Pros and Cons Bottling vs Kegging...

[DeathBrewer]

kegging

Pros: faster in all respects, easier to pull a pint, easier to clean/sanitize, you can still dispense into bottles with the proper equipment
Cons: gets finished faster, more expensive

bottling

Pros: easy to give bottles to friends, ready for competitions that require bottles, only way to go for certain bottle-conditioned beers (all my strong ales are bottle-conditioned), practically free if you reuse commercial bottles
Cons: PITA, takes forever and you have to be careful with your sugar and conditioning

 

[Philip1993]

For the most part I agree with Yopper but I can think of one other con to kegging. I take my beers a lot of places to share with friends and kegging is bulky to haul around. You can buy or rig a gun to bottle from a keg but for me it's just as easy to bottle directly. For me it's not one or the other, I keg and I bottle depending on the end purpose of the beer I am brewing.

Just from your post I can tell you do not have a BMBF...

A downside of kegging is not knowing how many you had the night before!

Nah. Just like bottles, you look around and see how many empties are laying around...

 

[BrewRI]

I've been looking into kegging recently and the convenience factor is pretty much convincing me to get a kegging system I just don't know anything about kegging at all. I looked at AHS's kegging outfits with the corny kegs but I don't really understand a lot of the equipment.

1) How big of a CO2 tank do you guys use? I was looking to get the 5 lb one for money reasons, how long can I expect this to last on a 5 gallon keg. Does the CO2 gradually flow into the keg or does it go in at the same rate your pour beer from the tap?

2) What's the difference between a dual guage economy regulator and a dual body triple gauge?

3) Why do people say you need a seperate fridge to start kegging. I have a bunch of plastic bins I just fill with snow to keep the kegs cold for a night, is temperature control THAT important for kegging your own beers?

4) How did you guys start kegging and what do you think the best course to take is (DIY or kit etc..)

 

[dobeluvr]

1. 5 and 20 lbs 5lbs fits into keezer, but it only cost $1 more to fill the 20lber, I believe it is said to be able to push 4-5 kegs, however it does vary as to frequency and method of cleaning, force carbonating. Co2 flows the same as air going into your car tire, it is faster at first, but as the pressure equalizes it will slow down, draw a little beer out, a litte co2 flows
2.dual gauge refers to a gauge on both the primary and secondary side (hi and lo pressure), dual body I believes has 2 low pressure regulators with a gauge on the primary side and a gauge on each of the secondaries
3. ease, snow may eventually freeze the keg, be a hassle, do you have much snow in the summer
4. depends on your mechanical ability and comfort level, kits are easier, diy allows for greater flexibility

 

[BrewRI]

Sounds good, I'm lookin on craigslist and ebay now for a good deal on a 20lb tank.

 

[remilard]

I wouldn't discourage you at all from starting with a 5lb tank because while I agree that you will ultimately want the biggest tank you fit in your kegerator, you will want the spare 5lb tank anyway (as a backup when the big one runs out, to take places, to transfer beer under pressure, to purge kegs before filling).

 

[BrewRI]

Not a bad point. The only semi-timeline I have is by fall semester in 2010 so instead of having people pay 5 bucks for a cup from a keystone light keg they can have 1 of 5 of w/e I have on tap. The house I'm looking at has a wetbar too . So maybe getting the 5lb for now and getting the 20lb after summer would make sense.

 

[waldoar15]

I keg 1/2 and bottle 1/2. Bottles are nice and portable.

 

[jpb5151]

I looked at the prospect of bottling 2 zillion 12-oz bottles per batch, so I bought some 1L flip-top bottles. I can fill 13-16 really quickly and be done with it. Then I stash a couple in the fridge door for the weekends.

 

[triangulum33]

One issue I have with kegging is where to put the keezer/fridge? We have a large house, but there is nowhere to put the keezer that would keep SWMBO happy. Except the garage. Go to the garage every time to get a pint? And, no way would she let me spend $$$$$$$ and time on a nice wood trimmed bar/keezer.

I looked at the prospect of bottling 2 zillion 12-oz bottles per batch, so I bought some 1L flip-top bottles. I can fill 13-16 really quickly and be done with it. Then I stash a couple in the fridge door for the weekends.

I've used a few of the Ikea 1L(34oz) flip bottles and they worked well. My bottles are always in a sealed bin or cupboard, so I dont care about the clear glass.

 

[Sea]

1 vote for kegging hands down. Now that I know about the BMBF, I see no cons whatsoever. Yeah it's a little more expensive, but so is every upgrade in this hobby. If you are patient, equipment will come to you over time. Over the years I've been given 3 cornies, 3 different size CO2 tanks, a dual gauge regulator, and three faucets.

One issue I have with kegging is where to put the keezer/fridge? We have a large house, but there is nowhere to put the keezer that would keep SWMBO happy. Except the garage. Go to the garage every time to get a pint? And, no way would she let me spend $$$$$$$ and time on a nice wood trimmed keezer.

There is a plus side to having your keezer in the garage. it's close to your equipment, and any time you go to the garage for any other reason, you can have a small/large pull of homebrew without anyone noticing.

 

[triangulum33]

There is a plus side to having your keezer in the garage. it's close to your equipment, and any time you go to the garage for any other reason, you can have a small/large pull of homebrew without anyone noticing.

True! If you spend a lot of time in the garage, you got beer right there.

 

[Sea]

True! If you spend a lot of time in the garage, you got beer right there.

Honey, have you seen the (fill in the blank)? I'd better go check in the garage.

 

[Keff]

I brew with a friend and split our beer down the middle. He keeps the keg in his garage fridge and I bottle with the BMBF to take my share home or stop by and take it to parties. I am at his house most days anyways with his attached 1100 sq ft. garage to do projects and generally hang out. I love having a kegging system and starting my own keezer project soon. He pulled off the tap every now and then and realized he had blown through the red ale we recently made. I only got about a gallon of it. He said it was to easy to just keep drinking. Lol. I get more of the brown we have going in this week to make up for my loss. Kegging is soooooo easy. Saving time is worth the extra money we shelled out for the system.