Question on kegging

Hi, I've been making wine for a whole and just recently have given home brewing a try. I absolutely love making it, but was less ecstatic about bottling. I was wondering what peoples thoughts were on kegging. I am not the biggest drinker, maybe a beer or two a night. Is kegging worth it? Also, are there any manual pressure kegs like the ones you get in a store or are they all co2. I'm just a little worried about wasting co2 if it will take a while to clear the keg. Thanks in advance for the input. Rich. FYI, I have an IPA and a hefe that will need to be bottled in about 2 weeks.

My thoughts. Kegging is simpler than bottling. But there is a start up cost. Fridge/temp controlled freezer, keg or kegs, CO2 bottle, faucets, lines, space.

To me the cost are worth it. I don't like bottling or washing bottles and filling them. Some people do, I don't.

The manual pressure kegs I am guessing you are referring to a manually operated pump and picnic tap, like the ones used for a party. They work fine if the beer will be consumed in one day but not good if you want to keep beer on tap. Introduces oxygen and over time using it would oxidize the beer.

I've found a 5lb CO2 tank will force carb 5-6 five gallon kegs and serve them. Maybe more.

Well you pretty much have to have a co2 system to keg, it will keep the beer from oxidizing. You won't waste co2 if you leave the gas hooked up to it. It will dissolve into solution and stop injecting co2 into the beer (unless you lower the temp or increase the serving pressure). It takes me 2 months to clear a keg sometimes. 1 5# co2 tank should last about 11 kegs. Have fun kegging!

I drink 1-2 beers 5 nights out of the week. Right now I have 3 kegs and feel like I need at least 4 more.
I have gone through 3 kegs do far and right now have 3 full on tap. I havent noticed the pressure gauge move yet on the bottle.
You won't waste co2 because once the keg gets up to pressure it will be in a equilibrium. Gas will stop conning in unless you pour a beer then the pressure will equalize again.

tmurph6

I don't think I get that many kegs out of a #5 bottle, but I've really never counted.

Are you force carbing at higher pressures or just setting to serving pressure and forgetting for a few three weeks?

That's a tough one. On one hand, you're averaging 7 beers a week... on the other hand, kegging will easily get you up to 14-21. Not necessarily a bad thing since you'll get to brew more, but plan on your beer expenses to go up and waistline to increase. Having a keg on hand is just too damn cool and hard to walk past without pouring one. For me, it's much easier to keep a few bottles in the fridge while the rest stay in the cellar. Keeps my consumption in check.

Another thing to consider are the styles you enjoy. Belgians, strong ales, and many imperials can benefit from aging and/or take much longer to polish off. The sippers. You'll need some extra kegs or carboys on hand. If you're a lager, ale, or dry stout kind of guy I say dive right in if you got the $.

Dan said:

tmurph6

I don't think I get that many kegs out of a #5 bottle, but I've really never counted.

Are you force carbing at higher pressures or just setting to serving pressure and forgetting for a few three weeks?

Click to expand...

Set and forget. I've always read a 5# will dispense 5 half barrells. For me a co2 tanks lasts til my next leak.

I hate bottling. It's simply because I am always behind on stuff to do around my house and bottling is too tedious and labor intensive for me. I wish I would have done this 10 years ago.

when i reached keg island, the promised land, the clouds parted and happiness rained down. I'm never going back to bottleland.

yep +1 for kegging.

I actually do a little of both since it's nice to have some different varieties available in the fridge while keeping your main brews on tap. I have a dual tap system and usually keep my Hoppy Amber (my fav) and Strawberry Blonde Ale (wife's fav) on tap but if I am craving a milk stout or something different, it's a short walk to the basement beer fridge.

Cheers.

outside92129 said:

when i reached keg island, the promised land, the clouds parted and happiness rained down. I'm never going back to bottleland.

Click to expand...

Yep, I agree. I have been kegging since December 2008 (or was it 2007?), after bottling nearly 200 batches. The first time, I thought, "I should have done this years ago!". But it was the cost holding me back. With a cheap Craigslist fridge (50$), and three kegs and all the gear ($230), it was nearly $300 for the set up.

That makes me laugh now, because it was so expensive that I held off for several years and kept bottling. But when I won a football pool here on the forum, my winnings of $230 went for the kegging gear.

To use my favorite crude expression, kegging is t1ts!

But it is in investment so it takes some thinking about. If there is a chance that you don't really want to have fresh beer on tap for at least 6-8 months or so, then it's probably not worth it for you.

At a minimum, you'd need two kegs, a regulator, and a small co2 tank; plus a fridge/freezer. The cheapest "basic kit" I see on kegconnection.com (where I got my stuff) is $55 for the regulator and disconnects, $65 for the c02 tank, and $50 for the keg. You'd need more than one keg, just to have the next one online and ready when one empties. But you could get by with under $200 and picnic ("cobra") taps.

Space can be an issue- as a fridge does take up space. If you're already storing beer in a fridge, like in a garage, you could use the same fridge. We didn't have a second (or third or fourth) fridge at the time but now we do!

Fiance got me a keg setup for my birthday two years ago.

BEST PRESENT EVER.

No matter how much you drink, cleaning and sanitizing one keg beats the hell out of cleaning santizing storing filling and capping all the bottles you have.

As soon as i got my kegs, i recycled atleast 8 or 9 cases of bottles, kept 2 and all my big bottles for sharing.