Kegging is... AMAZING

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Hey all, I'm on my tenth batch, all all-grain, I love juicy hop-forward beers so that's what I've been brewing... but I notice the beers are getting destroyed by the bottling process. Weakened aroma and flavor, very one dimensional. So I took the dive and just bought some kegs and a freezer...

I am tapping an 8% IPA with Green Bullet, Nelson, and dry hopped in the keg with Galaxy, and I can't even believe what is coming into my glass. It is like all the most beautiful beer dreams I've ever had coming true at once. The aroma and the fruity explosion on the palette. Wow... So satisfying.

Just needed to say out loud how amazing it is!!!! I love brewing, I think about it way too often and I know y'all can relate!!!

 

[NathPowe]

Yup, that'll happen.

Congrats on the new setup. They're really nice to have.

Cheers.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Yep.

 

[beersk]

Congrats. Just so you know, it's palate, not palette. Palette is for painters. Pallet is for fork lifts. Palate is your tongue, nose, general sense of smell and taste.

Cheers. Kegging is awesome, but bottling definitely has its place. I like to do both.

 

[Hello]

Of all the frivolous purchases I have made in the last year, the kegging setup has by far been the best frivolous purchase I have made.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Congrats. Just so you know, it's palate, not palette. Palette is for painters. Pallet is for fork lifts. Palate is your tongue, nose, general sense of smell and taste.

Cheers. Kegging is awesome, but bottling definitely has its place. I like to do both.

I think I have an above average command of the language, so I am surprised and displeased by the mistake!!!! :cross: you are certainly right though, and if you asked me to spell the forklift kind of pallet I may have been unsure for a moment...

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

And yes bottling certainly has its place. I think kegging is just a one-up one you have hop-loaded brews. Anything else I would bottle, like my last Cream of 3 Crops, which was fantastic.

 

[beersk]

And yes bottling certainly has its place. I think kegging is just a one-up one you have hop-loaded brews. Anything else I would bottle, like my last Cream of 3 Crops, which was fantastic.

Well, it depends on your preference for hoppy beers. What about all the hoppy beers on the market that are bottled? Are we doing something they're not? It's beer in a bottle, sitting on shelves...
I've never had Founder's All Day IPA on draft, have you? That beer is outstanding...and it's in a bottle.
Either way, it's a matter of preference and I get annoyed when people say kegging is superior in every way.

 

[Homercidal]

Well, it depends on your preference for hoppy beers. What about all the hoppy beers on the market that are bottled? Are we doing something they're not? It's beer in a bottle, sitting on shelves...
I've never had Founder's All Day IPA on draft, have you? That beer is outstanding...and it's in a bottle.
Either way, it's a matter of preference and I get annoyed when people say kegging is superior in every way.

Generally I'd say that bottling is still a comparable method of packaging to kegging, except for the convenience of filling.

However, I must interject and say that IN MY EXPERIENCE, kegging kicks bottling for IPA styles.

I've had ADIPA in cans and I've had it on tap and just like every other strongly hopped beer from Founders, Bells, Arcadia, and many other breweries, plus homebrew, the kegged version was easily better tasting. Fresher, more hoppy, and just tastier.

The same thing happens at home. I've even dryhopped and kegged, and for long-lasting hp flavor and aroma, nothing was as good as when I started dry hopping in the keg. It takes me a couple of months to empty a keg, so I have had plenty of opportunity for comparison.

For other types of beers, I haven't really seen a huge difference in taste. Especially for malty beers.

 

[BigFloppy]

However, I must interject and say that IN MY EXPERIENCE, kegging kicks bottling for IPA styles.

Ah, but have you tried bottling FROM the keg?

 

[Homercidal]

Ah, but have you tried bottling FROM the keg?

Only all the time!

But in those cases the beer was drank pretty quickly. Giving it to friends, taking to parties, etc. I've done this for a few beers for competitions, but I am not sure I've ever sent a hoppy beer to a comp from the keg.

I kind of stopped entering comps due to time and effort constraints. The few I've entered the past couple of years were for other styles. The American Pale Ale categories are very crowded these days. I don't think we're over the hop fad.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Well, it depends on your preference for hoppy beers. What about all the hoppy beers on the market that are bottled? Are we doing something they're not? It's beer in a bottle, sitting on shelves...
I've never had Founder's All Day IPA on draft, have you? That beer is outstanding...and it's in a bottle.
Either way, it's a matter of preference and I get annoyed when people say kegging is superior in every way.

Never said superior in every way! But for hops it definitely has an advantage, IF ONLY by lessening oxygen exposure. I have too much empirical evidence to feel otherwise.

And by the way, most of last year All Day IPA was $2 pints on Tuesdays :rockin: