Spend my $$$ on going AG or kegging?

I'm about ready to take another step in my brewing and I am wondering if others have some input. With about $200-$250 I can either upgrade to a MoreBeer AG setup (5 gal coolers), or I can start kegging. Ultimately I will do both, but I am wondering which one I should do first?

AG. But... you could build those same coolers yourself for half the price.

I would keg...never looked back since starting. I do pm's on the stove now, would love to go all grain eventually but not until I move out of my apartment.

If you DIY your AG gear it can be dirt cheap. Mine consists of the stuff I used for extract brewing, plus a copper manifold that I drop into an ice chest cooler with high temp tubing that syphons out over the side (so I can still use the cooler for camping; I know I lose some brewhouse efficiency, but that's a trade-off I chose). My vote is to spend the money on kegging equipment, because with the right score (leftover plumbing parts, etc), your AG setup can be almost free.

I would not recommend going with a 5 gallon cooler as it limits about 1/5 of the beers I would want to make. It does not allow you to make particularly high gravity beers. For some this is not a big deal but if I were spending the money I would want the option someday to make a high gravity beer. Also, the posting above is right in that you can make it yourself for much less simply with instructions and vendors on HBT.com

My vote is to spend it on going AG if thats what you want and the realization that your brew day will be longer. This is a good thing for most. If you want convenience than go for kegging.

Scut_Monkey said:

I would not recommend going with a 5 gallon cooler as it limits about 1/5 of the beers I would want to make. It does not allow you to make particularly high gravity beers. For some this is not a big deal but if I were spending the money I would want the option someday to make a high gravity beer. Also, the posting above is right in that you can make it yourself for much less simply with instructions and vendors on HBT.com

My vote is to spend it on going AG if thats what you want and the realization that your brew day will be longer. This is a good thing for most. If you want convenience than go for kegging.

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Hmmm, Belgians are my favorites, so high gravity is a must. I'll do some searches for making the conversions with 10 gallon coolers. I'm also learning that I need to upgrade my 8 gallon brew kettle. Some of the high gravity beers I've been making have been pushing the capacity of my brew kettle.

Thanks for the tips!

Go into More-beer, take a real good look at their setup and copy it. You will probably save enough money to get started doing both.

i would go kegging, i use BIAB ag for the past few brews and am averaging 80% efficiency, the only extra equipment i had to buy was a bigger grain bag, a bigger pot and a corona mill. spend the big bucks on something else. thats my 2 cents

It depends on if you want to make all the great beer you want or keg all the mediocre beer you can make.

Fishin-Jay said:

Hmmm, Belgians are my favorites, so high gravity is a must. I'll do some searches for making the conversions with 10 gallon coolers. I'm also learning that I need to upgrade my 8 gallon brew kettle. Some of the high gravity beers I've been making have been pushing the capacity of my brew kettle.

Thanks for the tips!

Click to expand...

With a 10 gallon cooler you can either put in a false bottom (easy), a manifold (intermediate) or a SS braid (easy). All three work fine for most. To attach it to a drain simply put in a weldless kit from bargainfittings.com or another vendor. You will be up in no time. :rockin:

+1 on doing both but kegging wll encourage more brewing thusv saving you more monet since you dont have to buy it at the store as much

+1 kegging. Bottling is the worst part of brewing, skip it, and you will brew more beer.

Kegging and get a cheap cooler to make your own mash tun. I'm half way there.

I wanted more freedom with recipes so I went all grain first. Plus my wife helps me bottle and drink it. I also went to a 10 gallon system at the same time I went to all grain. Never looked back. When you do decide to keg you need to consider how to cool the kegs as well.

IMO:
1. Full boil
2. All grain
3. Kegging

You could switch 2 and 3 though. If you already do full boils, you can go all grain for <$100 easy.

I think if you LOVE the beer you're making now, go into kegging first! Bottling is a pain, and having great beer on tap is awesome. I bottled well over 100 batches before I got my kegging gear, and I look back and can't believe I did that. And the only reason I got my kegging gear then was because I won the HBT football pool here, and got to buy the kegging gear with the winnings!

Anyway, if your beer is good but you're not 100% satisfied, then go with AG first. The best way to tweak your beer is to have more control over the final product.

As the others said, you can make your MLT very easily for under $100. I did buy the MLT from morebeer about 4 years ago, and it's nice. But once I got it, I was kicking myself for not making it myself! It really is very easy. I like the false bottom, and I'm glad I have it but others are happy with braids or manifolds.

kegging first.
sooooo much easier.

getting back into brewing after a few years it was the best move i made. It's easy enough to do partial mashes. Not efficient but anyone who tells you one can't make great beer with extract is full of it.

over the last year and a half i've been working on the design and gathering of components for my upgraded AG brewery. I figure if i'm going to make the leap i'll do it right the first time. Kegs on a horizontal stand, pumps for transfer, plate chiller, fly or batch sparge capable, good burners, hard pipe gas lines, clover fittings. Only 1-3 months away now!

1. Temp control for fermentation
2. Yeast starter equipment
3. Kegging
4. Full boil
5. All Grain

You can make great extract beer if you are getting extract from a reputable source.

In that order. But that is just my opinion.

I would go AG first. Bottling is a chore, but if you don't have a way to keep that much beer cool, it's kind of moot. Keeping it cool will set you back a little bit more. Plus having the portability of bottles sometimes makes up for the hassle of filling and capping them all.

Once you go AG and start making 10g batches then invest in the kegging paraphernalia. Bottling 10g batches is really no fun, unless you have a bottling line. Or a bunch of little helpers that won't break anything.

This is what I did, and it works GREAT. I typically get around 85-90% efficiency.



Alternatively, you could use a SS braid. There are tons of articles/videos on how to make those.

Now unless you have a large enough kettle (10 gallons minimum IMO) and a turkey fryer, a cooler and manifold are not going to be your only AG expenses.

You can buy an Aluminum kettle and a propane burner combo online, or you can look for them separately.

I'm not sure how large of a kegging system you want for $250, but it won't be a very large one. You will need either a mini fridge, regular fridge, or a chest freezer and unless you already have one, you will need to buy one or hope you can find one for free on CL. Also, depending on which route you choose, you will need either shanks, tower, or if you're doing the cheapest route, cobra taps.

**AG will probably cost you $250 if you don't have a propane burner, kettle, or MLT.
**Kegging will probably cost you $200 for a two keg system if you've already got a fridge and don't want shanks of tower.

Best place to buy kegging equipment IMO
http://stores.kegconnection.com/StoreFront.bok

If you have any more questions, I'm happy to help.

J

.....Or just run with DeathBrewers Stove Top AG method for awhile and go ahead and get your kegging supplies now.

Then build your funds back up and do the 100% AG (not saying DBs method is bad, but you know..)

Kegging is the best!!!

Count me in with the AG side. I had the same option about 6 months ago and opted to go all grain. I'm now getting ready to purchase a grain mill as well. I know bottling can be kind of a pain, but it really doesn't bother me all that much. I think Yooper said it best so far. If you really like the beer you're already making and are willing to stick with that for now and just make your life a lot easier, get your kegging setup. If you want more freedom and more options for your brews and you don't mind the hassle of bottling too much, get your all grain rig.

With a little bit of patience (check craigslist every day) and DIY skills you could do both in budget.

Good advice on both sides! I already do full boil and I have pretty good control over fermentation temps.

I've decided to go AG based on the idea that in addition to kegging equipment, I probably need to invest in a small refrigerator for the keg so that SWMBO doesn't kick me out for taking up half the kitchen fridge with a keg and CO2 bottle!

I'd say go with AG. You ought to buy a grain crusher and buy your base malts in bulk. You think a kegging system will make you want to brew more? How about saving 50% in ingredients!! Use the savings to save up for a kegging system. Chances are, if you look hard enough, you will find something very useful for not much.

And I think you should build your own MLT and stuff. It is neither difficult, nor expensive. I personally built my own crusher, but it's totally worth it to buy one when you buy bulk grains, even if you have to hand crank it.