I love bottling

[Frogmanx82]

Kegging is just too much more crap to buy. Not going to do it.

 

[iambeer]

Kegging is just too much more crap to buy. Not going to do it.

That's what you say now but wait til they got you by the tadpoles... then ye be pullin out teh ribbit card.

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

Kegging is just too much more crap to buy. Not going to do it.

Was just thinking of this today. I started brewing by making kit beers to save money. Now all I do is plot ways to spend the money I'm saving on beer making "stuff".

Bottles are cheap, hose, wand, auto-syphon and caps are cheap. Win-win.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Was just thinking of this today. I started brewing by making kit beers to save money. Now all I do is plot ways to spend the money I'm saving on beer making "stuff".

Bottles are cheap, hose, wand, auto-syphon and caps are cheap. Win-win.

Never went the kit route saw the cost of a kit vs. brew from recipes.

 

[HollisBT]

Was just thinking of this today. I started brewing by making kit beers to save money. Now all I do is plot ways to spend the money I'm saving on beer making "stuff".

Bottles are cheap, hose, wand, auto-syphon and caps are cheap. Win-win.

Cost wise, compared to my brewing equipment, the keg kit was a drop in the bucket...

I really do enjoy bottling, but currently I have 3 beers ready to either keg or bottle, and two kegs that won't even fit in my kegerator which can hold a total of 5 kegs. If I had to bottle all of that, I think that I would lose the enjoyment of bottling.

 

[Yesfan]

There is a lot of upfront cost to kegging (kegerator/keezer, kegs, taps, etc.), but I think it is worth those costs in the long run. I (somewhat) have a bar downstairs, so a kegerator with a few taps is definitely a must have for me in the future. The downside to kegging is it's not as portable as a 6/12 pack of bottles. I'll keep bottling for that reason.

They both have their pros and cons. I enjoy bottling as I find it relaxing. Last night, I bottled my Phat Tyre clone while jamming out to some Rush on the stereo.

 

[beaksnbeer]

I have 2 three gallon kegs, that I can take a keg to go or bottle a few from the kegs if it's just for my own consumption.

 

[scoundrel]

This is turning into another bottle vs keg threads. I think they both have advantages and if you don't do both there's nothing wrong, I just think you kinda handcuff yourself. For example, if I was trying to brew a Belgian clone, it makes sense to bottle condition to get the same authentic experience. Now if I'm making a Munich Helles and I want it crystal clear with no sediment, a keg gives you more versatility. You can cold crash and draw off the yeast and then bottle or even filter. They both have their place and to dismiss one or the other seems silly.

 

[smokinghole]

I bottle off a keg even for bottle conditioned beers. I sani and fill a 10gal corny and use a home made bottling wand attachment that works off a threaded ball lock fitting. It gives me consistent pressure and faster filling for bottle conditioned beers. Plus if I really wanted to get fancy I could hook up my beer gun up in the same fashion and purge the bottles in a similar fashion and still use a spring loaded tip somehow to fill the bottles. I haven't completely looked at that as a possibility yet but holding the beer gun to keg is a pain and I think a hard mount would greatly benefit me on a bottling day. I bottle condition everything except high abv stuff right now. I plan on doing a couple lagers this winter and will certainly use the beer gun and force carbing to bottle them though. It's funny that as a diehard bottling guy I have 98% of what I need for draft beer, I just never bought and installed a faucet.

 

[TNGabe]

This is turning into another bottle vs keg threads. I think they both have advantages and if you don't do both there's nothing wrong, I just think you kinda handcuff yourself. For example, if I was trying to brew a Belgian clone, it makes sense to bottle condition to get the same authentic experience. Now if I'm making a Munich Helles and I want it crystal clear with no sediment, a keg gives you more versatility. You can cold crash and draw off the yeast and then bottle or even filter. They both have their place and to dismiss one or the other seems silly.

Couldn't agree more....I never said anything bad about kegging and yet it's defenders have come forward to save us bottlers from our wicked ways!

Bottled 10 gallons yesterday, I think it took me 3 episodes of Dr Who, not coungting my nap in between batches. Did one batch in 12s and 22s, the other in .5L and 1l flip tops. The second batch is a saison, should be around 3.5 volumes CO2. Looking forward to hearing the 'pop' when I flip them open.

 

[psymonkey]

I keg my beer for the most part. I can handle four cornies in my kegerator, but only have two on draft at a time through the tower (thinking of adding a couple of party hoses so I can have four available) My observation is that kegging is only superior to bottling if you can have a ton of variety on tap, which takes up a lot of space and gets really expensive. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kegged beer, and having beer on draft at all times. And the process, how could one not love that over cleaning, sanitizing, filling, capping and storing that many bottles? But that magic of having a dozen different types of beer beautifully aged and conditioned in the bottle is priceless. Yes, bottling is a pain in the butt in comparison. And, at one time I had a dozen cases of beer stacked in my dining room and it was getting a bit tacky to SWMBO, but we both agree that for us, bottling is where it's at. If I could only have one option, for all the extra work it would be bottles. We're most-likely going to switch back to bottling most batches, and keeping a few basic house-beers on tap. I can't sing the praises of kegging enough, but it isn't flat out superior to me as with the either/or zealots on this site. A combination of the two is where it's at, at least for this household. It's hard to understand how folks can be SO extremist on the subject..

Now, if I can ever convince the wife to let me build a 12 draft system, I might come back singing another tune but for most folks that isn't a viable option.

 

[beaksnbeer]

I keg my beer for the most part. I can handle four cornies in my kegerator, but only have two on draft at a time through the tower (thinking of adding a couple of party hoses so I can have four available) My observation is that kegging is only superior to bottling if you can have a ton of variety on tap, which takes up a lot of space and gets really expensive. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kegged beer, and having beer on draft at all times. And the process, how could one not love that over cleaning, sanitizing, filling, capping and storing that many bottles? But that magic of having a dozen different types of beer beautifully aged and conditioned in the bottle is priceless. Yes, bottling is a pain in the butt in comparison. And, at one time I had a dozen cases of beer stacked in my dining room and it was getting a bit tacky to SWMBO, but we both agree that for us, bottling is where it's at. If I could only have one option, for all the extra work it would be bottles. We're most-likely going to switch back to bottling most batches, and keeping a few basic house-beers on tap. I can't sing the praises of kegging enough, but it isn't flat out superior to me as with the either/or zealots on this site. A combination of the two is where it's at, at least for this household. It's hard to understand how folks can be SO extremist on the subject..

Now, if I can ever convince the wife to let me build a 12 draft system, I might come back singing another tune but for most folks that isn't a viable option.

Amen

 

[beersk]

^ that's hilarious!

I like bottling. Someone mentioned earlier in the thread about using a keg as the bottling "bucket" instead of the traditional bucket. I've done this too and really like it. I feel much better knowing my beer is in a pressurized system while I'm bottling and that everything is much easier to sanitize than the spigot and bucket.
I also like having kegged beer. I have a 2 tap kegerator and want more variety so I bottle a batch here and there. I've got like 4 or 5 batches in bottles right now, it's pretty cool.

 

[moski]

I like bottling and it just makes sense for me. I can have multiple beers bottled and just have a few in the fridge at a time versus an 8 tap kegerator taking up room. And bottling has a kind of Zen aspect to it.

 

[kh54s10]

I have been bottling for 2 years. I have just purchased a 2 keg system, yet to arrive. I plan to keg a batch and if any is left when the next batch is ready I will bottle what is left in the lowest keg to free up the keg for the new brew.

BTW I don't really like or hate bottling. It has been what I have had to do so far.

 

[LoloMT7]

I like to keg ipa, blondes, and stouts. All of my belgian beers get bottled though. I like to let them sit a few months before drinking them

 

[Felixio]

I can only bottle at the moment, but I would love to get my hands on a keg and a bottling gun. I want to be able to force carb sodas and then bottle them for my dad who loves quality craft root beer.

 

[lgilmore]

I think the love or hate about bottling comes down to how you go about it. I read the bottling sticky in this forum and then added some touches for my setup. For me, in my kitchen layout, it works great to bottle. Bottling takes anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes depending on the size of bottles I use. This counts the ten minutes active prep at the sink with a bottle washer, then filling above the dishwasher which holds the clean bottles), the capping and the clean up. Just put music on and start rolling.

The big thing I made sure was to make everything as comfortable as possible. I put my bottling bucket (no hose style) on top of a stock pot which allows me to sit in a chair and sit normally and fill bottles to which I set on a nearby counter and bottle there. It doesn't take long, doesn't hurt my back and cleans up by closing the dishwasher door.

I think if you find bottling a drag, take a look at how you're going about it and the layout you're working with. Would an adjustment here or there, change things for you?

 

[jmcquesten]

Best improvement I made to my bottling process was adding a second spigot to my bottling bucket. It cost $4 for this mod and required a 1" hole to be drilled, and cuts filling time in half. Each spigot has a filler wand attached with a 1" piece of racking tubing. That, along with a bottle tree and vinator(pump sanitizer), really makes bottling day pretty quick. After capping with the bench capper, 25 bottles go in each milk crate and get sprayed off with the hose to clean any sticky overflow off. Once dry, they get stacked in the closet for a few weeks before cooling and drinking. Emptys go back in crates until it's time to do it again.

 

[Yesfan]

Now that I have been kegging the past few months, I still share the same views for bottling. I think for some beers, I'll just split a 5 gallon batch to a 2.5 gallon keg and and bottles. This not only gives me the option to have some bottle brew to go to a friend's house, but the smaller kegs will let me double the variety on tap.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

I´m kegging now but I still love bottling, I always end up with 6 gallons batches (or 12) so I can compare the same beer bottle conditioned or kegged, there is some differences, I prefer the kegeed for my hoppy beers and english styles; belgians, bigger beers, saisons I prefer them in bottles.

 

[jonmohno]

I fit in to this thread as well. I bought a small keg a while ago.Im a small (er) batch brewer. I love being able to pull a bottle or two out of storage to have and not worry about how long my keg will last or when I can put my next batch in it. Although I dont "really" worry about it. I do like the keg and its nice not to have to tell people how to pour a glass of homebrew by having a keg. I guess I just appreciate more the evolving of beer in a bottle by storing them. I got the best of both worlds though, a small keg that lasts a long time from moderate use and plenty of pipeline.

 

[shelly_belly]

I keg and then bottle from the keg. It's a race to get as many bottled as I can before I drink it all up. Bottles are easier to give away and to keep variety long term.