Has Kegging Improved Your Beer?

[Scut_Monkey]

I wanted to see from those with experience since switching to kegging if your beer has gotten better, stayed the same or become worse. This is in terms of taste and aroma only. Just curious as I'm on the verge of it when funds start rolling in (ie when I find a PA job). Be honest and only effects from kegging and not simply improved brewing techniques.

 

[Brewsmith]

I haven't bottled a brew in over a year and there is a difference. Kegging itself was not the direct improvement. When I was bottling, I screwed up several batches from being a little lax on sanitation techniques. My kitchen was not the most sanitary place to do the tedious work of bottling. Plus I wasn't keeping cases of beer in the fridge. Now that I'm kegging, I have screwed up less beer by using better sanitation practices, racking the beer to fewer places, and the beer stays cold in the kegerators.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Do you feel that keeping the batch or the majority of it cold has helped in maintaining taste? Just looking for you to elaborate on this point. Thanks for being the first to bite.

 

[charlimc]

I have been brewing since 1973- but I have only bottled 2 batches a year over the past decade. Since I started kegging two months ago I am already on my fourth batch. I find now that the demand for beer has increased- guests would accept a bottle of home brew before but rarely ask for a second - now they have seconds and thirds etc..

 

[jcarson83]

Mine improved which actually surprised me a little. I think it has to do with being able to force carb it instead of naturally which gives me more control. I brewed over 30 batches before starting kegging and was always struggling with over and under carbed beer.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Perfect carbonation, brilliant clarity, cold aging and storage also seems to keep nasties or wild yeast in check...yes a marked improvement.

 

[dontman]

It is not so straightforward as one being better than the other but here's the thing for me. If a batch is bottled and I try it after three weeks and find that it is a touch overcarbed (or undercarbed) I am out of luck really. With kegging I can finetune the carb level to hit a beer's sweet spot over the course of the first few pints and then have all the rest be perfect.

Next, there is just something really really nice about being able to pull a pint in your house. I hate to be EAC about this but there just is.

Next, I can bottle a few out of the keg for a party or whatever and I don't have to explain to each person that I give a beer to "pour it in a glass and leave that last 1/4 oz in the bottle."

These are my three biggest reasons for liking kegging.

Then comes the one so many people list as their biggest reason: ease of use. For me I kinda liked bottling and had the process down to such a routine that I was done and cleaned up in under an hour. For me kegging is not that much faster with all of the disassembly and hose juggling to push this or that through the lines. For me this is actually close to a wash.

Man, do I love pulling a pint in my house! I also love pulling a pint for guests. I never realized how much I would love this when I was shopping for kegging equipment.

 

[KopyKat]

The answer to the Poll is no. My beer hasn't improved since I have been kegging except to say that over time I have improved my beer by technique and methodology. As a bottler, I never had carb issues since I used BeerSmith to add the correct amount of sugar and it came out right each time.

 

[MultumInParvo]

I had some issues with over carbed beer when I was bottling, now if I run into that with kegging I can pretty easily fix it. Certainly a plus.

 

[dontman]

And for me its not that the beer comes out carbed differently from what BS recommends. That is always more or less exact. But what I have found is that sometimes I get a beer that tastes fine at normal carb level but it just really shines at a slightly lower or higher carb.

Another way to look at this. If you have a beer that you pour out of a bottle that is slightly too sweet, that's it, that's where it stays. In the keg, you can bump up the co2 slightly to balance out that sweetness. If you want to go more malty, edge the co2 lower. It is just another tool.

 

[stevea1210]

I chose no improvement. I've been kegging for about a year, and my beer is much better now. However I attribute that to process and experience, not kegging.

One thing I will say is that I don't know if I would be brewing as much if I was still bottling. I never enjoyed bottling. IT took me too long, and was just a PITA. Bottling was a good chunk of an evening after work. Kegging is something to do among other things while the mash is going,o during commercial breaks. IT's quick and easy.

I made the switch to kegging and all grain about the same time. That was because I felt if my brew day was going to be taking that much longer, I wanted to shave time of in another area. That and I have always wanted a kegarator.

Like dontman said, there issomething wonderful about pulling a pint in your own house. The two most glorious moments in homebrewing for me was when I poured my first bottle of beer , and realized that I CAN make my own beer. Second was pulling the first pint from my kegarator

 

[amercuric]

Kegging has absolutely improved my beer's taste. I have many ideas as to why this is.

 

[HVBrewtality]

I said that my beer is improved, here's why:


I can drink MUCH more. just is so much easier to finish 5 gallons from a keg than drinking 50 bottles. And when you drink it faster, you need to brew more, which makes your skill improve, so voila, better beer.

 

[Bopper]

My beer improved due to more consistent carbonation. I also began cold crashing when I got kegs so that made a difference in clarity. I also bulk age for a much longer period as a result of kegging.