So I've made one batch of beer so far. I have noted washing/cleaning bottles to be a bit of a pain. Plus I had a hell of a time getting my beer to carb up. Is kegging easier? Interested in hearing from a few experienced guys. I'm experienced in drinking the beer. New to making it. Thanks for your help.
Keg or bottle
- Thread starter Dale85
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I think its easier but is also a lot more expensive than bottling. 
Carbing your bottles really shouldn't be a hard as much as it is about being patient. 3 weeks at 70 is a good base line. If you cold crash or crash cold (depending on how you say it) it may take another week.
When i bottle condition i place my bottles on top of my food freezer down in the basement and they are done in 3 weeks every time.
I now keg. With it comes a fair amount of equipment. I have also bleed out around ten lbs of co2 do to a leaking lid. So when kegging there still complications, they are just different than bottling. Force carbonating takes less patience. i have my beers ready to drink in about a week. You can have them done faster depending on your methods.
When i bottle condition i place my bottles on top of my food freezer down in the basement and they are done in 3 weeks every time.
I now keg. With it comes a fair amount of equipment. I have also bleed out around ten lbs of co2 do to a leaking lid. So when kegging there still complications, they are just different than bottling. Force carbonating takes less patience. i have my beers ready to drink in about a week. You can have them done faster depending on your methods.
I used conditioning tablets in my bottling, not priming sugar. Thinking that may have been another Newbie mistake. Took almost 2 months in 68 degree to carbonate. Trail and error though... If it was easy everyone would do it right. Lol.
I think kegging is easier, but it's pretty expensive. Especially when you factor in cost of the kegerator. I think it's worth it though.
beergolf
Well-Known Member
They have their advantages and disadvantages.
I bottle most of my brews because I like variety. I usually have at least 15 or more different brews around in varying quantities, and keep 8-10 of them in the fridge all the time. That way if I feel like having a certain beer then Ican have that one, and then have something different for the next. There is no way I could keep 15 or more brews on tap.
I do keg but mostly have my nitro taps set up for stouts and Irish Reds that are so. good on beergas.
Bottling is not hard or time consuming if you get a good system down. I always clean my bottles as I drink them sothe get put away clean. Then on bottling day a quick squirt of Starsan and they are ready to bottle.
There are a lot of good bottling tips in this thread.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/
I bottle most of my brews because I like variety. I usually have at least 15 or more different brews around in varying quantities, and keep 8-10 of them in the fridge all the time. That way if I feel like having a certain beer then Ican have that one, and then have something different for the next. There is no way I could keep 15 or more brews on tap.
I do keg but mostly have my nitro taps set up for stouts and Irish Reds that are so. good on beergas.
Bottling is not hard or time consuming if you get a good system down. I always clean my bottles as I drink them sothe get put away clean. Then on bottling day a quick squirt of Starsan and they are ready to bottle.
There are a lot of good bottling tips in this thread.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/
cleaning bottles gets easier as you get a stock pile just rinse them real good when your done. a vineator will make sanitation WAY easier and is only like $20. Get a buddy or SWMBO to help you bottle and it will go much faster. One person fills, one person caps. Kegging is easier but much more expensive and you will still want to bottle sometimes intead of keg.
NurseJackie
Active Member
^+1 I have the space and $ to keg but this is why I bottle. Over time it gets faster as you get the process and technique down.
GASoline71
Well-Known Member
Also... whether you keg or bottle, the beer still needs to condition for 2 to 3 weeks. You can force carb a beer with a keg system and be drinking it in 3 days. But you're drinking "green" beer.
Gary
Gary
This isn't necessarily true. I know i have read plenty of of times in a handful of threads that yooper has her beers ready to drink much faster than that. I haven't been comfortable with achieving her speed just yet but it can be done. Besides that I drink my beer sooner than that as well.
14-21 days primary
7 days in keg
DRINK
if it is a barely wine or something imperial i can see letting it sit longer.
In the end it's about your process not mine. To each there own, just know very little is written in stone.
We have 32 cornelius kegs. We never have a failed carbonation that cannot be fixed (you can force carb quickly if necessary) Bottle washing is a pain and a failed carbonation once is enough to make me not to want to do it again.
The cost is certainly there and you are limited in variety unless you force carb and then bottle. We normally have at least 3 different beers on tap, but can have up to 6. we do have a full size kegerator. The cost was about $400 including a service call when we found it. We have 2 chest freezers that we use to condition the beer as well (free on Craig's List). The biggest cost is the kegs, CO2 tank and regulator. But once done, it is easy.
The cost is certainly there and you are limited in variety unless you force carb and then bottle. We normally have at least 3 different beers on tap, but can have up to 6. we do have a full size kegerator. The cost was about $400 including a service call when we found it. We have 2 chest freezers that we use to condition the beer as well (free on Craig's List). The biggest cost is the kegs, CO2 tank and regulator. But once done, it is easy.
GASoline71
Well-Known Member
True... not written in stone. But I have yet to have a beer in kegs condition to the point where it isn't "green" anymore in less than 7 days.
You can drink young beer... but I'll wait.
Gary
Fair enough
I really appreciate the advice. Some of my problem is laziness. I believe. I start off rinsing the bottles after I drink them... However after 4 or 5 I stop and by the end of the night a have quite a few left overs to clean. I'll look into some of the things mentioned to expedite the process. Thank you all!
Get a big tub. Fill with water. Drink. Sink Bottle in water. Repeat. Then in a few days you can clean them all.
On drinking after 7 days. Depends on the brew. Some Ales are never really "green" and taste great after fermentation and you do not have to wait even 7 days. That being said, some beers are much, much better after some conditioning or lagering. We make a Mesquite Bock that takes about 8 months to be prime.
On drinking after 7 days. Depends on the brew. Some Ales are never really "green" and taste great after fermentation and you do not have to wait even 7 days. That being said, some beers are much, much better after some conditioning or lagering. We make a Mesquite Bock that takes about 8 months to be prime.
Bottling can be a pain, yes, but kegging has its own share of annoyances. You only have one container to clean/sanitize, but since the vast majority of kegs are reconditioned (read used) there are occasional problems with getting a seal on them, or leaking poppets/diptubes, the occasional random tap opening and dumping all your hard work on the floor or inside your kegerator. Then there is the occasional gas leak where you burn through 5-15 lbs of CO2 overnight and get a little lightheaded when you stick your face in the keezer.
Basically its all personal preference. I bottled for almost 2 years before investing in a kegging system. Mainly because i didnt have space and bottling, though annoying was not the part of my process that needed streamlining the most. Unless there is physical pain involved or your beer is fantastic,m i highly reccomend investing the kegging money into process equipment first (ferm chamber, or other items to get your beer as good as you can) before investing in the addiction of kegging. Kegs are as addictive as homebrew. I started out with 3 and now have 9. I forsee more in my future.
I still have bottles from my first few batches and periodically enjoy grabbing one or two and throwing them in the fridge for a flight of my previous brews to taste how my process/results have changed and as further proof of what age does to homebrew. I have had a mediocre beer become fantastic on the last 2 a year later. You really will have a hard time storing a keg for years, though you can always bottle from the keg.
Basically its all personal preference. I bottled for almost 2 years before investing in a kegging system. Mainly because i didnt have space and bottling, though annoying was not the part of my process that needed streamlining the most. Unless there is physical pain involved or your beer is fantastic,m i highly reccomend investing the kegging money into process equipment first (ferm chamber, or other items to get your beer as good as you can) before investing in the addiction of kegging. Kegs are as addictive as homebrew. I started out with 3 and now have 9. I forsee more in my future.
I still have bottles from my first few batches and periodically enjoy grabbing one or two and throwing them in the fridge for a flight of my previous brews to taste how my process/results have changed and as further proof of what age does to homebrew. I have had a mediocre beer become fantastic on the last 2 a year later. You really will have a hard time storing a keg for years, though you can always bottle from the keg.
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