Saison, keg or bottle?

[eppo]

Would you bottle or keg it?

 

[dwarven_stout]

I'd do whichever I felt like.

 

[eppo]

Lol.
Ok, what would you do.... Do bottles even hold at 3-3.5 volumes?

 

[shoreman]

I've done both and enjoyed the bottles more - just can't get that carbonation level in the keg

 

[Grumpybumpy]

It would be easier to age a portion in bottles. They only get better

 

[eppo]

Ah, wasn't sure, it was a style that needed our benefited from aging.

 

[beergolf]

I usually do 1/2 in 12 oz botlles to drink up, then bottle the other half in 22 oz bottles to age.

 

[dwarven_stout]

I've done both and enjoyed the bottles more - just can't get that carbonation level in the keg

I don't know why. I've certainly had no trouble.

I typically keg, then bottle the last gallon or so out of the keg.

 

[pm5k00]

Did you do any bulk aging already? If not then personally I would bottle, unless you have extra kegs that you don't mind not tapping for awhile. I have made a few Saisons and will not start to drink them until the 6 month mark. YMMV.

 

[eppo]

Did you do any bulk aging already? If not then personally I would bottle, unless you have extra kegs that you don't mind not tapping for awhile. I have made a few Saisons and will not start to drink them until the 6 month mark. YMMV.

No, I didnt even brew the beer yet actually, i'm doing it on Saturday. I was just wondering this, so i figured i would post it.
So it seems like people like to age this, so i think i'm just going to bottle it. Just thought it would be nice to keg it, seems like it would be a nice Drought beer.
Hmm, i guess this would be an excuse to brew another one.....
Amazing that i have been brewing for over 3 years, and still get excited to brew new styles, or even a new batch..... Maybe some Blood orange Wheat!

 

[Seven]

Lately I've been kegging about 85 percent of each beer and bottling the rest. I prefer kegging but it's also nice to have some saved in bottles so it can be enjoyed later after some aging. Bottles are also easy to give out to others as gifts and people always seem to appreciate this.

 

[thughes]

I bottle mine and park 'em in the basement for several months. They are definitely better with some cellaring time (IMNSHO).

 

[Homebrewtastic]

I like my saisons hoppy. So I prefer them relatively young. But I do prefer them bottled than on tap.

 

[dchmela]

I just did a Saison and will be kegging about 3.5-4 gallons and bottling the rest. I like them fresh, aged.... however I can get them. It like to have a few bottles to share at tastings or whatnot, but I hate bottling entire batches. Kegging is just so damn easy.

 

[BigRob]

I have no problems getting my saison to 3.2-3.5 volumes in a keg, but I use a 15' beer line for my kegged saisons and hefes. I usually have enough leftover beer (I make 6 gal batches) to bottle a half dozen or so in champagne bottles.

 

[eppo]

So if your doing both, do you siphon to a bottling bucket, add sugar like your bottling the whole batch, then put some in a keg, and bottle the rest?
Or do you keg what you plan on, then add the appropriate amount of sugar to whats left over?
Just curious, usually i just do one or the other, with the exception of a batch i did for a comp, where i added sugar to each bottle and kegged the rest.

 

[shoreman]

I don't know why. I've certainly had no trouble. I typically keg, then bottle the last gallon or so out of the keg.

You just can't get the volumes of CO2 into the keg than you can in a bottle - that's one of the main reasons Belgian Brewers bottle their beer - you won't see alot of trappist beers on Tap.

 

[shoreman]

I have no problems getting my saison to 3.2-3.5 volumes in a keg, but I use a 15' beer line for my kegged saisons and hefes. I usually have enough leftover beer (I make 6 gal batches) to bottle a half dozen or so in champagne bottles.

Do you have issues with foaming? whenever I've tried to get proper carb levels on my belgian beers I will be foaming the pour - then what happens is you loose most of the carbonation out of the beer - ending up with just regular carb levels for say a pale ale.

 

[bruin_ale]

You can get whatever volumes of CO2 you want into the keg, nice thing is you don't have to worry about bottle bombs. The foaming issue is a line balance problem - if you're carbonated to 4 atm, you better have 10-15 feet of 3/16" line to counter the pressure or you'll get a glass full of foam. I've used the swizzle sticks in the diptube thing to some success, but thinking about getting a perlick flow control faucet (545) to see if that works better.

 

[shoreman]

You can get whatever volumes of CO2 you want into the keg, nice thing is you don't have to worry about bottle bombs. The foaming issue is a line balance problem - if you're carbonated to 4 atm, you better have 10-15 feet of 3/16" line to counter the pressure or you'll get a glass full of foam. I've used the swizzle sticks in the diptube thing to some success, but thinking about getting a perlick flow control faucet (545) to see if that works better.

That's interesting. I've had a bunch of Belgian beers on Tap at the Publik House in Brookline, MA and they just don't compare to the bottle version in mouthfeel and carbonation...maybe its me, but Ill be bottle all my Belgian beers outside of a Wit - recently had a Golden Ale in the 6% range on tap and wish I bottled it.

 

[Seven]

So if your doing both, do you siphon to a bottling bucket, add sugar like your bottling the whole batch, then put some in a keg, and bottle the rest?
Or do you keg what you plan on, then add the appropriate amount of sugar to whats left over?
Just curious, usually i just do one or the other, with the exception of a batch i did for a comp, where i added sugar to each bottle and kegged the rest.

I clean and sanitize about 4 Grolsch bottles then just before racking from the fermentor to the keg I fill the Grolsch bottles, add Cooper's carb drops to the bottles, then seal them up. I transfer the rest to the keg where it can be force carbed or naturally carbed with priming sugar. Simple and painless.

 

[Budzu]

A keg itself does not make high carbonation difficult. Its the pour.
True its hard to get kegs to pour high carbonation without losing it all on the pour. There is a trick though... use a much longer draft line. And as thin as you can get. Recommend 15 feet of 3/16 ID, maybe more, it will maintain much more carbonation into the glass. The pour is slowed down by line resistance, allowing you to keep higher pressure on the keg at all times.

Another trick I've used is to bleed the excess pressure from the keg before pouring, then dispensing by gravity with a picnic faucet (very slow) before re-pressurizing the keg.

Still prefer bottles though as you can pour as slowly as you want. For belgians I carbonate in kegs at 30 psi, then carefully beergun them into frozen bottles and cap.