Downside to draft beer at home

[MaxStout]

i prefer bottles. For one, a keg is not very mobile. I ted to go out a lot, fishing on the boat, disc golf, hunting, more fishing, camping. Pretty much every weekend we are not at home. Bottles fit in a cooler nicely. Also, I dont have to put all 5 gal in the fridge. I can pop a couple stouts in the fridge for the next day, and let the other 40 bottles continue to age in the cellar. The only thing i would keg is something i dont care about it aging, and want to drink really fast. Which with my taste in beer, would be nothing.

I bottle for many of the same reasons. Plus, I don't have a fridge (or space for said fridge) to dedicate to kegs. I don't drink up a batch fast enough for kegging, and give lots of bottles away to friends and coworkers.

That said, there are a few times it would be nice to have draft beer. I'd like to be able to sample a small amount for tasting, without wasting a whole bottle. A small sample of draft would also be good for that guest who isn't sure about liking a certain beer. I hate pouring 12 oz, only to hear "sorry, it's not my taste in beer. Do you have any "lite" beer?"

Still, those reasons are not compelling enough for me to make the switch to kegging.

 

[kombat]

Honestly, no one has even touched on what I consider the main advantage of kegging (or, at least, the main reason I switched): being able to manipulate the carbonation level. Since kegging, I've never had to suffer through 5 gallons of undercarbed beer, nor have I had a single bottle explode on me. If I'm in a hurry, I can be drinking cold, carbonated beer a day or two after cold-crashing. I got tired of raising the church key to the bottle cap and crossing my fingers for the "Psssht!", then exhaling a sigh of relief when I got confirmation. I got equally tired of the disappointment of waiting 6 weeks for a batch of beer, only to discover the priming sugar didn't mix evenly, or I didn't use enough, or some of the caps weren't sealed tightly, or whatever.

 

[Psylocide]

Maybe I was doing it wrong, but I spent more time cleaning kegs and taplines than I ever did bottling. Sanitize in the dishwasher, have the wife fill while I cap. It's so easy.

Kegging definitely has merits, but is time one of them? I think if you're honest with yourself you'll realize dicking around with orings and cleaning out poppets etc is more time consuming than bottling.

You clean your lines? Lol.

 

[j1n]

Honestly, no one has even touched on what I consider the main advantage of kegging (or, at least, the main reason I switched): being able to manipulate the carbonation level. Since kegging, I've never had to suffer through 5 gallons of undercarbed beer, nor have I had a single bottle explode on me. If I'm in a hurry, I can be drinking cold, carbonated beer a day or two after cold-crashing. I got tired of raising the church key to the bottle cap and crossing my fingers for the "Psssht!", then exhaling a sigh of relief when I got confirmation. I got equally tired of the disappointment of waiting 6 weeks for a batch of beer, only to discover the priming sugar didn't mix evenly, or I didn't use enough, or some of the caps weren't sealed tightly, or whatever.

Yup and if you want to bottle you still can with a beer gun or ghetto beer gun. also no sediment and explaining to people how to pour the beer.

 

[KeninMN]

I bottle for many of the same reasons. Plus, I don't have a fridge (or space for said fridge) to dedicate to kegs. I don't drink up a batch fast enough for kegging, and give lots of bottles away to friends and coworkers.

^^^^This. Plus I get to make really cool labels for my bottles...

 

[Psylocide]

Well that's the thing... the bottlers are acting like the keggers can't bottle.

That's the opposite of true.

I still make cool labels.

 

[Natdavis777]

I've bottled and kegged. The main advantage I like about kegging is that I have kegs on demand when I'm ready to package. All kegs are cleaned and sanitized after they blow, and are stored. When ready to package, just pull one off the rack and transfer. RView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431456458.029225.jpg

 

[wilserbrewer]

I would also add that an advantage of kegging is cold conditioning and storage of your beer. While you could also store bottles cold, I feel there is a noticeable improvement in beer quality resulting from cold storage. I also feel the impact of stray wild yeast, bacteria, or oxygen is minimized by the cold storage associated with kegging. I find it much easier to consistently get crisp clear perfectly carbed beer out of kegs rather than bottles.

Beer just loves to be stored cold in bulk under pressure....

 

[Grossy]

Here's one more of the many upsides to kegging your own beer.

Your wife can't count the number of empty beer bottles.

5 beers: you get the "look".
6 beers: you get "haven't you had enough".
7 beers: you get a "look" and a "really?"
8 beers: she starts talking about how "you have to work tomorrow".

1 keg, 1 glass, and as many beers as I want = Marital Bliss

 

[ChelisHubby]

The keg makes it very easy to drink and you don't realize how much. I found I must skip 3 or 4 days a week and not drink or I will rebrew every 2 weeks. By skipping days I can go 3 weeks between kegs.

 

[Grossy]

As for kegging vs bottling.

50 bottles to wash vs one.

Cleaning a keg: Night before, fill keg and add PBW. Next morning, rinse and fill with beer, hook up C02.

Cleaning lines: Hook beer line up to hot water faucet. 1 minute rinse. Replace lines once a year.

It cant get much easier than that.

 

[lump42]

I bottle because lack of space and more importantly I'm working dialing in my fermentation before other projects.

Honestly, no one has even touched on what I consider the main advantage of kegging (or, at least, the main reason I switched): being able to manipulate the carbonation level. Since kegging, I've never had to suffer through 5 gallons of undercarbed beer, nor have I had a single bottle explode on me. If I'm in a hurry, I can be drinking cold, carbonated beer a day or two after cold-crashing. I got tired of raising the church key to the bottle cap and crossing my fingers for the "Psssht!", then exhaling a sigh of relief when I got confirmation. I got equally tired of the disappointment of waiting 6 weeks for a batch of beer, only to discover the priming sugar didn't mix evenly, or I didn't use enough, or some of the caps weren't sealed tightly, or whatever.

As far as undercarbed beer, I always bottle in at least one 12oz plastic soda bottle that way I can check on carbonation progress and clarity. So far, I haven't been in a hurry, I've had at least one or two 5 gal batches bottle conditioning. Although that may change with an impending house move. Stupid realtor told us we shouldn't have carboys and buckets siting in buckets of water around the house.

 

[bbohanon]

Having kegged beer around is nice..sometimes too convienent. I usually bottle up at least one of the 2 kegs from my batches to give to friends and co-workers. Keeps me from having too much on tap at one time and keeps the pipeline need there so I can keep brewing.

As long as the love of brewing is greater than the need to drink it all quickly, you should be ok. Otherwise the drinking could be leading to larger problems..

 

[bbohanon]

Here's one more of the many upsides to kegging your own beer.

Your wife can't count the number of empty beer bottles.

5 beers: you get the "look".
6 beers: you get "haven't you had enough".
7 beers: you get a "look" and a "really?"
8 beers: she starts talking about how "you have to work tomorrow".

1 keg, 1 glass, and as many beers as I want = Marital Bliss

I have to say, this is 100% accurate. I hate that "look" from the wife when the bottles pile up on a hot sunny saturday. With a single glass and a tap, heading outside to do some "work" I can refill as much as I want. When she asks how many I have had, I usually hit the low side like 1 or 2. She does not need to know I am on refill 5-6+. No more "look".

 

[slym2none]

Well that's the thing... the bottlers are acting like the keggers can't bottle.

Not all of us!

 

[Natdavis777]

Here's one more of the many upsides to kegging your own beer.

Your wife can't count the number of empty beer bottles.

5 beers: you get the "look".
6 beers: you get "haven't you had enough".
7 beers: you get a "look" and a "really?"
8 beers: she starts talking about how "you have to work tomorrow".

1 keg, 1 glass, and as many beers as I want = Marital Bliss

Hit the nail on the head. My wife used to do the whole, "really, how many more do you need to have?"... She has since ceased her comments or looks, but man, this was totally her about 2 years ago.

 

[Konadog]

Here's one more of the many upsides to kegging your own beer.

Your wife can't count the number of empty beer bottles.

5 beers: you get the "look".
6 beers: you get "haven't you had enough".
7 beers: you get a "look" and a "really?"
8 beers: she starts talking about how "you have to work tomorrow".

1 keg, 1 glass, and as many beers as I want = Marital Bliss

For me, it's totally the opposite. I can regulate just fine, but I may give my wife the "look" after about 7 beers. There's a reason one of my brews is called "wife screamer!" :cross:

 

[njviking]

You clean your lines? Lol.

I'm in the same camp. In 20 years i thinkI have cleaned my lines maybe twice or three times. I do change them once a year but I have a constant supply of 4 different beers on my lines.

I both bottle and keg; but my brewing buddies and I also do 20gal batches.

It might be somewhat the same timewise with 5/6 gal batches. Bump it up to 20 and tell me the same story?

Not throwing gas on the fire but as the saying goes.......... your mileage may vary, and my beer trucks are pigs....

 

[Natdavis777]

When a keg kicks, I grab an empty keg (well one with sanitizer in it) and run it through that line. It has served me well so far.

 

[erick0619]

I kill kegs in a week to 2.5 weeks, max.

It's gotten pretty bad. I had to get a 20 gal kettle so I can actually start building up a pipeline.

Oh the struggle!!!!!!!

 

[Transamguy77]

I don't see a downside to draft beer, anytime I have a beer I only have 1 (well as long as your glass is never emptied before I fill it its still 1). No bottles to wash and only 1 beer at a time, sounds like a win win to me.

 

[beernutz]

I'd like to see video footage of going from dirty keg to filled and carbing keg in 20min or less. That's all I'm saying.

Two words that will change your life: keg washer.

20 minutes to clean a keg, sanitize the auto-siphon, and fill a keg?
Piece of cake.

 

[shortyz]

Here's one more of the many upsides to kegging your own beer.

Your wife can't count the number of empty beer bottles.

5 beers: you get the "look".
6 beers: you get "haven't you had enough".
7 beers: you get a "look" and a "really?"
8 beers: she starts talking about how "you have to work tomorrow".

1 keg, 1 glass, and as many beers as I want = Marital Bliss

hhahahah this is spot on. But on the other hand are we we just in denial of being partial alchoholics? We love our brews but in all reality we crave the side effects of it, you cannot deny that.

But yea kegging is great, i will never go back. plus i can fill a swing top and throw it in my backpack.

 

[madscientist451]

Yeah, bottling is a pain in the butt, I'm still doing it though.
I think I would drink more with a cold keg available. I drink 2-3 a night and that's enough, maybe too much, I'm thinking I need to cut back.
I also usually drink a different beer each time, and usually have 7-10 different beers to choose from.
If I had the cash, I'd put in a walk in cooler and have 6 or 8 taps.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Disclosure: Bottler looking into kegging

Drinking too much because its convenient to get to is a concern I guess, but if that's a possibility I'd say its probably a bad idea to be homebrewing in the first place.

Having said that, if you're like most homebrewers who just like enjoying great beer and consider the alcohol a bonus (or a non starter), the time savings is a big deal.

 

[Psylocide]

Another big advantage that keggers have over bottlers is that we have the ability to can our beer.

 

[Takuie]

Those that say they don't have room to keg, that's just an excuse. It takes far more less room to house a 5 gallon keg AND the equipment to clean/maintain. You don't need a giant keezer. If you have room for 50 bottles, you have room for 1 5 gal keg.

My biggest gripe with bottling was the washing of all the bottles and life threats to friends to bring those bottles back. Starting with a dirty keg, takes me about 20-30 minutes to clean, rack then toss in fridge. Plus, when you convert over to keg, your bottling bucket can now be used as an additional fermenter. Bottling from a keg is even easy with a little ingenuity. If you pay 250 bucks for a kegerator, you paid too much. I find them on Craig's list and yard sales all the time. Don't think I've ever payed over 150 for one, and it came with 15 gallon commercial keg, which I converted to boil kettle, thusly saving me even more money. You just gotta be patient and you can get it at a cheap price.

Bottom line, it's all about preference and opinion. Some like to bottle some like to keg. If friends want a bottle of my brew, they bring me their bottles/growlers and I'm happy to fill them. Arguing over bottle vs keg is like arguing Ford vs Chevy.

 

[Newsman]

The downside, for me, is 5 gallons is a lot of beer. And 6 of those is even worse.

I have yet to find the middle ground between having variety and keeping beer moving.

There's the 2.5 gallon kegs.

 

[Owly055]

Another big advantage that keggers have over bottlers is that we have the ability to can our beer.






View attachment 277752

The only reason I can see for this is to use a soft drink can for when you are driving....

H.W.

 

[Psylocide]

The only reason I can see for this is to use a soft drink can for when you are driving....

H.W.

More for when people are over and I don't want to share, so I give them the Busch Light and fill mine with deliciousness.