I need advice on my next step - continue to bottle, in growlers, or simply just keg

[FarFromBilly]

I am going crazy trying to figure out my next step, but first a little background. I live in a small apartment with limited floor space, with a budget that seems to match, now that I remarried and have a new daughter. I started out with a 1 gallon starter set. After a few batches decided it was almost too much work for about 8 beers. So I went to the local bakery and got omw 3 gallon buckets witl lids that I drilled the lid for an airlock. I have since got the equipent for a 5 gallon setup. My question for all of you brewers is, where do I go from here? I kinda like having my brew in bottles to share, but am running out of room for bottles. I began a while ago using my 1 gallon fermenters as gallon growlers, along with the mrs empty arbor mist bottles. Is that tap a draft that uses 6L bottles a worthwhile next step, or do I save my money and just move to filling all growlers? I wish I had the room and funds for a keggerater (sorry for any misspellings), and the idea of filling 3 bottles compared to 48-52 bottles is tempting.

 

[zachattack]

Growlers are not meant to hold the pressure required for bottle conditioning, there are plenty of people on here that have had them burst. I'm not sure about the Arbor Mist bottles, is Arbor Mist carbonated? If not, I would skip those as well. If you really want to do this in big bottles on the cheap (and I'm not sure why, you'll have yeasty pours and you'll have to drink the whole thing relatively quickly) I'd recommend 2 liter soda bottles. If you get plain seltzer bottles you won't have to worry about any flavoring sticking around.

 

[FarFromBilly]

Yes, arbor mist is carbonated. So to answer my own question, it looks like I'm stuck with bottles till I can get a kegerater.

 

[n240sxguy]

You can buy a case of 24 oz bottles for about $13 usually. That cuts your bottles in half. Or you could buy a bunch of Grolsch, and use the swing top bottles.