It just got serious

Decided to try my hand at kegging. Not one to do anything half-assed, I got two kegs and the full rig. Two-tap kegerator is on order. This weekend I'll be making ten gallons of juniper witbier. The wife already knows not to look for me on Saturday, and that we'll be ordering out.

 

And I know it looks like I took this photo with a potato. Sorry about that.

 

Welcome. You are one kegging session away from saying to yourself "I swear I will never bottle again!"

 

It gives it that nice dreamy effect that most of us have when thinking about beer anyway.

 

Nice! Happy kegging

 

This is actually what it looks like when you take a picture after about three beers.

 

I will still actually bottle some of the beer, for showing off purposes. I don't see this as a replacement for bottling; more like doubling my homebrew capacity.

 

Ha ha ha, I think I said the same thing when I had but two kegs. Now I have five, and counting...

 

Well now I'll be able to bottle directly from the keg on an as-needed basis, without having to set up elaborate bottling sessions.

 

Happy Kegging! The only reason I quit brewing a few years ago was because of the hassle of bottling. I decided earlier this year to get back into brewing and I got a 3 gallon keg kit. It wasn't long before I had bought two more 5 gallons kegs off of craigslist. They are all full right now, and I have a batch in the primary. I NEED MORE KEGS!!

 

Kegs breed.

I now have six 5 gallon and four 3 gallon kegs and have only been brewing a few months.

I have a strong desire to get more.

=)

 

Awesome!

I'd suggest brewing two five gallon batches to fill your kegs. Having a new two tap system, you're going to want the ability to pour two different types of beer, rather than two taps pouring the same thing.

 

haha I've used the term "It just got serious" far too many times in the last 6 months. Like you, I picked up a keezer but with a triple tap tower and just recently an upgraded brew rig and a conical fermenter...oops

p.s. I need more kegs too! How can I make these things breed?!

 

Nice upgrade! you will be happy you made the jump to kegging.

I'll share with you what ive recently learned. At most places that do Co2 exchanges, its only a few dollars more to exchange a 20lb tank than a 5lb tank. The place down the street from me does $25 for a 5lb and $28 for a 20lb. So in the future if you plan on getting another tank, go with a 20lb. I force carb with the 20lb tank and use my 5lb tank just to push the beer out of the keg in the kegerator.

Also check for leaks! It sucks when there's leak and you lose all your co2. submerge connections under water to test leaks and use starsan and a spray bottle to test parts you cant submerge.

 

Ive been brewing for a few years and i got into kegging abt 6 months ago. I love it. I dont have to plan 5 weeks in advance to have a beer ready. I dont have to waste an hour plus bottling. It look me over a year to save and acquire all the parts but its worth the wait.
I only bottle 1 or 2 batches a year now. A bourbon strong ale and whatever other big brew i have. Nothing beats drinking an ipa thats less than 2 weeks old. Have fun!

 

And let the kegging addiction begin, Started out with 2 then to 5 and now I am up to 12 kegs. Three tap keezer. You need to have the pipe line filled. I bottle some with my beergun, works slick. I also dryhop in the keg and then us a co2 puch to transfer to another keg. So the fun has just begun. You will enjoy it.

 

If you've got a 3 tap keezer, what do you do with the other kegs when they are full and ready to tap? This is currently my issue. More kegs than keezer space. #FirstWorldProblems

 

I think I said that when I first started kegging too.
I don't think I have bottled anything here after saying that.
I did help a friend bottle a few months ago, although after that I was busy when he was at that stage the next time

 

So much for not doing anthing half-assed.

 

Just going to leave this here lol

 

Brian, We have been going through a keg in about a month, been supplying my tailgate party. I have been given the word by my SWMBO that I am not to run out of her brew. I can have an APA or IPA ready in about three weeks . My dark brews, nut browns, porters and stouts need time to get ready, I made a mistake of tapping one to early. I have a couple brews aging in the keg, a huckleberry saison and barley wine.
My proceedure is to allow brews to keg condition for about two weeks or more. I will then chill in a seperate frig and then attach to co2. I seal my kegs at 30 psi and test for leaks. My aging kegs, I will hit them about once per week with a blast of co2. Hope this helps. I can't believe that I have brewed 30 plus 5 gallon batches this year.

 

your gonna luv kegging. Its a huge time saver, easier cleaning and for some reason it is just awesome pouring your own beer out of a tap.
With that being said for about a year I kegged almost all of my beers and bottled maybe 2 or 3 batches. But recently I have gotten back into bottling. I probably keg/bottle 50/50.

 

I'll brew 10 gal then keg 5 and bottle 5. I'm contemplating going away from this though, because I'm frustrated that the bottles taste so different after a few weeks of conditioning.

 

Different compared to kegs how? Better?

 

This is actually the last phrase uttered by every homebrewer before he never bottles again.

 

Fair enough. But I have all of those bottles laying around, painstakingly collected. What am I to do with them if not fill them with beer??

 

Recycle? Donate to a new homebrewer? Save some to bottle from the kegs?

 

I'll just save the Hoegarden bottles (I love those) and recycle the rest.

 

In time, young padawan, you will see.

 

Sometimes better, sometimes worse. I have a citrus IPA that I kegged and bottled, and off the tap it was great and had a very obvious grapefruit kick from the cascade and summit hops, but the bottles were much more bitter and the citrus was not near as obvious. After a few weeks it seems like the keg has lost some of the citrus and now the bottles have grown a bit to where I like them more. idk I just want to be more consistent and don't want to focus on bottling and kegging. I'd rather bottle off the keg. Kegs are going to produce clearer beer as well because all the sediment gets discharged right away. I hate having to tell people to pour the bottle into a glass but to leave a little in the bottom...

 

No but seriously, save at least some bottles for overflow (some batches will have slightly more than your kegs can hold.) For those, I recommend carb tabs 'cause you'll only have <6 and it's easier to use the tabs.

I added a beer gun to my setup for when I want bottles. Nothing is bottled with the traditional method anymore.

 

I saw a beer gun when I went to buy the kegs. Until yesterday, I had no idea such a thing existed. It's on my list.

 

I made one for like $10, read the "we don't need no stinking beer gun" thread works awesome!

 

Honestly, if I owned a LHBS I'd make a bunch of these and sell them at like $20. Can't beat that price for something pre-made!

 

The "We dont need no beer gun" method does work, but the beer gun is way easier and i like that i can manually purge the bottle and head space with co2.

Beer gun - Purge bottle of o2, fill, purge head space, cap.

Other method - Fill, cap on foam.

 

I have bottled from the keg both ways.

I submitted the "No stinkin' beer gun" bottles to competition and got complaints about low carbonation.

I submitted counter-pressure filled bottles to competition and received no carbonation comments. Though it's more of a process, I prefer my bottle filler.


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Congrats man! I would like to get into kegging sometime soon but the whole process is a bit intimidating to me not knowing anything about it. On the other hand I really don't get the hatred towards bottling. It is by far my favorite part of the hobby (aside from the final product of course). Bottling just seems like the victory lap for me and it is never stressful or difficult. Just missing the allure of kegging over bottling I guess.

 

I back my processes on top of each other. Bottle Friday evening and brew saturday morning. I think of bottling as brew foreplay

 

Haha that, annnd," I swear I'm going to bottle some of the next batch" never happens.

 

I was planning on doing the same thing this Friday/Saturday, until I realized that I'm cold crashing my first batch outside and it'd be best to bottle early Saturday morning when it's at its coldest, not to mention I can leave the bottles sitting in PBW overnight (some bottles are still labeled). So Saturday will be chock-full of beer goodness, a good 2-3 hours of bottling in the morning, followed by brewing in the late morning/all afternoon.

My wife is going to love me. :cross: