How many keg?

How many of you actually keg your beer? With me being the only or primary drinker I'd love to keg it but I just don't think it's worth it. Or much more room in my apartment. Lol

For you all that do keg how much nicer is it than bottling?

azfalcon said:

For you all that do keg how much nicer is it than bottling?

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There are no words that can adequately express the complete and total betterness of kegging to filling those damnable bottles and then waiting ANOTHER 4 to 6 weeks before you can touch the beer.

Kegging is an investment but so so so so so so (ad infinitum) much better.

It's goes to 11. How much better can it get? None better.

I probably drink 90+ percent of the beer at my house and I have nine kegs (some are used as secondaries) and three taps.

Have I mentioned I have cleaning/sanitizing bottles?

How long does a 5 gallon batch stay good in a keg? Do you all end up wasting any in the end?

I just completed my kegging setup today and I can already see the benefit (time-wise) of kegging. Bottling is a chore - kegging is an investment. It's not cheap - but the time savings are fantastic. Not to mention the fewer steps in the process.

azfalcon said:

How long does a 5 gallon batch stay good in a keg? Do you all end up wasting any in the end?

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I think you worded this backwards. I don't waste any in the end but in the end I'm wasted.

Do you have friends? Do you want any more?

You will NEVER have any trouble whatsoever using your beer. A keg produces about 50 + or - 12 ounce bottles, probably around 35 + or - pints (foam etc... it never really works out to the full 40 you 'ought to get'.

If you have one or two pints a night, you'll go through the keg in a month. Frankly it's just starting to get really good by then. (Hence the 2 or 3 kegs to 'slow you down a bit.') That doesn't even take into account the buddies you'll gather who want to come over and enjoy a beer now and then.

I've had tapped kegs around for as long as two months without any problems (as long as I pull a drink from them now and again - never lasted longer than that). I once left one for a month without drinking anything and the line (in the fridge) got some weird sediment stuff in it but once I cleaned the lines the beer (pilsner) was still great.

MuddyCreek said:

Do you have friends? Do you want any more?

You will NEVER have any trouble whatsoever using your beer. A keg produces about 50 + or - 12 ounce bottles, probably around 35 + or - pints (foam etc... it never really works out to the full 40 you 'ought to get'.

If you have one or two pints a night, you'll go through the keg in a month. Frankly it's just starting to get really good by then. (Hence the 2 or 3 kegs to 'slow you down a bit.') That doesn't even take into account the buddies you'll gather who want to come over and enjoy a beer now and then.

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Yea 35 pints isn't a lot at all and easily doable. I may have to save up and check out my options. I hate bottling

Been kegging for almost 20 years.....my how time flies! I occasionally bottle from the tap using a growler filler for my friends that have to take some home. For me, kegging allowed me to enjoy my beer in a cleaner, more simple way and with a kegerator you'll be the envy of all your friends!

Cheers!

I keg, but I guess I'm one of the few who doesn't think it's the best thing ever. It is a lot easier, but with me primarly being the one drinking it takes forever to finish a keg, esp with the fact that I have 4 on tap. I find myself brewing less than I did before I bottled, because I don't have a lot of spare kegs, and if I did, I wouldn't have room to put them on tap. I just finished my pumpkin and still have a stout and Cider that were all tapped at the first of November. I actually just changed one of my taps to water for sodas, so I would go thought the other 3 faster. If I had been bottling I would probalby have 10 different beers to chose from, and some of the pumpkin and stouts would be around until next fall because I have gotten tired of them. Though that being said, I could bottle some beers as well, but now that I have the kegs, I don't want to do all of the extra work.

So while kegging is great, there is also a down side to it.

I do both. Although kegging is much simpler, unless you spend a fortune (or have really good luck getting deals), it can be hard to get as good of a variety as you can with bottling. I also like making labels. I'm weird like that. Once you have stock of good clean bottles, bottling becomes much less of a chore. I think the worst part about it is delabelling. One thing that I really like about kegging is being able to drink a half glass. I find right before bed a lot of times, it's nice to have just a small beer. I can't really do this with bottles, unless you put a stopper back on. To each their own.

It's all personal choice. If you don't have the money/room to keg, then don't. Kegging isn't a requirement.

I've been thinking about this today - and I think I'll probably still use my 32oz EZ-Caps for different beers - or at least bottle a few and keg the rest. Even though I don't really enjoy bottling - it does make it easier to share the beer and I don't always have to be married to the keg to enjoy the beer when it comes to picnics and outdoor parties - or going to friends houses. 12oz bottles are probably out for me though.. I'll stick to the big ones.

Once you have a kegging system operational, sharing beer is actually pretty easily done - because you can fill bottles - or growlers - from a faucet, on demand.

I love growlers for that. I'll take a couple with me on family visits, or a day on the boat, for example. And if I want to leave some beer with someone I'll fill a six pack of 12 ouncers (still have all my bottling gear, a couple bags o' caps, and for some reason I still have around 10 cases of sanitized empties).

Kegging doesn't mean the end of sharing convenience. Quite the contrary...

Cheers!

After talking to some co-workers who brew and lurking on this site for months before I started my first brews in December, I decided to skip bottling and go straight to kegging. There's definitely significant costs involved, but I just didn't want to deal with the drudgery of bottling. I kegged both batches the same night last month and love going into my garage to pull a cold pint. I still have some work to do to get my keezer where I want it (additional kegs and faucets), but I'm well on my way.

Most noobs bottle, simply because of the cost factor and lack of equipment. I bottled during my first 5 years of brewing. I think bottling can be very rewarding and fun too, just get some friends over, crack open some cold ones and have a great time! But once you begin kegging it can become your most favorite dispensing method.

All of us keggers will at some time say, "Hey, remember when we used to bottle?"

Those were the days......

Cheers!

I keg, but I bottle as well. From the kegs.

I wouldn't even consider going back to bottling a batch unless I was using at minimum 16 and better 20 or 24 oz bottles.

I mean, to each his own. Some folks like the process and the hands-on ness of bottling. For me, (de-labeling and sanitizing bottles... aaargh) it's completely unattractive.

KegWrangler said:

It's goes to 11. How much better can it get? None better.

I probably drink 90+ percent of the beer at my house and I have nine kegs (some are used as secondaries) and three taps.

Have I mentioned I have cleaning/sanitizing bottles?

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Or in my world 12

brewinchef_fairfax said:

I've been thinking about this today - and I think I'll probably still use my 32oz EZ-Caps for different beers - or at least bottle a few and keg the rest. Even though I don't really enjoy bottling - it does make it easier to share the beer and I don't always have to be married to the keg to enjoy the beer when it comes to picnics and outdoor parties - or going to friends houses. 12oz bottles are probably out for me though.. I'll stick to the big ones.

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As was mentioned, filling bottles from the keg couldn't be easier. I often fill a growler (or three) from the tap just as brewpubs do, to take beer to go or give it away.

For competitions, I bottle with the blichmann beergun or use the bottle filler outlined on this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

But for just filling growlers to take to friend's and to my cottage, I just fill from the tap with a long tube like the brewpubs do. It works great.

Kegging is such a time saver for me. All you have to do is rack your beer from one large container to another. You attach the CO2, set the pressure and stick it in your fridge. I think it took me 35 minutes last time which included cleaning the keg and getting everything put away and in the fridge. Drinking a carbonated brew an hour after you rack it is priceless too.

I've also taken the next step and bought a Blichmann beer gun. Now when I get a brew dialed in the keg I'll just bottle off some or all of whats left into bottles if I feel like it for adding to my stockpile or giving to friends. Though pouring a growler from the keg is easy too and works perfectly for bringing over to a buddies last minute.

A hose for growlers, no stinkin gun for bottles, and a couple of 3 gallon kegs for taking to small gatherings.

Love kegging. So glad I made the move. And space-wise, it may end up being a space saver (unless you go all in and build a kegerator/keezer like a lot of us have). Kegs tend to take up less room that multiple boxes of bottles plus caps and capper. And cleaning/sanitizing is a whole lot simpler too.

a carboy has 22L or so give or take. 19L for the keg, leaves 3 -4 L to bottle. I use all sorts of bottles, if i want to give some, save some, go the beach. If you want 20 bottles, do half the keg. Having the infrastructure for kegging is a must for the dedicated home brewer.

Not a big deal if you small batch brew,but it is nice.I was disapointed to learn the kegging timeframe which is actually similar to bottle priming.Although yes you can quick carbonate, I havent seen my beer get better til now,which is about 4 weeks kegged.Very similar to bottles. But I did the set and forget method,which is generally more recommended it seems.

Plus you can get small kegs too so its practical for small apartments or maybe even better than bottle space. I took out the crisper shelf and it fits in the bottom of the fridge pretty easily or you can even get a small kegerator,they look pretty tidy. Not bad if you consider sacraficing a bit of your food supply.I know I dont have a problem with it. Then again I have a beer fridge in my basement full of beer,but just a sayins.

I do both. Although kegging is much simpler, unless you spend a fortune (or have really good luck getting deals), it can be hard to get as good of a variety as you can with bottling.

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I also do both, but still bottle a majority of my brews, simply because I like variety. I have a nitro tap that I love and always have a stout or an Irish Red on it. I have another tap that I usually have an IPA on. But I really like a lot of variety, so in my beer fridge I always have at least 8 different brews in there. In my cellar I have about 20 different brews in varying amounts. I do a lot of Belgians and Saisons and I cannot see putting those in kegs because I like to age them and slowly drink a bottle here and there.

If you are the type that likes to drink the same thing every day, then kegging is much easier. If you like variety then bottling is the way to go. Once you get a good system down,bottling is not as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. I bottle when I brew. I rack to the bottling bucket while my strike water is heating up. Once I start my mash I bottle and am done before the mash is done. Easy....

When I first started kegging, I had a freind tell me it will change my life.....he was right. Already my hair was better!

Actually, kegging was one of the best things I've done as a home brewer. The beer is clearer becaue I can cold crash and fine with gelatin. I can serve up as little or as much as I want. I currently have 8 kegs with 4 more on the way. I can swap out from beer to beer. They are light safe and with new o rings, they will hold pressure for a very long time.

It is costly, but once you spend the money, there is little you need to buy after......Just CO2 and occasional o rings. I did it right and spent about $1000. That includes the chest freezer, hoses, fittings, 8 kegs, CO2, regulators, manifolds and temp controller.

Once I realized ho great kegging is, I decided to make sure others know how awesome it is. It is awesome!!!

Kegging is addictive. Like bottles you will amass more and more kegs. The beers seem to go faster for me, but i have not noticed any decrease in flavor over time. The beer will age possibly slower than it does in bottles as it is bulk aging. It is more convenient to just have the one vessel to clean/sanitize though.

Kegging takes 15-20 minutes to sterilize, rack, and seal. Bottling takes 1.25-1.5 hours for me.

I love the fact that I can sneak 8-10 oz of beer from the keg whenver I want, or I can dial up an 18 oz pull. No cleanup of bottles to rinse, dry, and store.

But with my bigger beers I always like to bottle. I don't want to have a keg tied up for months on end as I sample the beer during aging. I probably bottle half my batches and will likely continue in the future.

I added a spigot near the bottom of my fermenting buckets with 2ft of 1/4" hose and a black ball lock at the end. If I sanitize my kegs along with the fermenters on brewing day then when it comes time to rack the beers I just swish the ball lock in a little boiling water, attach the ball lock to the keg and watch the goodness flow. Does it get any easier? Maybe, if you get someone else to do it for you.

I still bottle a few sixers direct from the keg (for gifts or to age), but for short trips growlers work just as well.

KegWrangler said:

I added a spigot near the bottom of my fermenting buckets with 2ft of 1/4" hose and a black ball lock at the end. If I sanitize my kegs along with the fermenters on brewing day then when it comes time to rack the beers I just swish the ball lock in a little boiling water, attach the ball lock to the keg and watch the goodness flow. Does it get any easier? Maybe, if you get someone else to do it for you.

I still bottle a few sixers direct from the keg (for gifts or to age), but for short trips growlers work just as well.

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That is a brilliant idea. Now if I fermented in bottling buckets I would seriously consider that.

Also don't forget that its much harder to keep track of how much you are drinking with kegs . Much less worry about impressions of over drinking because you left a bunch of bottles everywhere the next morning! and other psychological benefits like; hey I have a keg at home and taps in my living room!
I stand by that you cannot beat kegging.

Takes me about 3 hours including cleaning the multipupose work area (bathtub). In 3 hours clean 2 kegs and a few bottles, drain the fermented carboys into the kegs, boil two batches simultaneously, fill back up the two carboys (f buckets amirite!!!), and the whole process is reset. I do kits though, so no mashing or waiting to steep grains.

All said and done, generally 3-4 hours, every 3 -5 weeks. Ideally two kegs on tap of different varieties or experimentations.

morebeerpls said:

fill back up the two carboys (f buckets amirite!!!),

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no. i use buckets, and have had the same buckets for at least the last 4 years. still clean, 1/4 the price of carboys, much lighter, have handles built in, i never got cut on buckets...

I'm drinking one out of a keg right now. Just refilled.

I actually quit homebrewing for many years because I hated bottling. After I moved into my own house I purchased some kegs and have been actively brewing since. Now I'm brewing 10 gallon batches and building a larger keezer to hold all of my kegs. The only time I bottle is straight out of the keg into a plastic bottle to take on the river.

azfalcon said:

How many of you actually keg your beer? With me being the only or primary drinker I'd love to keg it but I just don't think it's worth it. Or much more room in my apartment. Lol

For you all that do keg how much nicer is it than bottling?

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Kegging is unbelievably better than bottling in my opinion. You only have to clean/sanitize 1...not 50! It's way quicker and the beer is cleaner. I built a keezer with 3 taps and there's nothing better than pulling a pint from the keezer. My kegging "day" only takes 20 minutes vs my old bottling "day" that was a 2 hour process at a minimum. I got bored one day and built the keezer...totally worth it!

Cheers!

I love kegging and it is my preference, but I also bottle. There is just something about having a good homebrew on tap that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Right now I can only have two kegs on tap at the same time and a couple in reserve. I keg the beers that I drink all of the time - IPAs, Blondes, ESBs, etc. Others that I like, but don't want to drink everyday, imperial stouts, porters, specialty beers, I bottle. It works for me. At some point I want to be able to have 4 - 6 on tap, but will still bottle some. And as others said, it is very easy to bottle or fill growlers from your keg if you want to take some with you.