Help me decide wether to bottle or keg

[Mainer]

I'm with Nick. After spending $45 for a Grifo bench capper, bottling became a pleasure vs using the wing capper. Every Friday is bottling day, which frees up a carboy for brewing every Saturday. I brew 3 gallon batches so about once a month I skip bottle day and brew day when I have plenty of surplus beer in my beer frig out in the garage

I use my wife's grandfather's American-made cast-iron-and-steel bench capper that probably dates from the 40s. There's a lot of history in that capper. It's a privilege. I've never used one of those wing cappers, They look like a pain.

 

[moose5180]

I bottled 2 batches and switched to kegging. I kegged a batch last night and the plan was to bottle half of it, well i started to rack to the keg and just kept going as i didnt want to mess with the bottles. I can see where bottling has a couple advantages i am missing with the keg but honestly kegging is just easier and faster and draft beer is fun.

 

[greyghost]

Bottling is my Zen time.I usually have 6 to 10 different beers on hand. Kegging not real practical.Bedsides I cellar some for years.

 

[PADave]

I bottled for quite a few batches, 32 to be exact. Said I didn't want to get into kegging. Back in Jan I bought a single keg setup off of CL. Sat in my basement all summer and I finally got it setup and had my first pour a couple days ago. Yes, I will continue to bottle the bigger beers for now, but wow this keg makes things easier. Future plans are to build a 4 tap keezer once I make a space for it. I would say bottle for now, get the brewing part of things right, then get into kegging. There can be quite an expense building a good keg setup.

 

[seatazzz]

I haven't bottled in over a year. I too got a great deal on a kegerator through a friend (single tap) and changed it out to a 2-tap. A couple of months ago I swapped it for a standard refrigerator that holds 4 cornies and has two taps. When I share my beers with friends I'll fill a couple of bottles from the tap or swap growlers with them. One of the previous replies had a great idea for a bottling setup off the keg that I'm going to use once I get another black disconnect and the hardware, I have my old bottling wand that fits nicely in the picnic tap.

 

[Lefou]

I brew 3G batches pretty much twice a month for the most part. I usually have 4 - 5 different brews available so If I went the keg route I would want at least 4 taps, I just don't see that happening.

I'm thinking the same way right now. Going with 3 gallon brews and bottles for this fall-to-winter season as a way to reduce the work and leftover beer. I'll get around to kegging eventually. The ball lock keg and fittings aren't going anywhere soon....

 

[Blackdirt_cowboy]

Thanks for all the advice. I have over 100 bottles myself, and just received another 100 or so 16 oz bottle for free. So I think I'm going to keep bottling for a while and instead, focus on upgrading my brewery. I believe I'll take the money I was going to spend on kegging equipment and build a Brutus type setup with automated temperature control. I've got my eye on a set of spike kettles and a conical fermenter. I've got temp control on my fermentation chamber already, so it's either start kegging or upgrade the brewery. I've always had an eye for things that shine.

 

[Oh_Papi]

oops

 

[ratinator]

1. Bottling costs lots of time and money (cleaning, santizer, caps, capper, filler)
2. Kegging is way less of a mess and your only syphoning into 1 container
3. Less storage space for kegging (stacks of 24 bottles) and dont have to collect bottles after drinking
4. Don't have to wait 3 weeks for your beer to carb (force carb in week or less)
5. Don't have sediment from yeast (which turns off alot of non-homebrewers)

Only positive to bottling is your can bring your beer to a friends house. Before i switched to kegging i did start bottling into growlers (1/2 gallon) which cut batches to about 11 growlers.

 

[DrunkenCanuck]

Once I got to 5 gallon batches, I decided to forego bottles for a keg setup, it's just so much less space wasted and less work cleaning a keg than cleaning about 36 bottles.

 

[oujens]

Skimming the messages here but thought I would add that kegging can be multi-use. I've now started fermenting in my corny kegs. Can ferment under pressure and close-loop transfer to reduce oxidation when filling the serving vessel. Check out this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=600563

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the greatness that is spunding. Beer is fully carbed naturally at the end of fermentation.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Plenty of good advice here already.
One thing I'll add though is cold crashing/conditioning in a keg is pretty great. Sure you could do it in a carboy too but then you're behind 2+ weeks while the beer bottle conditions after cold crashing. For example I have 4 taps dedicated to beer and room enough for 8 kegs. I recently killed a keg of a blonde ale, which by the end was crystal clear. I had a Pineapple Kolsch that I put in the kegerator the same time as the blonde. I switched the tap over to the Kolsch and after about 2 pints it's already super clear and crisp. If I had my sh!t together I'd have another batch ready to go into a keg and crash/condition while I drink the Kolsch. Rinse and repeat and you've got a pretty good system.
That's only a real benefit if you've got room for more than one keg though.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I bottled for four years before moving to kegging. Kegging is so easy! The only problem I've run into is that Belgians and mixed fermentation sours just aren't the same when kegging, so I continue to bottle them. If you plan on making mostly clean American, British, German styles kegging is definitely the way to go.

I think most Brits would disagree with you there, the preference would be cask conditioning, followed by bottles, followed at a distance by kegging. Force carbonation just doesn't feel right with British styles.

With this whole debate - it largely comes down to personal circumstances as to what weight you put on different factors. For some, being able to easily throw a bottle in a rucksack when hiking, or to take to friends, is important, for others the ability to age/drink over an extended period of time, or to have a choice of several different beers in the cellar, are important. For others it will be the lower up-front costs, or the convenience of being able to store beers out of the way. Or it depends on what styles you brew. There's no hard answer.

 

[TheBluePhantom]

I started kegging before I started brewing. I tried home soda with the kids, and ended up with bottles that were almost hand grenades. Yeast had changed since I was a kid. I bought the kegs and a small chest freezer to do soda, and thought I would try a beer for fun. TThe small freezer is now for cold crash and lager, the big freezer holds 10 kegs, and I always have soda for the kids, I also have had hard cider, skeeter pee (carbonated wine) and beer. With kegging you can kill the yeast in wine or cider, add sugar for sweetness and then carbonate to desired levels with no risk of bottle bombs. I only bottle to travel. (plastic bottles for a week at the beach, no glass allowed on the sand). Although I must say that the good investment was a keg washer, makes it real easy, the pump cleans the tubes, and you can set it up to wash beer lines. But you can definitely have a lot of fun with the variety when you keg.

 

[Terence]

I keg and bottle from my 100 litre conical. I get 4 x corny kegs and 24 x 330ml bottles every 2 weeks. I fill my bottles from the racking port while I am pumping via the dump port through a 1 micron filter to my kegs. I keg condition the beer for 4 weeks as a minimum before putting in the kegerator and I bottle condition for at least 4 weeks before putting in fridge for 48 hours prior to drinking. I can sterilize 24 bottles at a time by boiling them in my brew kettle. I think this gives me the best of both worlds, Beer on tap at home to share when friends come around and beer in bottle to take to friends places for the footy or BBQs

 

[pacman]

Blackdirt cowboy, you say:"... I also enjoy taking my beer with me, as I have an active lifestyle and probably drink 80% of my beer away from home."

I reckon you have answered your own question. Transfer 100% of your fermented beer into a keg, and then transfer 80% into bottles! Doesn't sound like a good or efficient method to me - 80% duplication!

FWIW, I do not have the space or facilities to keg and refrigerate. So over a couple of years, perhaps more, I acquired a collection of swing-top bottles (Grolsch style, although most of mine are amber glass), hence no bottle capper. Sometimes I re-use twist top 12oz bottles. Save the twist tops, and screw back on. Easy.

Correct bulk priming should avoid carbonation issues referred to by some posters.

I guess one of the pros of kegging and transferring into bottles is that the bottled beer will be sediment free. Not so with bottle conditioned beer, although if kept upright and handled with care, there shouldn't be problems. Also, there are methods to compact the sediment so that it is not easily disturbed.

 

[tld6008]

Blackdirt cowboy, you say:"... I also enjoy taking my beer with me, as I have an active lifestyle and probably drink 80% of my beer away from home."

I reckon you have answered your own question. Transfer 100% of your fermented beer into a keg, and then transfer 80% into bottles! Doesn't sound like a good or efficient method to me - 80% duplication!

FWIW, I do not have the space or facilities to keg and refrigerate. So over a couple of years, perhaps more, I acquired a collection of swing-top bottles (Grolsch style, although most of mine are amber glass), hence no bottle capper. Sometimes I re-use twist top 12oz bottles. Save the twist tops, and screw back on. Easy.

Correct bulk priming should avoid carbonation issues referred to by some posters.

I guess one of the pros of kegging and transferring into bottles is that the bottled beer will be sediment free. Not so with bottle conditioned beer, although if kept upright and handled with care, there shouldn't be problems. Also, there are methods to compact the sediment so that it is not easily disturbed.

I also have converted to swing top bottles. I have 15 gallons worth with mostly Grolsch 16 oz. but have acquired a case each of 330ml and 510ml german beer bottles. I also use quart growlers if I'm in a hurry. I have all the gear to keg but no place to set it up, if I was still using crown caps I would have figured something out by now. I have bought 90% of my swing tops on Craigs list with an avg. cost of $.50/bottle so that's about $60. I also find that rinsing the bottles 2 or 3 times after decanting keeps them clean enough so a quick Starsan purge before bottling is all the hygene they need.
Anyone interested in acquiring some Grolsch bottles PM me as I found another good source in the SE.
My father brewed beer back in the 60's and 70's and when twist off caps became popular on beer and soda bottles he totally converted to those. The caps were good for several cycles before he'd need to replace one.

 

[ChelisHubby]

My 2cents, is for my own use the keg is better than sliced bread. now if you are sharing away from home consistently then would bottle.

 

[jalc6927]

On the twist offs, how do make sure they are closed tight enough?

Is doing it by hand enough?

 

[tld6008]

On the twist offs, how do make sure they are closed tight enough?

Is doing it by hand enough?

Yes I used twist offs when I first started brewing they worked fine w/ no extra effort needed other than a good firm twist. The crown caps sometimes were a little difficult getting lined up and maybe a rag or something similar to get a better grip unless your hands are tough, but they all worked well. I would guess they haven't changed much in the last 50 years.. maybe the seal material has improved?

 

[Kee]

I haven't seen anyone mention one thing about kegging: You can pour half a glass. Which can be good or bad, depending on when you get close to your limit you have a half glass, or (I've done it) 3 or 4 half glasses.

 

[PADave]

I haven't seen anyone mention one thing about kegging: You can pour half a glass. Which can be good or bad, depending on when you get close to your limit you have a half glass, or (I've done it) 3 or 4 half glasses.

I'd mark this as a plus for kegging. At first, one of my reasons to resist kegs was that I was afraid I'd end up drinking too much, just being able to have beer flowing into my glass. In the short time that I've had my keg system in use, I have found the opposite to be true, I drink less. Instead of having to commit to a whole bottle at a time, I find myself doing smaller pours most of the time.

 

[pacman]

On the twist offs, how do make sure they are closed tight enough?

Is doing it by hand enough?

I tighten by hand, using a tea towel to get a good grip, then turn the bottle upside down to see if it leaks. Out of a couple of hundred twist tops to date, I have only had one uncarbonated beer.

 

[Terence]

When my beer works extremely well, I find I keep going back to the keg for a refill before I've finished my glass. When I bottle, the beer conditions very well, tastes amazing and I only take a six-pack or dozen out with me when visiting. I don't generally drink from bottles at home, only one from each batch when its ready, just to taste and see if its worthy to share.

 

[Tommydee]

Keg when ready. Have a bunch shipped, at least 4, from keg connection/birdman. Build a 3-4 tap Keezer. I would do that before a conical, saves more time. I growler or beirmunch fill bottles for friends. They like it better sans sediment.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I haven't seen anyone mention one thing about kegging: You can pour half a glass. Which can be good or bad, depending on when you get close to your limit you have a half glass, or (I've done it) 3 or 4 half glasses.

My wife always says at her work, none of the women would ever eat more than half of a donut.

Now, any given woman may eat 4 or 5 "half-donuts" but a whole donut was way too much sugar/carbs/fat/grease/etc.

 

[jimboh]

I do both. 5 Kegs for convenience and 400 bottles, mostly full!
First I used plastic bottles, I found cleaning a pain so switched to a couple of kegs. That was when I was doing kits.
When I discovered all grain that all changed. I now make so many different flavours that having them all in kegs would be a non starter. I like to choose a beer I fancy and not be limited to whats on tap. Also, I have one Blonde ale that everyone likes and a gluten free beer for the wife on tap, so with one keg ready for the next batch, I only have two or three of my everyday favourites on tap.

One thing for sure though. I wouldn't be bottling at all without the Grolsch style flip top bottles.
1 for ease of cleaning and
2 much less chance of an overcarb explosion! I recently cocked up on carb sugar dose and the first bottle I opened was a geyser!
I have been popping the tops on that 10 gal batch every few days for a couple of weeks.
Reckon it will soon be safe to open.
With capped tops I would have had a monster mess.

 

[Blackdirt_cowboy]

Just an update. I went back and forth on buying kegging equipment or upgrading to an automated br sculpture. Well, today I pulled the trigger on a three faucet tower, built in, stainless steel kegerator. I upgraded to a dual body taprite regulator and perlick flow control faucets. I got ten feet of beer line for each tap as well. The whole system came with 3 used ball lock kegs and a 5 pound CO2 bottle. I cant wait for it to get here. I have a porter that I just cold crashed and dined with gelatin last night. It'll be nice to try force carbonating it if I can wait that long.

 

[jlinz]

Jealous.