Sherpa FE said:
ROFL...Too funny, I hadnt thought about that. Guess I will have to keep up with my military PT routine.
Next couple of questions...
1) how long can you store beer in a cornie keg? 1 year or longer?
2) Will homemade soda last longer in a keg? If so how long?
3) Is kegging more or less expensive than flip top bottles long run, as far as up keep, and maintenance.
I am trying to come up with all the selling points that I can so my wife will let me get into kegging.
1) Yes you can, but I would keep them in a cool place that the temp does not go up and down a lot.
2) I have no idea but I guess it would be the same as bottles. Really, a keg is just one really big bottle.
3) Yes. At my LHBS the 16 oz amber EZ Cap bottles with flip cap and washer. 12/case. Price: $20.99 5 gallons would need about 40 of them. so that would be $84 to bottle one 5 gallon batch.
A 5 Gallon Cornelius Keg (used, ball lock) with new seals. Price $25.
Now the thing is about keging <> bottling is that bottling is cheaper to get into then kegging. Kegging will run you about $200 for the CO2, one keg, regulator, and lines. After that it's about $30 per keg to add on. You will also need something like a chest freezer with a temp control to keep the brew cold (free - $100 on Craigs list)
So you can see that it does cost more up front to keg. But think about this...
At about $80 to bottle 5 gallons and you do this for 4 batches, that's a lot of cash in bottles. Plus it takes me about 3 hours from start to finish to bottle 5 gallons. Where as it takes me less then an hour to keg. Thus giving me more time to spend with my loving wife.
Drinking homebrew
Another good point, one my wife really likes. Now that I keg, I don't have a bunch of bottles setting on the counter waiting for me to put them away after I drink them. Also, if I was to forget to rinse out a bottle it was only a matter of a day before the fruitflys were all over it.