Once you started kegging....

...did anyone ever find that they ever went back to bottling?

I started kegging a month ago. Bottling was the one thing I disliked about makng beer and the reason I have been in and out of the hobby for ten years.

Now that the keezer is getting close to being finished (with 4 taps) I'm seeing all the space taken up by the bottles and drying rack and seeing at least two or three Corny kegs in their place.

Should I unload all the bottling gear? Can anyone see a situation where I would want to use bottles rather than a keg?

Thanks for the perspective.

No don't get rid of the bottling gear... Have you ever given beer away for gifts before? I still do and i also bottle for competitions that I ultimately lose in lol.


Keep some trust me!

I have been kegging for about 5 months and I love it BUT I have bottled some of my beer to take to friends and family. I guess you can make a beer gun and be good with that.

I think you still want to keep bottling gear for bottling big beers that need at minimum six months to a year to condition properly. Also, do you really want to have a 12% barleywine on tap?

More importantly, does your SWMBO want you to have a 12% barleywine on tap?

To the first question the answer is probably "no" and for the second almost undoubtedly "hell no."

Keep the bottling gear! You never know when you might want to make a high gravity belgian or RIS that you dont necessarily want on tap...

Now that you have the kegs, you should look into the BMBF to fill bottles. You can force carb the beer and then bottle it ready to drink. Makes giving away 6ers easier and you skip the 3 week waiting period for bottle conditioned beers.

see here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

I started brewing with kegging. I kegged all of my beer for about 9 months before I found myself wanting to give some away, or take a few with me somewhere. I ended up purchasing an antique bench capper and I now have about a case and a half of bottles. I bottle right off of the faucet and other than a slight carbonation decrease have no ill results.

All in all I would say that only 2% of my beer ever sees a bottle though.

I started kegging right off the bat, because I didn't want to mess with bottling, and wait for them to condition. However, after my 1st few batches that only lasted in the keg for a matter of days, I felt like I really didn't get to enjoy the full potential of the brew. So then I started bottling half, and kegging the other half, that way I can stash the bottles away to drink later. I think this is nice so you can taste them as they condition/age over time. Now I do 10g batches, so I just split them into 2x carboys and one gets bottled, the other gets kegged. Finally got a bottle tree and vinator, so it should at least make bottling a little more convenient.

Keep the bottling stuff. I bottled and then went to kegs. I like to give some of my brews away so I use a a makeshift bottling gun. About the time my kegs are half full, I usually like to bottle 6-12 bottles to put aside for aging, competitions, gifts, etc.

Pretty sure all of this has already been said. Special or season beers, gifts, meads or ciders... there is always a reason to break out the bottles even if you primarily keg.

Some very interesting and thought provoking replies.

The issue of giving to friends is one of those things that caused me to stop brewing; in the past I found consistently I would lose bottles from folks that I gave beer to. I always felt odd asking for the empties back and it always seemed to turn awkward when they were forced to admit that they or someone else went and recycled them. You don't want to make them feel bad but hey, you're now out the cash because they liked having 22 oz. bottles rather than the 12.

Interesting things to think about.

First time let it go and tell them you need the bottles back. Second time require them to get you a case of empties before you give them any beer, heh.

I just bottled a batch of high test Stout. Stuff that I didn't want to have in the keg for ages.

Plus the bottles for comp and gifts and stuff.

When I got my kegging gear I gave away all my bottles and my capper. I wish I never did. I am always being asked for beers and now I can never give any away. I was thinking about buying another capper and just letting anyone who wants a sample give me the empties. I thought about getting the Grolsch style bottles with the swing cap, but didn't want to invest in them and not get them back. Any way, I vote keep the bottles and capper.

after getting my kegging stuff, I tossed out 4 cases of bottles. and the wife couldnt be happier. I kept the capper and 2 cases. and if I ever get low on bottles I just buy a 6er.

And now, when I do give away beer,I tell them I dont want the bottles back.

dont give it away, if anything maybe scale it down if you have a ton. As has been said by almost every poster, bottle for gifts, etc.

jkreuze said:

I think you still want to keep bottling gear for bottling big beers that need at minimum six months to a year to condition properly. Also, do you really want to have a 12% barleywine on tap?

More importantly, does your SWMBO want you to have a 12% barleywine on tap?

To the first question the answer is probably "no" and for the second almost undoubtedly "hell no."

Click to expand...

Why not? I have a 10% barleywine on tap that was aged for 1 year in a carboy and is going on its second year (in 2 weeks) in the keg. I have what the ancients would call... SELF CONTROL!

lol

Not so much self control for me as wanting variety. If I make something that I know won't be a daily drinker I would rather it be in a bottle so I can have 3 different styles of beer to choose from for my daily drinkers.

Bowtiebrewery said:

Why not? I have a 10% barleywine on tap that was aged for 1 year in a carboy and is going on its second year (in 2 weeks) in the keg. I have what the ancients would call... SELF CONTROL!

lol

Click to expand...

Awesome, man!

I think though that a barleywine is something that most people drink once in awhile, occasionally interspersed with their house beer. If that's the paradigm, then most probably wouldn't want to take up a tap spot and a keg with a "once every couple of weeks" beverage.

(also if you age a barleywine for a year you probably want to savor it over time)

(also I was trying to be funny, ha ha)

Glad you can pull that off--but if I put a 12% beer on tap it would raise some eyebrows. Not right away, but probably within a week.

It would be my own fault, of course.:cross:

I didn't even like brewing until I got my keg setup, now I can't brew enough. I do still bottle a 12 pack per 5 gallons. A buddy of mine gets a 6er of everything I make and I save the other sixer for competitions and meetings.

I bottle some of my wine, mead and cider. So, if you think you might branch out, keep the gear.

jkreuze said:

I think you still want to keep bottling gear for bottling big beers that need at minimum six months to a year to condition properly. Also, do you really want to have a 12% barleywine on tap?

More importantly, does your SWMBO want you to have a 12% barleywine on tap?

To the first question the answer is probably "no" and for the second almost undoubtedly "hell no."

Click to expand...

Hahaha...I currently have my 12.9% barleywine on tap in my keezer.

I bottle some stuff to be able to take it with me easily but that's it.

i have wine cooler on tap ( a real 1, not that malt bs ) rather than bottle it. i have 9 kegs, but i still also have around 150 bottles for gifts, taking beer to parties, etc

I haven't done it since I started kegging, but when I make a really big beer I am going age it in the secondary, keg it, then bottle half or more with a beer gun. Best of both worlds.