Hi all,
Total newbie here but I would love to get more into brewing as a hobby. I have only ever brewed using a Pinter (www.pinter.co.uk). It's pretty simple to be honest. I would like to have more control over the process and brew larger batches (that will hopefully work out cheaper!)
From what I've read up on so far, I'm leaning towards fermenting a 23L batch (any type of Lager) in a basic fermenter (non pressurised). I understand that after fermentation, I need to store it and serve it somehow. Refrigerator space is at a premium and I would rather not have to buy a dedicated one. My options for storing it seem to be either bottles or a corny keg ( feel free to correct me).
- The bottle approach seems straightforward enough and not too costly. Simply add the sugar to each bottle so it carbonates and wait. This solves storing all 23L and I can chill a few bottles as needed. The idea of sanitising all those bottles isn't very appealing though!
- My other option seems to be to store the beer in a corny keg, and then transfer it to a mini keg when I want to serve it. I could chill this mini keg then in my refrigerator and simply repeat the process by taking more beer from my corny keg as needed. With this approach do I have to buy CO2 or can I add sugar to carbonate like you would for bottling? I would rather avoid it if possible. I'm guessing this is a much more expensive option.
First of all, is my understanding correct here? What would folks recommend and are there other better options available? Thanks in advance!
Total newbie here but I would love to get more into brewing as a hobby. I have only ever brewed using a Pinter (www.pinter.co.uk). It's pretty simple to be honest. I would like to have more control over the process and brew larger batches (that will hopefully work out cheaper!)
From what I've read up on so far, I'm leaning towards fermenting a 23L batch (any type of Lager) in a basic fermenter (non pressurised). I understand that after fermentation, I need to store it and serve it somehow. Refrigerator space is at a premium and I would rather not have to buy a dedicated one. My options for storing it seem to be either bottles or a corny keg ( feel free to correct me).
- The bottle approach seems straightforward enough and not too costly. Simply add the sugar to each bottle so it carbonates and wait. This solves storing all 23L and I can chill a few bottles as needed. The idea of sanitising all those bottles isn't very appealing though!
- My other option seems to be to store the beer in a corny keg, and then transfer it to a mini keg when I want to serve it. I could chill this mini keg then in my refrigerator and simply repeat the process by taking more beer from my corny keg as needed. With this approach do I have to buy CO2 or can I add sugar to carbonate like you would for bottling? I would rather avoid it if possible. I'm guessing this is a much more expensive option.
First of all, is my understanding correct here? What would folks recommend and are there other better options available? Thanks in advance!