OK, kegging *IS* better than bottling!

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

FlyGuy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2007
Messages
3,604
Reaction score
232
Location
Calgary, Alberta
After vehemently defending bottling as a generally better practice than kegging, I finally caved. I have brewed 3 batches of beer in the last 5 or 6 weeks, and none have made it farther than a secondary. I have just been dreading bottling day too much (let alone bottling three batches).

So, I broke down and bought a kegging system. I fully reconditioned two of the kegs today (took about 1 hour total, not counting soaking time), and filled them tonight. Holy $#!t that was easy! Feeling kinda pumped about my accomplishments, I decided to just bottle that last batch and get it over with. Despite being very well prepared with clean bottles (but not sanitized) and everything else basically sanitized and ready to go, I just spent the last 3.5 hours on that $#@^*#$@* chore! Yeesh.

Normally, I can bottle much quicker than that. But I realized that even with the time I took stripping apart each keg, scrubbing it by hand, replacing all the seals, etc., etc., I still racked two kegs full in almost half the time it took to bottle one batch of beer. Geez I have been a f^@&!#g idiot.

To anyone out there contemplating a kegging system -- buy one! You won't regret it. But don't throw out all your bottles, either. I am sure I will still do some bottling (they really are nice for travel or barleywines or other such unordinary things). But I don't think I will have wrinkle-hands for a while again, either!

Sorry -- long night of work -- had to rant!

:mug:
 
FlyGuy said:
After vehemently defending bottling as a generally better practice than kegging, I finally caved.
:mug:

Welcome to the club, the Kegging Club! OK, how long before you buy your next corny?

I give you two weeks max. :D
 
I can certainly see the advantages of kegging. However, it is another investment for someone who has already established a plethora of bottles. :D

Also, just like AG brewing, kegging seems a bit intimidating with all the mechanical parts. If I got the kegging system, I'd certainly have to look at some instructions, or just do a couple of searches on HBT, I'm guessing.

I just bottled a 5 gal. batch last night after my son went to bed. Although it is time consuming, it is rather therapeutic. It's kinda feels more like a brewery when you fill your own bottles. Besides, SWMBO got me some label-making paper for X-mas, so I need to keep bottling--for a while anyway :cross:

I'm probably just making excuses and trying to justify...I will keg some day!

Edit: I'm not trying to rehash the "kegging vs. bottling" debate. I do agree with you that kegging is much easier--without even having kegged myself.
 
for real... excuses excuses. :) Until you see how stupid easy kegs are, I can understand how you would defend bottles. I did for a while, then got tired of cleaning them, having 8 cases of bottles laying all over the place, etc, etc. Just a PITFA.
 
After 13+ years of bottling I finally got everything together and kegged my last 4 batches.

Of course, I'm not giving up on bottling altogether since I like my HWs from the botle...now on to bottle 20 cases of 0,5 liters...:D
 
Welcome to kegging. You can still bottle some great beer out of kegs for transport. No beer gun necessary click here. I usually fill a 12-pack about half way throught the keg, just so I can still be sampling my "wares" down the road.

EdWort is right. Tis only a matter of time before three more cornies get delivered to your home.
 
So do you guys just keep them in your fridge? Or do you all convert into a kegerator right away? I was contemplating kegging but don't have a spare fridge to convert right now, unfortunately.



Dan
 
BierMuncher said:
EdWort is right. Tis only a matter of time before three more cornies get delivered to your home.

*Laughs* Actually, I am hoping they should be crossing the border into Canada any day now! I got some cornie's locally first, and immediately bought three more mail order from the US! :D

Now just be prepared for a bunch of n00b kegging questions! Ha! :p
 
I've NEVER bottled a batch. I realized at the very beginning that I'm too lazy to bottle. The next step is recognizing that leaving the batch in the primary until it clears means direct to keg and one less thing to clean.

[Although I don't think I'll ever match that guy last year, who was drinking out of the fermenter with a piece of tubing.]
 
Orfy Wrote:

I don't think any one would disagree with you.

Orfy, Orfy, how could you possibly think that no one would disagree. Several million homebrewers on this planet and you could possibly think that!:drunk:

Actually, I have a kegging system for some months now and only use it occasionally, parties, picnics and other functions where I will be serving a bunch of people. I kegged once in my spare fridge to see if it was going to be a regular thing and naaaahhhh. I prefer to go to the fridge and select a bottle from 6-8 styles that are chilled.

As to bottling. I have a system that takes me a little over an hour to bottle a batch. I have made 23 batches so far and I still look forward to bottle day. I even label each bottle with milk labels and printing, cutting and labeling takes longer than bottleing. I enjoy it all.

I have always thought I would be a dedicated kegger one day just because "everyone said so" but this has not turned out to be the case. If I had a "social house" with a lot of beer drinkers over every week, this would be a different story.
 
Devil's Advocate:

Improperly sanitized bottles leads to a few ruined pints. Improperly sanitized keg leads to an entire ruined batch.

For everyone wondering what to do with leftover bottles: Make Mead.
 
Prowler 13 said:
As to bottling. I have a system that takes me a little over an hour to bottle a batch. I have made 23 batches so far and I still look forward to bottle day. I even label each bottle with milk labels and printing, cutting and labeling takes longer than bottleing. I enjoy it all.

Oh man, I would have LOVED to be able to get bottling down to one hour. How do you do it? It sometimes takes me an hour to just get things set up and get the bottles sanitized.

I agree that having a big selection of different bottles of beer is handy. For specialty beers, I will probably still bottle. But I REALLY want to spend my time better (like brewing AG batches in an evening instead of devoting it to bottling).
 
A friend just gave me a single corny keg that he had left over from when he used to brew. Now it's sitting in my garage, taunting me. I may have no choice but to pursue this matter further. ;)
 
It sometimes takes me an hour to just get things set up and get the bottles sanitized.

Special Equipment needed:
  • Vinator Bottle Drainer Tree.
  • Vinator Bottle Rinser.
  • Bottle Bucket Stand Next to Sink. I use an ice chest.
I always have some things done in advance.

One thing I do is to mix my corn sugar in water and boil on stove with lid on hours before I bottle. This allows the mixture to cool down to room temp.

Another is I always have bottles on my bottle tree with my Vinator bottle rinser on top. This is because as I drink beer, I always rinse the bottles out and hang them on the tree ready to be sanitized. So on bottle day, I just move the tree to the table next to the sink, fill the Vinator Bottle Rinser with sanitizer and I am ready to sanitize.

Sanitizing the bottles is something I usually do an hour to up to overnight before I bottle. I give each bottle on the tree a squirt, and re-hang it on the tree. I never sanitize the tree itself; the runoff out of the bottle sanitizes the spot it hangs on.

I pour my corn sugar in the bucket, rack the beer on top and place the bottle bucket on the cooler I use for a stand. I sanitize my tubing and bottle filler by using a spray bottle full of star san mixture and attach. (I also put a plastic cutting board in the sink to have a level spot for the bottles.)

BottleFillerinSink.jpg


BottleFillinSideView.jpg


I put on a pair of latex gloves, put a zipper bag of caps on the counter, and as I fill each bottle, I place a cap on and line the bottles up on the counter.

After all are filled, I rinse out my bottle bucket, tube and bottle filler and put them away, put away the bottle tree and any minor cleanup.

For cap bottles, I then take my wing capper – yes, I think a wing capper is easier, faster and more efficient than a bench capper – and cap each bottle and put it in a recycled six pack container. For swing tops, I just flip the top tight and box.
IrishRedSoldiers2.jpg


Note: I never boil my caps or in any other way sanitize them. When I buy them, I put them in a zipper freezer bag and keep them clean. On flip tops, when I sanitize the bottles, I dip the top in sanitizer after the squirt and hang it on the tree. After 23 batches, I have not had an infection yet. (I do keep a clean house)
 
Prowler -- very nice setup! I see we do many things similarly -- but you must be faster at it than I am!

One of the best things I did was make a bottling bucket. I use mine a bit differently than you - I inserted a bottle filler into a thumb tap that I installed at the bottom of my bucket. I hang the tap and filler over the edge of the counter, and bring the bottle to the bucket to fill. I found it easier and quicker than a hose, and you never have to worry about setting down the hose in clean spot.

I also use a bottle tree with a vinator on top filled with star-san. On bottling day, I give my Grolsch bottles a quick blast with the bottle washer, which is all I do to clean them -- I think this is OK given that I always wash out each bottle as soon as I pour a beer, then fill with chlorinated tap water and re-seal the cap. (Gotta love swing-tops!) Then I use the vinator to jet the inside of the bottle with star-san, and put it on the tree. That goes relatively fast.

Anyways, perhaps I just need more practice at it (you would think I would get it down after a couple of years of bottling). Or maybe I will just be lazy and keg!

Thanks for the info and the pics. I particularly liked your list of things to do in advance. That I hand't thought of, and it would really break-up the work so that bottling isn't such a long affair.

Cheers!
 
Kegs are good for more than beer, as well. I keep 5 gallons of StarSan solution in a keg so I don't have to mix up any when I need it.
 
Buford said:
Kegs are good for more than beer, as well. I keep 5 gallons of StarSan solution in a keg so I don't have to mix up any when I need it.

not a bad idea...

I've heard of people putting mixers in kegs as well...LOL... rum and coke on tap :drunk:
 
StarSan is 50% phosphoric acid in the bottle. Diluted it's about the same pH I believe as the soda that used to inhabit the kegs, which also contained phosphoric acid. I don't think it's an issue. Sodas are very acidic - try dipping some pH strips in a Coke or Pepsi.
 
I'd love to switch kegging, but I also like having the variety in the fridge.

I've used PET's since I started. 75% I'm bottling into quarts. So on a 5 gallon batch the most I'll bottle is about 20, with screw-on tops.

PET also requires little to no scrubbing if dirty. Its non hydro-phobic, it doesn't spot easily like glass, so it cleans with little effort.

The real reason for not going to kegs is that I have a drinking problem....

... I don't drink often enough where its ok to have just two or three types on hand.

:mug:
 
Kegging doesn't stop you from bottling if that's your bag. I still have my flip top bottles.

But I'll tell ya-- I have a much easier time storing my beers for their conditioning cycle in kegs than I do bottles.
 
I like both methods myself. Each having its own advantages and disadvantages.

Kegs are quick and easy, best suited for where you have several people drinking with you and beer you know isn't going to be around very long.:drunk: keeping them chilled all the time in order to pour yourself a cold one almost requires a separate fridge, a luxury if your renting or are living in a small house. for parties a garbage can full of ice will chill a keg long enough to get-r-do

Bottles are nice because there is less equipment to buy into, any number will fit in your fridge ( with consideration for the rest of the families food supply :p ) If you have multiple beer styles sitting around you can mix you drinking choices up a bit, unlike kegging I haven't seen too many towers that have more than three choices of drink.

Cleaning and storing bottles is a pain and one could argue that if you have so many bottles that by ditching bottling entirely and going to a mini fridge and a keg system you could save space, but I digress its all a matter of personal preference in the end and I'll drink it no matter if its bottled or kegged :D
 
IDK how many bottles you have, but I've got like 8 cases worth laying around. Thats only ~4 kegs worth of beer. Bottles DOMINATE my kitchen. Ive since packed 6 cases of them into my closet. Eight cases is A LOT of boxes laying around :)
 
:off: SirSloop, I see you're a fan of Beglian Wit. I just kegged my first Wit and it is AWESOME.

PS - I love the Wit so much, I'll prolly go ahead and bottle a 12 pack or more from my keg. Right now, I'm sipping a small 8 Oz sampler glass of my Wit...fresh from the tap.

I'm a keg man, but my fridge is full of about 5 different varieties, all bottled from the keg.

Belgian_Wit_1.JPG
 
sirsloop said:
I've heard of people putting mixers in kegs as well...LOL... rum and coke on tap :drunk:

Done it, worked well, although I confess that it didn't quite taste the same as a rum and coke measured and poured over ice but I suspect that is because the carbonation in the can of coke was slightly different than the carbonation on my tap.

I have plans to do other mixed beverages on tap but more along the line of a carbonated rum punch than trying to serve up 'standard' rail drinks on tap.

BTW-- this is a great way to dodge local laws about glass containers in public parks. At least here a keg for a get together at a park is fine but a glass bottle of rum for mixing up drinks is against the law. However a keg of booze...... : )
 
hrmm... fizzy jungle juice on tap...

If only we figured that one out at the frat house back in college. Great things would have happened!!
 
sirsloop said:
IDK how many bottles you have, but I've got like 8 cases worth laying around. Thats only ~4 kegs worth of beer. Bottles DOMINATE my kitchen. Ive since packed 6 cases of them into my closet. Eight cases is A LOT of boxes laying around :)
Last month I sold the majority of my Grolsch bottles (95+) to Ill.literate and gave him over 8 cases of 12 oz'ers. I think he's bottled out now. I still have over 20+ cases of 0,5 liter bottles and a couple of 12 oz'ers left that are still full.
 
Back
Top