Kegging VS Bottling

I just bottled my very first brew today and can see where there would be some major advantages of kegging

Just curious...how many of you bottle your home brew versus kegging?

I only bottle for gifting and transportation.

I have only been brewing for a couple months, and as such, am limited to bottling right now. I have, however, set 2 goals for my brew skills for 2006: to move to AG, and to move to KEG.

I bottle heavy ales and wines that take a long time to mature. I bottle for gifts. I bottle a couple of bottles for each keg, and use the bottles for side to side comparisons. I bottle if both kegs are in use. I keg about 80% of what I brew.

-a.

I just started brewing so I only bottle for now. I plan to maybe start kegging in a year or so $ ya know.

keg. ease of cleaning/sanitizing one large bottle over cleaning/sanitizing 50 bottles. i can enjoy by brew sooner than waiting for bottle carbonating.

Keg. I enjoy the ease of cleaning and being able to have my own beers on draught whenever I want them.
Nothing like coming home from a long day and pouring a pint of smoked porter or Lake Walk Pale Ale.

Keg it. Up to 15 gal batches now... Can't see any other way .....especially when I'm drinkin it.

glad to see ya back Sudster......

Kegging is the only way to go, right now I am trying to figure out how to get 2 2.5 kegs on my bike to take down to Daytona bike week. Good part is I have 6 weeks to find a way.

I think I see a trend

Are there any websites that detail what all you need to begin kegging similar to Palmer's "how to brew" website?

I have been all-bottle, but am about to jump into kegging.

I bottle but plan on getting some kegs in the next few months. Probably will keg 75%. If it's a regular "house" brew I'll keg it every time. New beers proably bottle a case or two.

Trying to decide on three 5gal kegs or one 5gal and two 3gal kegs.

Damn, those taps can be pricey. I was thinking of a 3 tap tower, but yikes...

Any price diff. for using nitrogen instead of CO2 for kegging? Any disadvantages?

I am bottling now but am in the process of assembling a keg fridge. I have all the parts just got to get working on it now that the holidays are over.

Just got my CO2 tank delivered yesterday. Put 30psi in the empty tanks to see if they had any leaks. Woke up this morning and there was still 30 psi in them, so I'm good to go. Tonight I will be kegging my Vanilla Cream Ale.
I'll probably still bottle a 12pk of 1/2 liter swing-tops per batch.

Keg. Bottling was a pain.

Denny's Brew said:

I bottle but plan on getting some kegs in the next few months. Probably will keg 75%. If it's a regular "house" brew I'll keg it every time. New beers proably bottle a case or two.

Trying to decide on three 5gal kegs or one 5gal and two 3gal kegs.

Damn, those taps can be pricey. I was thinking of a 3 tap tower, but yikes...

Any price diff. for using nitrogen instead of CO2 for kegging? Any disadvantages?

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As 5 gal kegs seem to be cheaper than 3 gal, I can't see any advantage to using 3 gal unless you make small brews.

CO2 will carbonate. Nitrogen won't

I've been checking out all of the various homebrew kegging systems online...approximately how many 5 gallon kegs of beer can you carbonate for each 5 gallons of CO2?

Kegging for the last 4 months. Hobby started a year ago. I think I'd be burnt out on this hobby if I was still bottling since I went to AG which added more time to the process. I keg almost all I brew unless it is something that I'm not sure about or know I want in bottles. My Belgium Wit for instance I bottled 2 weeks ago. It was 3 months since I last bottled. What a Pain In The Arse!!

Mr_Turtlehead said:

I've been checking out all of the various homebrew kegging systems online...approximately how many 5 gallon kegs of beer can you carbonate for each 5 gallons of CO2?

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unless you brew over 100 g a year, 5 lb. bottle of co2 goes a good ways. and i force carbonate.

I must be a wierdo, I bottle

The one advantage to bottling I can see over kegging besides the intial start up costs of is that I dont have to go out and get another fridge to add to the 2 I already have. I pop a case worth on brew into my fridge in the basement and refill as needed just the same as I do with the soda I keep in that fridge. Bottling is kind of a pita but I'm cheep and can deal with the extra time to bottle.

I bottle. I know a fellow homebrewer that kegs, and insists that I need to keg in order to improve the quality of my beer. I think he's delusional. I believe that there are benefits to bottling and benefits to kegging. But the only kegged beer that I've ever tried that was noticeably "better" than my bottled stuff was the cask conditioned ales I drank in London.

Yeah bottling is a lot of work, but its hard to give a keg as a gift. Its insane to lug a keg to a party where there's just a few people. With bottles, I can package my beer to go, and give a sixer or twelver as a gift.

I've been thinking of getting a mini-keg system so I can cask condition and keg partial batches of beer, but I'll never totally depart from bottling.

they both have their perks. it's just what the homebrewer like's the best. that's the beauty of it!

Bottle, I'm still new.