Bottle conditioning vs. kegging

[OkanaganMike]

Newbie question(s) here. I'm new to home brew and doing my best not to get "too carried away" yet. (Have 4ea 5gal batches in various stages and none ready to drink yet ).

Can someone explain why it takes 3 plus weeks for beer in bottles to be ready vs force carbonation in a keg?

I understand the yeast in a bottles need to consume the sugar etc etc but is there any taste difference to cracking a keg a day after carbonation vs. a 3 week old bottle?

Does beer in a keg get better with time as do bottles?

 

[Psylocide]

Even most kegged beers need a couple of weeks to condition for peak flavor.

You can just get it carb'd up a lot quicker.

Beer that is primed with sugar then bottled is carbonated by the yeast eating the priming sugar and producing CO2, which is then trapped in the bottle because of the seal... takes longer for the yeast to get busy than it does to blast it with CO2 from a tank.

 

[DoWBrewer]

Bottle conditioning takes three weeks to do a secondary fermentation of the sugar added at bottling. The additional sugar provides enough food for the yeast to carbonate each bottle. Kegging just puts the beer under pressure and the Co2 goes into solution. It is a good idea to keg a beer and carbonate it for a week or two while cold conditioning the beer.

Kegging is much easier in the respect that it is the same as filling one big bottle. You also have a lot more control of your carbonation level. Kegging has a higher initial cost and there is a learning curve for cleaning, sanitizing, and maintaining leak-free kegs. I am pretty sure that everyone who kegs has gone to their kegerator only to find all of the CO2 gone at least once.

There are some advantages to bottle conditioning. Having active yeast in the bottle provides a way to clean up oxygen when it seeps under your caps.

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

Kegging is definitely a quicker way to get finished beer ready. I think it's because the bottle conditioning awakens the yeast again so it takes extra time to clean itself up again.
The cold of the fridge also helps to clear the beer and has an effect on it's taste. I don't know the science behind it but even my ales taste somewhat different from the keg than the bottle.
I really enjoy drinking from the keg. Among other advantages it allows you to take any portion size, unlike opening a bottle.
As for getting better over time, I bottle the strong beers because they do improve over time. I put the pilsners to lager in the fridge but otherwise I serve the low gravity (low alcohol) beer on tap because it's more "sociable" (nobody wants your 7-10% beers if they have to drive home).

 

[Malticulous]

I prefer my lagers and stouts off tap and my hefeweizens and Belgians out of a bottle. Most everything else is fine either way.

I've never had a bottle take more than a week to fully carbonate and bottles clear faster than a whole keg.

 

[Brewtah]

I prefer the taste of bottle conditioned beer. I like to avoid artifical carbonation, but I am lazy, so I keg. It takes me less time to put my beer in a keg than to bottle.

 

[OkanaganMike]

All these answers are exactly what I expected. Thanks everyone!

 

[blackbeer]

i prime my kegs with corn sugar. i then carb them just enough to seal the lid (5-ish lbs) and let them condition for at least 2 weeks before i tap it. i think naturally carbonated beer is much better than c02 injected beer. i only add c02 after the natural carb drops. i prefer the English "Real Ale" style of beers anyway more than lagers.

 

[Owly055]

Kegging is definitely a quicker way to get finished beer ready. I think it's because the bottle conditioning awakens the yeast again so it takes extra time to clean itself up again.
The cold of the fridge also helps to clear the beer and has an effect on it's taste. I don't know the science behind it but even my ales taste somewhat different from the keg than the bottle.
I really enjoy drinking from the keg. Among other advantages it allows you to take any portion size, unlike opening a bottle.
As for getting better over time, I bottle the strong beers because they do improve over time. I put the pilsners to lager in the fridge but otherwise I serve the low gravity (low alcohol) beer on tap because it's more "sociable" (nobody wants your 7-10% beers if they have to drive home).

I wonder about this statement: "nobody wants your 7-10% beers if they have to drive home"

I stop in "microbrewery row" on Montana Avenue and First Street when I go to Billings, and have ONE beer........... because I have 100 miles to drive home. It's interesting to see the local patrons who nearly all DRIVE to the brewery guzzling down their limit of 3 high gravity beers, and often moving on to the next brew pub and doing it again. You almost never see anybody having just one...... as I do. Two 8% beers clearly put you over the BAC limit.

My friends and associates are moderate and responsible in their use of alcohol, and non-smokers.... or they wouldn't be my friends and associates, but it's clear that they are not "typical". Clearly you also choose your friends carefully. ;-)

Unfortunately being a home brewer and/or a lover of microbrews does NOT make one a responsible moderate drinker........ peer pressure and shame however might.

H.W.