Bottling vs kegging

[hillclimber]

Greeting fellow brewers...I love all grain brewing the end result is worth the time and effort.....I keg most of the time but lately I've found that I'd just as soon bottle my beer as to keg it...anyone else???

 

[jekeane]

NOPE! Well thats not entirely true I have been thinking that I would prefer to keg 4g and bottle 1g just so its easier for me to give away.

 

[DSorenson]

To be honest I like to do both:

I keg my lower gravity beers that can wrap up quickest to always have a supply on hand

I bottle my higher gravity beers that I will not finish as quickly.

I have developed a fondness for bottled homebrews, though. It takes longer, but you don't have to worry about keeping track of how much you have left, or when you need to brew again.

 

[SeeMont]

I am of the same mind, I have ended up bottling my higher gravity beer (barley wine etc) I was finding them to be on tap for so long. Ended up buying a beer gun and it has worked slick with good results.

 

[DSorenson]

I am of the same mind, I have ended up bottling my higher gravity beer (barley wine etc) I was finding them to be on tap for so long. Ended up buying a beer gun and it has worked slick with good results.

This is ideal!

 

[NickTheGreat]

I always kinda liked bottling, but there's something about having your own brew on tap that makes you feel good.

 

[fartinmartin]

Bottling is a pain, but I like my beer in bottles.
Bottles serve the hobby well, I like to pick up a bottle of MY beer, open My beer , pour MY beer, give away bottles of MY beer, put bottles of MY beer on a shelf ( I am so boring ), but its MY beer.
And bottling is a pain,
I sometimes keg
But I like bottles, I also think the beer is better in bottles.

 

[FiddlersGreen87]

I have spent the last 2 months abandoning bottling and making the jump to kegging. The work of cleaning 30-60 bottles is a dreadful task. I've spent the last 5 years bottling, but living in Hawaii the past 3 gave me a profound distaste to bottling. Between the bugs and the moisture (mold) it was almost impossible to not end up with something in the bottle that required a solid couple of hours cleaning.

I'm super excited to have my own brew on tap, and can't wait to put something in the fridge. I will probably invest down the road in something that will let me give away a few bottles per batch, but overall the work bottles require makes me excited to start kegging.

Eventually, I'll get back to bottling a handful just because of the reasons mentioned above, but right now the thought of cleaning 1 container instead of 30+ is quite appealing.

 

[Hello]

It is too easy to keg beer for me. If I bottle, I will bottle the whole batch or if I need some bottles then I will bottle from the keg.

 

[beersk]

NOPE! Well thats not entirely true I have been thinking that I would prefer to keg 4g and bottle 1g just so its easier for me to give away.

I've actually started doing this recently. I brew 4 gallon batches, end up with 3.5 after losses to the yeast and trub. But I bottle a gallon and keg the other 2.5 gallons (in 5 gallon kegs). Not ideal, but it works and I get the best of both worlds. This last time, I bottled (after crash cooling) right out of the fermenter (5 gallon keg) with a picnic tap and a couple grams of honey in each bottle. I hope it carbonates and works out because it was super easy. Then just kegged the rest. I wish I could brew 6 or 7 gallon batches, bottle a gallon or so, and keg 5 gallons. But I don't have the capacity for that.

Bottling is cool, cheap, easy, and pure feeling. Kegging is also cool for the convenience factor, but I don't think it's superior. Just a different way to do it. I find bottling forces you to be more patient with your beer - you are drinking it when it's ready, not just carbonated.

 

[shoreman]

Belgian beers always go into bottles (really the only high gravity beers I brew)
Everything else gets kegged.

 

[Microscopist]

I transfer from primary to keg, let it clear in there ( 4-8wks ) and self carbonate then serve straight from the keg - usually bottling about a third to a half. I wouldn't dream of going from primary to bottle except for small test batches or maybe styles like saison.

 

[huckbof]

I like my beer in bottles.
Bottles serve the hobby well, I like to pick up a bottle of MY beer, open My beer , pour MY beer, give away bottles of MY beer, put bottles of MY beer on a shelf ( I am so boring ), but its MY beer.
And bottling is a pain,
I sometimes keg
But I like bottles, I also think the beer is better in bottles.

yeah, you know it

The London Pride seems to do better on tap over here across the pond.

 

[jekeane]

yeah, you know it

The London Pride seems to do better on tap over here across the pond.

I shouldn't feed the trolls... I know. But this is a post from july 2014. Now you are specifically searching kegging vs bottling threads to stir up trouble on... You have 133 posts on these boards and I would be shocked to find out that less than 90% of them were trying to stir up trouble on kegging threads.

Just be content to realize it's personal preference and your experiences don't match most of those with which you are arguing. There is nothing wrong with bottling and there is nothing wrong with kegging.