First batch: to bottle or splurge on a keg?

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GnarlyChick

GnarlyChick

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My first batch has only been fermenting for 2 days now but I am already thinking if I should bottle or just skip to buying a keg. If this goes well, I plan on taking all of my brew to a Halloween party(fingers crossed) and I really don't trust the party goers to keep the bottles in one piece. Is this a legit reason to skip to kegging? Should i wait at least until my second batch? I've been going back and forth on the idea. AH i need some input!
 
Kegging is definitely worth it. I bottled two batches before I went to kegging and haven't looked back. I spent a bunch on it, but it was worth it.

I just kegged a batch of Brown ale yesterday. Bottling it would be a multi-hour endeavor in the evening after dinner. I kegged it in 30 minutes on my lunch break :)

If you can afford the start-up costs of kegging, it is ridiculously convenient. If you think you are going to stick with the hobby and you have the funds, go for it. Plus, you can bottle off your kegs if you want a 6-pack or whatever here and there.
 
I started out bottling and still do occasionally, but I keg now. However I got good advice when I started that I think is worth sharing.

When you first start out, you may not have your sanitation process quite dialed in yet and you could possibly spoil a full batch when kegging, but maybe only a few bottles if you bottle the batch.

Just food for thought...
 
I would definitely bottle, given that it's your first batch. In fact, I would do at least a few more batches before moving to kegging.

Bottles can be a hassle but you want to get a number of things dialed and right before you start dealing with carbonation levels and the other nuances associated with kegging.
 
GnarlyChick said:
I plan on taking all of my brew to a Halloween party(fingers crossed) and I really don't trust the party goers to keep the bottles in one piece. Is this a legit reason to skip to kegging?
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It's as good a reason as any. :D Kegging is so quick and simple. If you have the funds go for it!
 
Personal preference. Yeah Kegging can be done in 20 minutes instead of 60 with bottling. With bottles you can give them to friends/family and easily transport them. I do both, and will continue to do so. I keg every other batch if our tap keeps up.

The real work in bottling is accumularing enough bottles for how ever many batches you are going to do in a season. And then removing those stupid labels. After that's done, its very easy to rinse them well after use, store dry, and sanitize in the dishwasher w/o soap and heat cycle prior to bottling. .
 
Dan said:
It's as good a reason as any. :D Kegging is so quick and simple. If you have the funds go for it!
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Exactly! You can then bottle from the keg. The benefits are worth it. I bottled a couple batches and then said screw it I'm kegging! I still accumulate bottles and have about 10 cases worth. I will bottle smaller brews, specialty beers, gift beers, soda. My keezer right now only holds three kegs. One of them is soda. That soda needs to get the hell outta there and make room for some more golden goodness. My beer needs to be on its own. My beer is demanding segregation! :mug:

You could just bottle in those plastic screw tops. Although something just doesn't seem right about beer being drank out of a plastic bottle. It's almost sacrilegious.
 
ozzy1038 said:
Exactly! You can then bottle from the keg. The benefits are worth it. I bottled a couple batches and then said screw it I'm kegging! I still accumulate bottles and have about 10 cases worth. I will bottle smaller brews, specialty beers, gift beers, soda. My keezer right now only holds three kegs. One of them is soda. That soda needs to get the hell outta there and make room for some more golden goodness. My beer needs to be on its own. My beer is demanding segregation! :mug:

You could just bottle in those plastic screw tops. Although something just doesn't seem right about beer being drank out of a plastic bottle. It's almost sacrilegious.
Click to expand...

You make your beer share a keezer with SODA! Shame shame. Haha. I never really thought about bottling from a keg, that makes so much sense. I don't mind getting the bottles especially since I already have a capper and caps. I'll just have to make sure I put a good threat out there to make sure I get them back!
 
If you have the money to buy a keg and the co2 tank go with kegging. You can keg a beer and carbonate it in a day or two if you want. I bottled about 15 batches before I went to kegs. I even transport my kegs to peoples houses. It's not that big of a deal. Plus it's fun to watch 15 of your friends down a 5g keg in a few hours.
 

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