To bottle or to keg?

[Westeinder Brouwerij]

So all
Whats the best method for a homebrew greenhorn?
Is it to carbonate in the bottle with priming sugar or invest in the required equiiment and go straight into kegging?

If kegging does anybody have a few tips which makes it a success? Pressure to fill keg, length of time time, sitting time, pour pressure, different beers different pressure? etc etc

Thanks all

 

[myndflyte]

Well kegging is much more enjoyable than bottling plus it's nice to always have something on tap. However, the barrier to entry is pretty expensive so be ready to throw down at least a few hundred to purchase all the necessary equipment. It sounds like you are new to brewing so my personal suggestion is to start with bottling and make sure this hobby is something you'd want to invest a kegging system into before diving in head first.

 

[waldoar15]

What he said. ^^^^^


I started out bottling. For me, it was make the jump to kegs or quit brewing. I hate bottling that much.

 

[Westeinder Brouwerij]

Thanks guys, i’ve already invested into having some decent kit. I brew with a braumeister, and I’ve built my own kegerator system fermenting.
I’m not so kean on the bottling aspect and all that possible contamination. Thats why im thinking about cleaning one thing damn good instead of 50+ things.
My goal is to have the tools to make damn good beer

 

[John Eberly]

You should bottle first so that you have more flexibility over what you make. I do some small batches of high gravity beer that can be cellared up to several years. This just would not work with kegs.
You are talking about a bottling bucket, capper, bottles and caps, and not much else.

 

[mj1angier]

I do both, lol

I adjust my recipes to have 6 gallon at the end. 5 go in a keg and then I bottle the remainder. The bottles go on the shelf and get tasted 3-9 months later. Then I make notes on which one taste better at what age. I'm not a hop head so most do better with some time on them.

 

[ancientmariner52]

Bottles are just tiny kegs. Kegs are just huge bottles.

Bottles are cheap, portable, light weight, easy to clean and sanitize, make their own CO2. They are also fragile, tedious to fill and cap, and require careful pouring.

Kegs are cool, cause the big kids play with them. They require a lot of support equipment to make them work at all. There are special chemicals just for cleaning beer tubing, for heaven's sakes!

I started out to be fair and balanced, but it ain't working. I bottle, obviously, and am quite happy with it. This is something every brewer has to decide for themselves. There's no wrong answer.

 

[Westeinder Brouwerij]

Jow, you need to mature at a certain temp when in a bottle before coolingnit down.
What do you do when kegging beers?

 

[brewcat]

Kegging. If I need bottles I can fill from the keg.

 

[Lucille's Daddy]

Just switched over to kegging, myself. Quite a relief. Though, it would be nice to be able to bottle every once in awhile for holidays, and such.

If you haven't bought kegs yet, there's a place called "adventures in homebrewing" in Michigan who sells 4-packs of used pinlock kegs(you'll have to get a ball-lock conversion kit for these) for around $100. I'm sure there's shipping tacked onto it if you buy online, but I went to the brick and mortar to pick em up. My kegerator system is installed in the bottom half of a stand up fridge/freezer combo, and it cost about $350 for all the hardware and CO2/cylinder.

It's definitely a relief to be rid of the bottles, and once your beer is ready, you just pressurize, roll it around a bit, and it'll be drinkable within a few hours.

 

[thehaze]

Kegging has its advantages, but if you want to brew more styles and beer at once, you should bottle. I do and I am not sorry. I thought of kegging, but I could not see myself investing that much in 5 kegs, connectors, COs and keezer. I have kegged beer with a friend that has a 3 keg setup and it is good for IPAs, which is the only thing he drinks, but quite a hassle.

I always have 5 different beers in the bottle at any time, so that makes it very comfortable for me. Kegging would be nice to have for beers that really could benefit from it, like IPAs and NEIPAs, where a bigger/crisper freshness is desired.

 

[Jbrew]

I do both, lol

I adjust my recipes to have 6 gallon at the end. 5 go in a keg and then I bottle the remainder. The bottles go on the shelf and get tasted 3-9 months later. Then I make notes on which one taste better at what age. I'm not a hop head so most do better with some time on them.

This is exactly what I do as well.
I started with kegging first though. I already had the kegerator and its what got me into homebrewing. I kept reading about corny kegs when I was researching line lengths and co2 volumes.
As stated, there's pros and cons to both. I enjoy having a few bottles to hand out or bring to parties with me, but I'm not hammered down to bottling all 5 gallons.

 

[motosapiens]

I always have 5 different beers in the bottle at any time, so that makes it very comfortable for me. Kegging would be nice to have for beers that really could benefit from it, like IPAs and NEIPAs, where a bigger/crisper freshness is desired.

same here. I mostly bottle, but I have a couple 5-gallon kegs and a 2.5 gallon keg. I use the kegs for parties/special occasions and bottles for everything else.

I'm not sure what is so 'tedious' about bottling, but I use mostly 17, 22 and 25 oz bottles, so only 24 bottle for a 5 gallon batch. Takes me about half an hour to bottle 5 gallons, which is not much longer than it takes me to keg 5 gallons when you consider the extra tubing, keg washing, cleaning weird little valves, etc....

I would recommend starting with bottling just because it's so much less investment, but I really like the flexibility of the 2.5 gallon keg, so I can bottle half and keg half to bring to a party. In the long run, you'll probably want to do both anyway.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

I'd rather be kicked repeatedly in the nuts for an hour by Jean Claude Van Damme in his prime than go back to bottling.

 

[JDXX1971]

I was in your shoes when we started. I went with the kegs, we have limited space for storage and I just could not see myself fiddling with 50 or more bottles for every brew. Glad I made this decision otherwise I fear bottles may have ruined it for me.

 

[jalc6927]

I bottle 4-6 each batch then keg the rest

I found my kegs, kegerator and all the fittings on Craig’s list for next to nothing. Had to chase down a few leaks, but once I refurbed the kegs it’s a joy

I bottled for many years before kegging

 

[RuffRider]

I agree with those who suggested bottling at first. Invest in kegging once you are sure you are in it for the long haul (and as obsessed with it as most of us are). Plus, you will appreciate kegging much, much more after having bottled a few batches...because bottling sucks.

 

[Westeinder Brouwerij]

I agree with those who suggested bottling at first. Invest in kegging once you are sure you are in it for the long haul (and as obsessed with it as most of us are). Plus, you will appreciate kegging much, much more after having bottled a few batches...because bottling sucks.

I already know i’m in it for the long haul, now setting some goals and one is to make delicous beer

 

[VTX1300]

I also do both. I adjust my batches to 6 gallons, bottle 12 using conditioning tablets for priming. Then keg the rest and force carb. The bottles are for sharing with friends (my beer test dummies). I do recommend purchasing a bench capper if you want to continue bottling. They are just so much easier to use.

 

[Smellyglove]

I do both depending on style. Some beers are great in the keg, while others are better in the bottle.

 

[Vintage NY]

I am getting ready to brew my first batch, thanks to Santa. About 30 years ago, my brother brewed a couple of batches, and I helped him bottle. Sucked. I’m older now, less time on hand, and don’t mind spending a little for the convenience.... but I am hesitant to jump into the keg, especially not being experienced with the transfers, conditioning, etc... Thinking of the 5 gallon Draft Brewer system from Northern Brewer. And with regards to having beer for travel, couldn’t you just fill up some growlers from the keg to go? And can I use the 74g CO2 pre charged instead of buying a big tank? If to bottle, can I use the 22 oz flip tops to cut down on time (More Beer has 32 oz bottles ... which would make bottling much easier?) Just want to get to brewing....,

 

[SEndorf]

I'd rather be kicked repeatedly in the nuts for an hour by Jean Claude Van Damme in his prime than go back to bottling.

Stop beating around the bush and tell us how you REALLY feel about bottling.
I find kegging is really preferable, and not limiting at all. I have 6 taps plus a 2.5 G. mini-keg on a paintball CO2 canister inside a portable cooler for those weekend poker trips. And there is always the bottling gun for other parties and beer giveaways.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I Brewed about a dozen batches in the 90's. I quit because i hated bottling and sediment.

Then I got a kegerator 5 years ago and considered getting back into brewing but couldn't find a friend interested and didn't want to do it alone. I scored a full used all grain rig with kegs for a couple hundred bucks. I love brewing now. It's not all because of kegging, but it's a significant factor.

I do fill a few bottles from the keg from time to time. It's a PITA but a necessary evil I guess.

 

[PADave]

I started out bottling, did that for well over a year. Said I didn't want to get into kegging, but after talking to some people I thought about it. Kept my eyes open on CL and found a single keg setup. Bought that, but didn't use it for another 6 months. Finially kegged my first beer last summer and haven't looked back. I like variety though, so just got done upgrading to a 4 tap keezer.

Looking back, I'm glad I started with bottling. I would not have wanted the expense of kegging starting out. Plus I could focus on brewing. Building your own keg setup takes some time and effort to get it right.

 

[Vintage Iron]

I did it backwards.... Knew from a previous experience that I wouldn't like brewing if I had to deal with bottles constantly, so I searched on CL until I found a guy just a couple miles aways selling a couple of kegs, C02 bottle with regular, and a "last straw", all for "a couple of Benjamins". Bingo! Brewed my first beer last night. Kegs are all cleaned up and waiting for the brew. Thrilled not to be dealing with bottles.

I think a lot of it depends on how you consume your beer. Do you tend to bring your beer to friend's houses or local events? If so, then bottling may be best. But if you drink most of your beer in your living room/garage at home, then kegging seems to make sense.

 

[lorne17]

When I switched to kegging. My beer was noticeably better tasting! I rarely bottle now. So I recommend kegging I this is a hobby you’ll be doing for years to come.

HTH, Lorne

 

[Nagorg]

As my batch size increased, so did my interest in kegging. Its no fun bottling a 10G-15G batch!! De-labeling, cleaning and sanitizing that many bottles is a huge chore. Kegging is the only way to fly with larger batches. I still bottle some off the keg when I want to and its nice not having the trub in the bottle from using priming sugar.

 

[stosh]

I bottled my first batch with the help of my wife. She now knows the labor of love (and a pain in the ass) that bottling can be.

She now advocates for kegging so I bought a single tap keg system (used cuz I'm frugal) but I will still bottle the stuff I want to age and keg the rest.

I say bottle at first so you can:
A) appreciate and understand the process
B) so you can look back and say "yeah I bottled when I first started"
C) get REALLY good at and establish your cleaning/sanitizing process
D) get the satisfaction of hearing the hiss of opening a bottle of beer you made (like I do)
E) have home brew that you can take with you to whatever gathering you're going to

 

[Vintage NY]

Is there a concern using 1 liter EZ cap bottles to carbonate?

 

[bransona]

What he said. ^^^^^


I started out bottling. For me, it was make the jump to kegs or quit brewing. I hate bottling that much.

+9000

Bottling is the devil. I quit brewing for over a year until I was gifted with a 2.5gal keg and a 3gal conical. Now bottling (kegging) day is as simple as setting the conical above the keg, running a hose, and pulling the lever.

This size also made the entry barrier ~$250 for average, new ear.