's ability to reach higher carbonation doesn't really work for me. You can get a keg to carbonate to anything you want and if your lines are right, you can also dispense it. Six feet of 3mm EVA barrier can probably handle 4 volumes without a foam explosion.
I think the two scenarios that can be better trialed are
1. Bottle and Keg condition on priming sugar leaving both warm for a month.
2. Bottle condition and force carb the keg, but leave both warm for the same amount of time (this would rule out the refermentation and/or yeast growth impact).
I think the two scenarios that can be better trialed are
1. Bottle and Keg condition on priming sugar leaving both warm for a month.
2. Bottle condition and force carb the keg, but leave both warm for the same amount of time (this would rule out the refermentation and/or yeast growth impact).
I either bottle a batch or keg it - I don’t ever brew big batches and bottle half/keg half etc.
Over the years, just about ALL of my problem batches have been bottles. I’ve had ALOT of infected bottle batches. I’ve had very few off, bad, or infected keg batches. There’s so much more that can go wrong bottling. I still bottle some, especially stronger batches.
Over the years, just about ALL of my problem batches have been bottles. I’ve had ALOT of infected bottle batches. I’ve had very few off, bad, or infected keg batches. There’s so much more that can go wrong bottling. I still bottle some, especially stronger batches.
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Example, if you’re trying to replicate Sierra Nevada Pale ale bottle conditioned then then bottle conditioning maybe the best route. Is it really getting you closer or is a placebo type effect because you know the style you like and are trying to replicate are bottle conditioned? Who knows and many other factors are involved, but my guess is my ramblings above is possible in some situations.
My Opinion is some styles this maybe true or closer to what you associate with being ( better) based off of or closer to a commercial example thats was probably bottled conditioned.
Example, if you’re trying to replicate Sierra Nevada Pale ale bottle conditioned then then bottle conditioning maybe the best route. Is it really getting you closer or is a placebo type effect because you know the style you like and are trying to replicate are bottle conditioned? Who knows and many other factors are involved, but my guess is my ramblings above is possible in some situations.
I keg all my bitters, I have 3 corny kegs so can only have 3 bitters on the go at any one time. I bottle all other beer types which allow me to have 20ish beers on the go. It horses for courses for me. I found that my bitter from a bottle is not as good as the kegged version, probably due to being over carbonated.
Willy
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My own experience is completely opposite. Kegs are much better than bottles. Having to be careful pouring, and avoiding the little trub stain of blech in each bottle... No thanks. I can also be more consistent with how much to carb each batch in total, as opposed to each bottle having a slightly different carb profile.
Draft beer or a bottle? Umm, I know what I prefer and I doubt billions of beer drinkers are wrong in making the came call.
But no worries. You be you. I am getting draft beer.
^this!^
Super slow or inadequate carbonation (with hefty brews) was one of my biggest frustrations with bottle conditioning. Flat beer ain't really beer. Kegging eliminates this concern.
But hefty brews are often the ones that benefit most from bottle conditioning (and for a fairly long time at that). My big stouts and Belgians get the cork and cage treatment with bottling yeast (and patience).
JakeBowden
Member
I can't tell the difference, but I have to compare them on a level playing field. When I bottle, I have to wait several weeks before the beer is carbonated. However, I can force carbonate the young beer and drink it immediately. The kegged beer at this point will not be as good as the 2+ week aged bottle beer. Giving the keg the extra 2 weeks, just like I would've with the bottle, I can't tell the difference.
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