Is kegging worth it?

[Math0]

Hey yall. I started brewing crap beer about 2 years ago and I now brew every week better beer everytime. I have all the basic equipment needed (mash tun, hot liquor tank, kettle, burner, heat sticks, fermenters, glass carboys, storage buckets, etc, etc). I love drinking beer in a bottle and I am starting to hate the deposit at the bottom of each beer. I was thinking of buying a 2 keg system with the blichmann beer gun to be able to still bottle my beer but without sediments. Also use the kegs in the winter (because I dont have the space for a fridge).

Truly, is it really worth the 500$ ? I looked around and this is the price I came up with. Shipping is horrible. It is not really about the price, but about the utility.

Please comment, complain.. anything :cross:

 

[freisste]

I like it, but I like draft beer.

You will still get SOME sediment. It will be less than bottle conditioning though. (Unless you are planning on filtering into the keg, force carbing, and then using the beergun).

 

[LovesIPA]

Yeah it's an easy $500.

I'm kind of torn about this to be honest. It's not *completely* worth it. What I mean by that is that it's not a slam-dunk, you're crazy for not doing this kind of thing.

Pros:
- MUCH easier to package finished beer
- Cool factor
- No more sediment in beers

Cons:
- Cost
- Money
- Expense

I would skip the beer gun. If I have to bottle I will put the sanitized bottles in the freezer and fill them when they're frozen. It helps to reduce the carbonation.

BTW drinking a beer out of the bottle is a cardinal sin for a brewer and not because of the sediment. You lose a lot of the aroma when it's in the bottle because your nose isn't in the glass. Since aroma is a huge component of flavor, you're not getting the full flavor of the beer.

Edit: You might get some sediment in the first couple of pints but it should be very clear after that.

 

[Rockn_M]

They are definitely woth it. Sometimes you can find cheaper ones on Craigslist or buy the parts and make one for cheaper.

Outside of the initial cost it only takes a few minutes to clean, fill and enjoy. No more having to clean, fill and store each individual bottle.

 

[Jorb]

I recently picked up a used kegerator and several sixth barrel sankeys. I didn't realize how much I dreaded bottling day until I didn't have to do it any more. It's super simple to disassemble, rinse out, and fill the kegs. Plus it doesn't take 2 weeks to carbonate and you can even adjust the carbonation levels if needed.

 

[Foosier]

It does depend, but personally it made things a ton easier. Rather than clean, sanitize, fill and cap 50 bottles, I only do that 1 time with my keg. Much faster.

Rather than wait for the bottles to carb naturally with all of the possible issues like bottle bombs and undercarbed I control the carbonation exactly with my CO2 system. If it needs more or less carbonation, I can control that.

Rather than having to drink a full 12 or 22oz bottle (I know, not that much of a problem) I can sample small amounts to see if the keg is really ready or not.

The challenge with keggin is obviously the need for the equipment. I already had a fridge so all I needed was the keg, gas and hoses.

Still, I love my keg and would not go back to bottling if I did not have to.

 

[fmr_army]

My vote: Hell yes.

However, it's from a different perspective from you. I have a keezer with four kegs (three taps). Life is sooooo much easier now for me. It used to be: sanitizing each bottle, filling each one, then capping and labeling (with a sharpie on the lid) each. Now it's sanitizing a keg, and racking the beer over into it, hooking up CO2 for carbonation.

It is pricier and takes up more space in the house. However, I have successfully used my keezer as an auxilary fridge for pies, casseroles and wine over various holidays/parties.

When I want to bottle from the keg, I sanitize my bottles and fill directly from the tap rather than using a counterpressure gun thingy. Works okay for me. For Christmas I gave a six pack of homebrew to each of the guys who work for me, and it wasn't too onerous of a job.

 

[bknifefight]

Look up "We dont need no stinking beer gun" You can bottle from a keg easily for much less money. I do it all the time.
And if kegging is worth it is really a subjective question. I enjoy having all of my beer cold at once, so whenever company comes over it's not a matter of how many bottles I have in the fridge.

 

[Math0]

Yeah it's an easy $500.

I'm kind of torn about this to be honest. It's not *completely* worth it. What I mean by that is that it's not a slam-dunk, you're crazy for not doing this kind of thing.

Pros:
- MUCH easier to package finished beer
- Cool factor
- No more sediment in beers

Cons:
- Cost
- Money
- Expense

I would skip the beer gun. If I have to bottle I will put the sanitized bottles in the freezer and fill them when they're frozen. It helps to reduce the carbonation.

BTW drinking a beer out of the bottle is a cardinal sin for a brewer and not because of the sediment. You lose a lot of the aroma when it's in the bottle because your nose isn't in the glass. Since aroma is a huge component of flavor, you're not getting the full flavor of the beer.

Edit: You might get some sediment in the first couple of pints but it should be very clear after that.

You have a very good point, I did not think about the aroma. Problem is: how do I get it cold? I don't have space for a fridge only for beer. In the summer it is quite disappointing to drink it warm lol

 

[Rockn_M]

You have a very good point, I did not think about the aroma. Problem is: how do I get it cold? I don't have space for a fridge only for beer. In the summer it is quite disappointing to drink it warm lol

Look up jockey box. It's more work than keeping in a fridge but takes up less space and you can use it whenever and wherever.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

~$400 WITH a modified mini fridge to a kegerator is about right.
That's including:
Mini fridge (Easily found for 125-150 new, if not 50-80 on CL)
Co2 tank (filled) (75$)
Regulator (60$)
2 kegs (100$)
Lines/QDs (40$)

Honestly I will never go back to bottling my lower abv/standard beers.
The hassle of priming sugar, cleaning bottles, storing empty/full bottles, breaking bottles with the capper, bottle conditioning.
I can rack 5gal of beer from primary to keg in less than 5min and that's also purging the keg, sealing and pressurizing afterword's.

I remember 2 hour sessions of cleaning/bottling/storing 48-50 bottles
Worth it? 100000000x worth it IMO.

EDIT:
To answer your "still wanting bottles" question.
After around 10 times of bottling from the tap I finally nailed it.
Lower your pressure down to 2-3psi and freeze the bottles for ~15min to limit foam.
This method looses around 2oz of beer but once the beer level hits the top, cap on the foam to ensure no oxidation

 

[Marc77]

Here's my thing, if you've already got room for all that equipment then you have room for a fridge...a mini one. Just get something that can hold two kegs and a CO2 tank.

Then drill out of the front door instead of the top. That way you can set some of your equipment on top of the fridge, the kegs you seem to have already are taking up the same space except they're in a fridge and you've got yourself a quicker bottling day and not that much more space used up.

 

[bknifefight]

You have a very good point, I did not think about the aroma. Problem is: how do I get it cold? I don't have space for a fridge only for beer. In the summer it is quite disappointing to drink it warm lol

Without dedicating a fridge to the endeavor it is not worth doing IMO.

 

[BigFloyd]

Without dedicating a fridge to the endeavor it is not worth doing IMO.

Agreed. It's also much more challenging to force carb at room temps.

I'd set up a fermenter fridge/freezer long before I'd invest in kegging (and I like kegging).

 

[Kaz]

Switched to kegging about 3 years ago and never looked back. Its so much faster to clean and sanitize 1 big stainless steel bottle instead of 52 glass bottles. Beers are clearer, you have total control over carbonation levels, you can get beer drinkable in a shorter amount of time, much less chance of oxidation because you can purge and cover everything with CO2...I won't go on. I also bought the beer gun, I don't use it as much as I thought I would, but it is very nice for bottling out of the keg. I can't really think of any drawback other than the fact that you have to have a fridge/kegerator set up to really take advantage of it. I have an Imperial Stout that is going to get bottled so it can bottle condition an I've been aging it in a glass carboy for about 7 months now because I dread bottling it.

 

[brokebucket]

I was a "bottling is better" guy, but my wife got sick of all the bottles piled around so I bought some cornies off craigslist. I was wrong...bottling sucks. Actually, priming and bottling sucks. Bottling from a keg is 10 times easier.

That being said, you have to have a refrigerated place to put them. Without that, everything else is moot.

 

[LovesIPA]

You have a very good point, I did not think about the aroma. Problem is: how do I get it cold? I don't have space for a fridge only for beer. In the summer it is quite disappointing to drink it warm lol

I think this was in reference to drinking beer out of a bottle. Right?

If so, I don't follow you. What does getting the beer cold have to do with drinking it out of the bottle?

Also, if you don't have space for a beer fridge, where are you going to put the kegerator?