kegging vs. bottling

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bklynBrew

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I would like to get some opinions on kegging compared to bottling. Does force carbonating change the final taste of the beer? If u bottle will it achieve an overall better flavor? If you keg i am guessing u do at the same time u would bottle then u force carbonate it then chill and it is ready to serve? Please let me know if this is right. Thanks alot
 
bklynBrew said:
I would like to get some opinions on kegging compared to bottling. Does force carbonating change the final taste of the beer? If u bottle will it achieve an overall better flavor? If you keg i am guessing u do at the same time u would bottle then u force carbonate it then chill and it is ready to serve? Please let me know if this is right. Thanks alot
CO2 is CO2. The beer doesn't care or know where that CO2 comes from - bottle or yeast. It doesn't change the flavor as CO2 is CO2!

As for how to force carbonate, you need to chill it prior to starting the carbonation process. CO2 aborbs into a cold solution faster and at a lower pressure than into a warm solution.

So chill the beer down, hook up your CO2, consult the charts for the correct pressure to get the carbonation profile you want, set that pressure, then wait about five to seven days for the process to finish.
 
You keg at the same time point as bottling and it still takes the same amount of time to age. I haven't noticed any difference in flavors with homebrew.
 
ok so u still have to let it age a couple of weeks before chilling and drinking?
 
nope. i keg my brews when i would bottle, chill to as close to 30-32 degrees as possible, force carb, and enjoy in 2-3 days.
 
That's never made sense to me. It always seems like your beers get a lot better after aging for a few weeks if bottle carbonating. It doesn't seem like you could just add CO2 and make it taste good in 3 days.
 
billybrew said:
That's never made sense to me. It always seems like your beers get a lot better after aging for a few weeks if bottle carbonating. It doesn't seem like you could just add CO2 and make it taste good in 3 days.

Your right that didnt make any sense, but let me try and make sense of it all. When kegging you force co2 and carbonate your beer tadaa your done and the taste will be the same as when you kegged it. Now when you bottle, (people will argue back and forth about this for days, but my taste buds dont fail me) you prime with either the corn sugar or the drops and the beer naturally carbonates dropping out more yeast. This is where the change occurs in the flavor profile because you have sediment and yeast that was there in the keg, but not no more in the bottle. Ive experimented with a beer and a keg and the flavor profile is diffrent
 
usmcruz said:
Your right that didnt make any sense, but let me try and make sense of it all. When kegging you force co2 and carbonate your beer tadaa your done and the taste will be the same as when you kegged it. Now when you bottle, (people will argue back and forth about this for days, but my taste buds dont fail me) you prime with either the corn sugar or the drops and the beer naturally carbonates dropping out more yeast. This is where the change occurs in the flavor profile because you have sediment and yeast that was there in the keg, but not no more in the bottle. Ive experimented with a beer and a keg and the flavor profile is diffrent

to each his own, but we've done some side by sides, almost the exact same recipe. and the kegged beer almost won hands down.

what's not to understand? mine sit in secondary for 10-14 days (average ale) then i chill it, rack to the keg, force carbonate, and enjoy in 48 hours. easy as pie. i've never had someone NOT come back for the 3rd and 4th round:D

plus i find it alot more enjoyable not cleaning and sanitizing 50 bottles, capping, and waiting for 2 weeks to see if it's carb'd right. but, that's just me and a couple hundred thousand other homebrewers.......
 
DeRoux's Broux said:
plus i find it alot more enjoyable not cleaning and sanitizing 50 bottles, capping, and waiting for 2 weeks to see if it's carb'd right. but, that's just me and a couple hundred thousand other homebrewers.......

That is exactly why I went to kegging. It was too much to clean, sanitize, fill, and cap all the bottles (12oz). I have not found a taste difference between the two. I also let my beers sit in the secondary for a while or until I have the flavor that I am looking for.
 
i'm inheriting some kegging equipment from me cousin mic, he's given up on the homebrewing and want's to pass the stuff on... never been used. all i need is some co2 or maybe nitrogen...

i'll be chattin you keggers up for advice soon enough :)

i'm still gonna bottle stuff though, something about beer in a bottle a year later ;)
 
Just no experience with kegging. I was pretty much sold already, but that makes it even better. Now if I could just come up with $300. Theres a little bit of hope that I'll end up with that for Christmas. If not, it will be a while.
 
billybrew said:
That's never made sense to me. It always seems like your beers get a lot better after aging for a few weeks if bottle carbonating. It doesn't seem like you could just add CO2 and make it taste good in 3 days.

I think you are confusing carbonating and bottle conditioning. I don't think time has a lot to do with carbing but I know I 've done some ales that by aging them the flavors have melded more thouroughly and have improved with age. My lagers on the other hand have already spent at least a month in the secondary so that is not as big of a deal. I guess I'm going to find out soon as I plan on finishing my kegerator after the holidays and will start kegging then.
 
It makes intuitive sense to me that kegged beer should be ready almost immediately. Priming means that the yeast have to get back to work, and the sugar will distort the flavor a bit until it is all metabolized by the yeast. This is basically done in a week or so, but I like to wait until the sediment has all settled and there is probably some residual yeast activity even after that week. If you force carbonate, there is no sugar to affect flavor or be eaten up by our yeasties, nor is there going to be as much sediment.

Seems logical. Sadly I have no place obvious to keep a keg...but maybe one of those keggerator thingies could be fit into my kitchen near the water cooler.
 
SteveM said:
It makes intuitive sense to me that kegged beer should be ready almost immediately. Priming means that the yeast have to get back to work, and the sugar will distort the flavor a bit until it is all metabolized by the yeast. This is basically done in a week or so, but I like to wait until the sediment has all settled and there is probably some residual yeast activity even after that week. If you force carbonate, there is no sugar to affect flavor or be eaten up by our yeasties, nor is there going to be as much sediment.

Seems logical. Sadly I have no place obvious to keep a keg...but maybe one of those keggerator thingies could be fit into my kitchen near the water cooler.

I keg and kegging is good if you got a function to go to, or if your a raving alcohol and have it hooked up to one of those beer hats, but I think the coopers carbonations drop and a 12 ounce or higher ounce bottle makes the beer taste better. If you bottle condition you could always do a yeast starter for a upcoming batch with the yeast that settles to the bottom of the bottle. I guess its all a matter of opinion and this is where I stop with this issue
 
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