Kegging or bottling

[trock577]

What makes for a better tasting beer. When you keg it. Or bottle it.


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[Valtyr]

I've had beers that turned out great both ways. I think it's more of a personal preference. I prefer kegging more for the convenience of it.

 

[Pontiac_Guy]

If I had the choice I would make the switch to kegging and never look back... I just don't want to bite that financial bullet. Maybe in a few more years...

With kegging you get the added bonus of force carbing where your beer is drinkable faster than the 2-3 week wait we must endure with bottling

 

[RM-MN]

Bottling gets you better tasting beer because you tend to leave most of the bottles out at room temp or cellar temp until a day or so before you drink them. That gives the beer more time to mature and clean up any off flavors. Those who keg rarely get to taste a properly matured beer because they put the keg in the cooler immediately and think their beer is the best it can be. While this is true with wheat beers and highly hopped beers, darker beers continue to improve for many months.

 

[trock577]

Can you leave your keg of beer out of the fridge while force carbonating it to give it time to mature?


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[geoffm33]

You could also batch prime in the keg, leave it at room temperature. Get the same perceived benefits of bottle conditioning, while have the convenience of keg serving.

 

[RM-MN]

Can you leave your keg of beer out of the fridge while force carbonating it to give it time to mature?


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Sure you could, theoretically, but which of you beer guzzlers can wait when you have beer in the keg? Wait 6 to 12 months? I don' think so. Some of my stouts have been in the bottle for over 2 years. Want to tie up a keg that long?

 

[beersk]

I think they both have their advantages. Kegging is cool and easy, but bottling is also cool and not that difficult if you get a good process down. Plus, it seems more personal to open a bottle of beer or give a bottle to someone. And I often miss the psst sound from opening a bottle. People will say, "Oh, but you can pour any amount you want when you keg, you don't have to force yourself to drink a whole bottle." Yeah, that's true, but I never just want 2 or 6 or 8 ounces of beer. I want a pint. I almost always pour pints, rarely more or less. And if you can't drink a whole bottle, maybe you shouldn't have a beer at that moment, maybe?
I've already got a sweet kegging setup, but wouldn't hesitate to go back to bottling if I had to. I want to get a collection of Sam Smith and Euro style bottles and I'd brew smaller batches so I could brew more often. Saying kegging is absolutely better is just not correct. Sure are lots of bottled beers in stores. I do a mix of bottling and kegging just because I like both.

 

[Setesh]

Bottling gets you better tasting beer because you tend to leave most of the bottles out at room temp or cellar temp until a day or so before you drink them. That gives the beer more time to mature and clean up any off flavors. Those who keg rarely get to taste a properly matured beer because they put the keg in the cooler immediately and think their beer is the best it can be. While this is true with wheat beers and highly hopped beers, darker beers continue to improve for many months.

Just because you keg doesn't mean you can't also bottle. I bottle anything that needs lots of aging and keg everything else. I know a lot of others do this as well. Generally the rule I use is 1.060 and above gets bottled unless it's a hop forward beer like an IPA that needs be be consumed young. This is the best of both worlds. It frees up keg space and lets you age the bigguns.

 

[beersk]

Just because you keg doesn't mean you can't also bottle. I bottle anything that needs lots of aging and keg everything else. I know a lot of others do this as well. Generally the rule I use is 1.060 and above gets bottled unless it's a hop forward beer like an IPA that needs be be consumed young. This is the best of both worlds. It frees up keg space and lets you age the bigguns.

That's a pretty good rule of thumb. Also, one thing that's nice about bottling is you can carbonate each batch to style. You can with kegs, but you have to shell out the dough for a crazy regulator setup.
I like to bottle my hefes so I can keep some of the yeast in there and drink the beer mit hefe.

 

[geoffm33]

That's a pretty good rule of thumb. Also, one thing that's nice about bottling is you can carbonate each batch to style. You can with kegs, but you have to shell out the dough for a crazy regulator setup.
I like to bottle my hefes so I can keep some of the yeast in there and drink the beer mit hefe.

You are correct in saying that kegging is more expensive than bottling. But with kegging, it's actually an easier and more precise way to match carbonation to style. Temperature/PSI will get you an exact level of CO2 into solution. If you overshoot or undershoot, you can fix it. Not as easy with bottles.

 

[beersk]

That's true, but unless you have only 1 keg, you have to get a multiple regulator setup which is something I'm not interested in. I have a 4 way manifold, which is enough of a hassle. Then you have to worry about line length or you'll get super foamy pours for, say, if you want to carbonate a hefeweizen to 3 volumes of co2. There are complications, it's not all easy peasy.

 

[geoffm33]

That's true, but unless you have only 1 keg, you have to get a multiple regulator setup which is something I'm not interested in. I have a 4 way manifold, which is enough of a hassle. Then you have to worry about line length or you'll get super foamy pours for, say, if you want to carbonate a hefeweizen to 3 volumes of co2. There are complications, it's not all easy peasy.

Very true.

 

[hunter_le five]

Sure you could, theoretically, but which of you beer guzzlers can wait when you have beer in the keg? Wait 6 to 12 months? I don' think so. Some of my stouts have been in the bottle for over 2 years. Want to tie up a keg that long?

I age my beers in the keg. Maybe not for a year or two (I don't tend brew styles that merit that much aging), but it's not unusual for me to set a keg aside for several months after I've carbed it up. I guess it really depends on how many kegs you're willing to invest in. For me, the key is to build up a pipeline so you have other stuff to drink while you're waiting.

That said, I didn't brew all winter, so now my pipeline is f***ed. I went from 3 kegs on tap, some bottles, and 2 kegs aging down to nothing. Trying to rebuild it now....

 

[RM-MN]

I age my beers in the keg. Maybe not for a year or two (I don't tend brew styles that merit that much aging), but it's not unusual for me to set a keg aside for several months after I've carbed it up. I guess it really depends on how many kegs you're willing to invest in. For me, the key is to build up a pipeline so you have other stuff to drink while you're waiting.

That said, I didn't brew all winter, so now my pipeline is f***ed. I went from 3 kegs on tap, some bottles, and 2 kegs aging down to nothing. Trying to rebuild it now....

Mine is the opposite. I brewed my last beer until November last Friday. What I have in bottles has to keep me going until then. Best of luck getting the pipeline refilled.

 

[beersk]

Mine is the opposite. I brewed my last beer until November last Friday. What I have in bottles has to keep me going until then. Best of luck getting the pipeline refilled.

I don't know how you guys do it. Not brewing for more than about a month drives me up the wall. I kind of want to start brewing smaller than 4 gallon batches so I can brew every weekend or 3 out of 4 weekends of the month. I wouldn't keg if I brewed anything smaller than 3 gallons. I often contemplate moving to 2.5 gallon batches because it equates to a case of 12oz beers. I could brew a lot more often and have the variety. But, I've got a sweet kegging setup, I feel obligated to use it. And when I see it sitting there, beckoning me, I feel obligated to pour a beer. Decisions, decisions...

 

[trock577]

Thanks everybody for your input. I guess I'm just gonna do both. Ill keg for easy consumption and keep bottles on deck for when i run out


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[Clonefan94]

I age my beers in the keg. Maybe not for a year or two (I don't tend brew styles that merit that much aging), but it's not unusual for me to set a keg aside for several months after I've carbed it up. I guess it really depends on how many kegs you're willing to invest in. For me, the key is to build up a pipeline so you have other stuff to drink while you're waiting.

That said, I didn't brew all winter, so now my pipeline is f***ed. I went from 3 kegs on tap, some bottles, and 2 kegs aging down to nothing. Trying to rebuild it now....

This is my exact situation. At least with the aging. I rarely throw a keg right on tap immediately after kegging, unless it's a hoppier style. I have a brown ale that's been sitting at room temp for about 3 weeks now after it was kegged. It's all in building a good pipeline. In general though, I don't really find a need to let my beers sit that long. I generally don't brew a lot of styles anyways that you would want to age.

As far as curing off flavors as someone mentioned above, I find the easiest solution to that, is not brewing beer with off flavors. I'm not trying to be an ass with this, but I really think it's true that if you are using proper techniques, proper pitch rates and temperature control, you shouldn't have off flavors to worry about aging out of a beer.

 

[Randy64]

I don't know how you guys do it. Not brewing for more than about a month drives me up the wall. I kind of want to start brewing smaller than 4 gallon batches so I can brew every weekend or 3 out of 4 weekends of the month. I wouldn't keg if I brewed anything smaller than 3 gallons. I often contemplate moving to 2.5 gallon batches because it equates to a case of 12oz beers. I could brew a lot more often and have the variety. But, I've got a sweet kegging setup, I feel obligated to use it. And when I see it sitting there, beckoning me, I feel obligated to pour a beer. Decisions, decisions...

I just started brewing 1.5 gal batches for variety and education. Sometimes when you brew a style you've not tried you dont want 5 gal of it. I prefer the Keg it. Carb it. Bottle it.

 

[RM-MN]

I don't know how you guys do it. Not brewing for more than about a month drives me up the wall. I kind of want to start brewing smaller than 4 gallon batches so I can brew every weekend or 3 out of 4 weekends of the month. I wouldn't keg if I brewed anything smaller than 3 gallons. I often contemplate moving to 2.5 gallon batches because it equates to a case of 12oz beers. I could brew a lot more often and have the variety. But, I've got a sweet kegging setup, I feel obligated to use it. And when I see it sitting there, beckoning me, I feel obligated to pour a beer. Decisions, decisions...

Try becoming a small farmer and do all your own mechanic work. When the snow melts (if it ever does) it's 10 to 12 hour days, seven days a week until the crop is in and the weeds are under control and all equipment is fixed and waiting for harvest. There are no weekends as planting season starts. By the time I am caught up, my fermenting area will be too warm and I'll be off on vacation.

 

[Hulud]

I keg and bottle from the kegs if I want to mature or give out bottles or just clear out a keg to fill with something else

 

[Andrew862]

I do both. Keg for hoppy beers. Bottles for darker beers. As mentioned in this thread, the keg weeks well for beers that don't age, like IPAs. I also dry hop in the keg typically. Stouts and black IPAs normally get bottled and remain in the cellar until a week before I want to drink them.


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[Calichusetts]

I don't know how you guys do it. Not brewing for more than about a month drives me up the wall. I kind of want to start brewing smaller than 4 gallon batches so I can brew every weekend or 3 out of 4 weekends of the month. I wouldn't keg if I brewed anything smaller than 3 gallons. I often contemplate moving to 2.5 gallon batches because it equates to a case of 12oz beers. I could brew a lot more often and have the variety. But, I've got a sweet kegging setup, I feel obligated to use it. And when I see it sitting there, beckoning me, I feel obligated to pour a beer. Decisions, decisions...

This is my thoughts exactly...less quantity, more diversity. To each his own, but I love smaller batches for this reason

 

[beersk]

This is my thoughts exactly...less quantity, more diversity. To each his own, but I love smaller batches for this reason

I just wish I could commit and do it. But I've got the kegerator, my stepdad helped me build a sweet collar for it...and I'm used to my process. Someday, I'm sure I'll scale back as it's very appealing to me. I'd do both if I had the fermentation space probably. But, I'm an all or nothing kind of person, so I'd probably end up doing one or the other.

 

[the-crowing]

Anyone have issues with carbing in the keg cold, bottling, and aging at cellar temps? Any issues with carbonation after a longer aging period?

 

[thegreatmaibockaddict]

I use my keg when I know its a beer that will be consumed by a whole bunch of people at one time in one place.

But as I need to divide my batch with my brewing assistant, and I am always taking beer places to share, it is easier to have beer ready to go in 1/2 liter or larger bottles.

My favorite part of bottling though, is that I love real cask ale, which is beer that is carbonated in a cask with an addition of wort and served gravity feed style while it is still fermenting at cellar temperatures (and I also like beer engine beer, but not quite as much). Therefore, when I bottle an English style brew of any sort, the partial carbonation period after 4 days give or take, is my favorite time to snag a couple of bottles and enjoy!