Anyone go from kegging back to bottles

[Frogmanx82]

My son in law's dad is putting all his kegging equipment up for sale after doing it for a couple years. He's just tired of having to mess with the carbonation levels, sanitizing the lines, storing the kegs. I was a bit surprised. I'm still bottling after brewing about a year. I'm curious if this is a common occurrence as I haven't seen anyone post about it.

 

[cheezydemon3]

That is effing bizarre......where is he? make an offer for me?

If you want a deal on equipment, buy his. If you want to help, introduce him to no rinse sanitizer.

I finish one batch. rinse yeast out of the bottom. Dump in 1 gallon of no rinse. shake it up. pressurize it and blow the sanitizer out of the tap (in other words SANITIZING THE LINES) dump the new uncarbed beer into the now empty sanitized keg.

Once a year I may take everything apart and really clean it, but I might not.

He is missing some key info.

Bottling a few from the keg is as close as I will EVER get to bottling again.

 

[aludwig]

I have been kegging for 6 years. I still bottle some styles like dunkelweizen and you can't beat the portability of bottles. Still I can't imagine wanting to clean and sanitize 52 bottles rather than one keg. I guess to each his own.

 

[whoaru99]

Cleaning is easy if you keep up on it, IOW rinse out the bottles before they dry out or grow gunk in them. No doubt sanitizing one keg is less time than sanitizing 50-some bottles but it's not that big of a deal to sanitize them, at least to me anyway. Maybe if I made a batch every couple weeks I'd think differently.

 

[Bulls Beers]

Never!! Carbonation levels, Storing kegs?? Huh, I don't see what's to hard..Bottling is what's a pain..I only bottle Apfelwein, but that's about it..

 

[cheezydemon3]

Cleaning is easy if you keep up on it, IOW rinse out the bottles before they dry out or grow gunk in them. No doubt sanitizing one keg is less time than sanitizing 50-some bottles but it's not that big of a deal to sanitize them, at least to me anyway. Maybe if I made a batch every couple weeks I'd think differently.

I definitely don't want to get into a keg vs bottle discussion, but sanitizing is the least of it.

Syphon 5 gallons into bottling buicket, fill and cap 52 bottles.

vs

Syphon 5 gallons into keg, attach gas.

 

[Barnesie]

After kegging, I find bottling somewhat charming. Also, I can actually share our beer without having someone over which is pretty nice for casual friends and acquaintances.

I suppose if I had a beer gun, it might be less charming, but everything I've seen of bottling from a keg seems to be more hassle then bottling from the start.

 

[Bulls Beers]

I definitely don't want to get into a keg vs bottle discussion, but sanitizing is the least of it.

Syphon 5 gallons into bottling buicket, fill and cap 52 bottles.

vs

Syphon 5 gallons into keg, attach gas.

Talk on Cheezy....

 

[rhinoceroceros]

I have yet to keg but I hope to start soon, the only drawback to it seems to be the portability aspect, which I can certainly understand, but I figured I'd get a few growlers and be able to take a gallon or so with me to parties and what not. It would definitely be nice to be able to leave a few bottles for someone to try but I figure not having to wash and sanitize 50 bottles is worth it

 

[bknifefight]

Maybe when he was kegging, his beer was going to fast? I started kegging and now all of my beer is cold all the time. I tell my friends to help themselves and they do. When I bottled, I would only have so many bottles cold at a time so that was all the beer being drank that night. Now ALL my beer is cold ALL the time!

 

[Spintab]

After kegging, I find bottling somewhat charming. Also, I can actually share our beer without having someone over which is pretty nice for casual friends and acquaintances.

I suppose if I had a beer gun, it might be less charming, but everything I've seen of bottling from a keg seems to be more hassle then bottling from the start.

Party faucet and about 12" of a racking cane = beer gun. Shove the racking cane tube in the faucet. Purge your keg and reset the pressure to about 4-5psi. Fill bottles or growlers. Done.

 

[Monster Mash]

Maybe when he was kegging, his beer was going to fast? I started kegging and now all of my beer is cold all the time. I tell my friends to help themselves and they do. When I bottled, I would only have so many bottles cold at a time so that was all the beer being drank that night. Now ALL my beer is cold ALL the time!

This is the only reason I could see bottling beer, kegged beer tends to disappear quickly because there is no way to see how much is inside, before you know it it's gone....

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I keg & bottle. I usually keg only session brews (but not always) and bottle high OG brews (but not always). I've bottled from the keg. not too much of a PITA.

 

[cheezydemon3]

After kegging, I find bottling somewhat charming. Also, I can actually share our beer without having someone over which is pretty nice for casual friends and acquaintances.

I suppose if I had a beer gun, it might be less charming, but everything I've seen of bottling from a keg seems to be more hassle then bottling from the start.

Easiest bottling EVER..

Prime with sugar using KEG as bottling bucket.

Fill bottles from the picnic tap.

SOOO easy. even if I went back to 100% bottled, I would keep one keg and C02 for bottling.

 

[stratslinger]

Party faucet and about 12" of a racking cane = beer gun. Shove the racking cane tube in the faucet. Purge your keg and reset the pressure to about 4-5psi. Fill bottles or growlers. Done.

I do this, except minus the change in pressure... I leave my pressure set as-is, and I bottle (or fill growlers) quite often. Whenever I want to bring a bomber to the brew club meeting, just hook up this setup and I'm set. Whenever I want to give a couple beers to a friend, I'm set. When I get to the last couple gallons of a keg that I just want to turn around so I can move on, I use this set-up, bottle up a sixer or twelver or whatever, and I'm done.

As to the OP's uncle, unless he's getting WAY into setting his pressures specific to each beer, or he's quick carbing every keg before setting them back to serving pressure, or he's just doing something else funny, I don't get the fuss over dealing with pressures. My regulator is set to 11 or 12psi, period. It just doesn't change (even when using the party faucet beer gun), so there's really not that much to do. And from the couple of batches I have bottled, I can definitely say that there's a whole lot less work involved in breaking down and cleaning my Perlicks and my beer lines than there is in cleaning and sanitizing a couple cases of bottles... I'll bottle a run once in a blue moon, but I won't give up my kegging setup!

 

[the_trout]

is he also going from broadband back to dial up?

While I understand wanting to bottle for a specific beer I cant imagine going back to bottles exclusively.

 

[Zamial]

That is effing bizarre......where is he? make an offer for me?

If you want a deal on equipment, buy his. If you want to help, introduce him to no rinse sanitizer.

I finish one batch. rinse yeast out of the bottom. Dump in 1 gallon of no rinse. shake it up. pressurize it and blow the sanitizer out of the tap (in other words SANITIZING THE LINES) dump the new uncarbed beer into the now empty sanitized keg.

Once a year I may take everything apart and really clean it, but I might not.

He is missing some key info.

Bottling a few from the keg is as close as I will EVER get to bottling again.

QFT

 

[Frogmanx82]

Well, I see no one jumping up to say they went from kegging back to bottles. I did think it was kind of unique. He's outside Charlotte. I'll see if he's putting it on Craig's list or what his plan is. I really don't care to get into kegging.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I regress back to bottling all the time, only now I bottle from the tap

 

[Golddiggie]

I bottle either from tap or keg, but I don't prime in a bucket and fill bottles... I have the system you jam up into the end of the Perlick 525/575 as well as a Beer Gun. Used my Beer Gun to bottle some of my old ale to take over on xmas eve. Also used it to bottle up my batch of maple mead/wine...

I just use the 2+ week set and forget method of carbonating in keg. No additional adjusting needed. If he's burst carbonating, venting, setting a lower pressure, etc. I can see why he's going away from it. But, IMO, that's 100% user error, NOT systemic of kegging. Simply put, he's kegging stupid.

Also, for cleaning the lines and such, I do it at the same time that I rinse, clean, and sanitize the keg that just came off the line. Makes it really easy to do.

Seriously, kegging can be as easy, or as complicated, as you want it to be. I would grab his gear for as low an amount as you can. Then look up how to do it right and make him regret getting rid of it all.

 

[pdxal]

I do both kegging and bottling and probably won't change. I like to age some beers longer in bottles and only pull out 1-2 at a time. I also like to have bottles to take some to friends and parties and have a selection. Easier to refrigerate a bunch of bottles than a bunch of kegs, but one keg sits in my beer fridge most of the time. Usually session beers in kegs. I frequently do a 3gallon keg and the rest in bottles from a batch to have both options. Easy to bottle from the keg if you want, particularly if you use a 2L pop bottle and prime or use the bottle up quickly after tapping. Kegging is incredibly simple and easy to do, including managing pressure and sanitizing. If you get a chance, buy his set up at a family discount price.

 

[neophilus]

I don't get all the bottle hate. It's about an hour or so extra work per batch. The beer keeps for a long time so it's easy to stack and store cases in the basement. I do a lot of Belgians and they improve with 6+ months conditioning in the bottle. In my beer fridge I have 8 different types of beers from various batches so there is a lot of variety vs the 2 kegs in a kegerator that could take me literally months to kick because I don't have beer drinking visitors often.

 

[Ryush806]

I just switched to kegging about 5 batches ago. Its so much easier and faster than bottling. I plan on bottling a RIS that I'm planning brewing soon but only because it can benefit from a year or so of aging and I don't want to give up a keg for that long. If I want to take a few beers to a friend or party I just fill up a growler or a six pack with my little homemade "beer gun". No problem at all. Or I just bring my kegs with me like I'm doing for New Years

 

[Butchv12]

Switching from Kegging to bottles ----- Good One!!!!!

I probably bottle one out of 10, but only Porters and other heavy beers. IPA'S - California Commons, ect all get kegged.

 

[snaps10]

I started brewing 12 gallon batches. I keg 10 gallons and bottle the rest. Actually, I have my kids bottle the rest. I like having a 12pack or so kicking around to be able to give away, etc.

I was strictly kegging for a while though, so I guess you could say there was some semblance of "regression".

 

[TNGabe]

I don't get all the bottle hate. It's about an hour or so extra work per batch. The beer keeps for a long time so it's easy to stack and store cases in the basement. I do a lot of Belgians and they improve with 6+ months conditioning in the bottle. In my beer fridge I have 8 different types of beers from various batches so there is a lot of variety vs the 2 kegs in a kegerator that could take me literally months to kick because I don't have beer drinking visitors often.

Shhh, they'll know we're here and attack....







BOTTLE CONDITIONING RULES!








Whoops, now I'm really going to hear about how stupid I am.

 

[Barnesie]

Party faucet and about 12" of a racking cane = beer gun. Shove the racking cane tube in the faucet. Purge your keg and reset the pressure to about 4-5psi. Fill bottles or growlers. Done.

You're underestimating how exceptionally lazy I am. It is a thing to behold.

The only reason why bottling is still charming is that the wife does half the work.

 

[djt17]

If I wasn't kegging I don't think I would be brewing anymore.

 

[Braufessor]

I bottle and keg. I have about 8-10 kegs I can use. I always keg lagers for simplicity and not having to deal with putting a couple cases of bottles in a fridge. I usually bottle beer that I am going to let sit. Although, sometimes I will keg very high gravity beers to ensure carbonation - sometimes I have had problems with bottle conditioning high gravity beers.

A couple things I have changed though - I went to putting the cheap picnic cobra taps back on all my kegs. I got tire of dealing with the tappers, lines, etc. It is super easy to pop off the the beer line and throw it in with something else I am sanitizing. Not a big deal to open the fridge to pour a beer, and if I have people over, I am filling pitchers anyway.
Also - I have bought several 3 gallon kegs - I really like this as it allows me to bottle some of a batch and keg it. A 3 gallon keg eats up most of the batch, and you only nee a half dozen 22 ouncers and some regular bottles for the rest. I do like having bottles because once they are filled - they are done. Filling bottles from keg is fine, and I do it, but it is some work too.

 

[Yooper]

Never!! Carbonation levels, Storing kegs?? Huh, I don't see what's to hard..Bottling is what's a pain..I only bottle Apfelwein, but that's about it..

If I wasn't kegging I don't think I would be brewing anymore.

Yep, I totally agree. If I was bottling every batch, I would have quit years ago. I don't bottle beer at all anymore, except maybe once a year when I bottle from the keg to take a variety of beers to Texas with me. ( I do bottle all of my wine, and have about 350 bottles in my wine cellar!)

Otherwise, I just fill growlers when I want to take beer somewhere.

Here's my kegging routine:

Rack beer to keg.
Put in kegerator.
Put on the gas line
Put on the faucet line.
Come back in a week.

There isn't any "carbonation level", lines to clean or sanitize (at least, certainly not very often!), or anything to worry about. Seriously. Fill keg. Put in kegerator. Drink. When empty, take out of kegerator.

There is NO way I'd ever go back to bottling. If I couldn't keg anymore, I would quit brewing.