To Keg Or Go All Grain First?

[B0rnFrustr8ed]

FWIW, I am fairly new to brewing and I am in the process of going to kegging first. I've done a small BIAB AG brew, and I figure 2-3 gallons of AG batches along with my 5 gallon extract batches will work just fine for now.

I was planning on upgrading to bigger and better brewing equipment first, but then I realized the bottleneck that would occur on the storage end. If you have room to ferment, lager/cold crash, and store large quantities of beer already, go for AG first.

 

[CPORT546]

I would just jump right in and do both. AG is really much simpler than people make it out to be, and it doesn't have to be expensive. If you already have a decent pot, just add a cooler mash tun or go BIAB and you're set.

My suggestion is to just start collecting equipment for both whenever you find good deals.

The pot issue will for sure have to be addressed. I'm debating whether or not do this on the stove/will the stove be powerful enough to boil a full 5 gal batch? That means just buying the pot. Or I can use the pot from a turkey fryer setup. My main concern with turkey fryer is there are stairs from my kitchen to the back yard so it would be easier overall to stay in the kitchen... I think. I also would have to lug 5 gal of beer back up the stairs to store it for fermenting.

 

[ksbrain]

I did AG first, because I wanted "more control" over the process. I'm not sure if that mattered for me, given the styles I was brewing at the time. I did kegging about a year later.

AG is good if you want to save money on raw materials and/or you want to make odd styles you can't make with extract.

Kegging is good if you're sick of bottling and/or drink most of your beer at home.

They're really two completely different agendas.

Honestly if I were to go back, I'd probably do kegging first, because I don't make many beer styles you couldn't do with extract, I'm lazy so I don't like bottling, I drink almost all the beer I make, and bottling right off the tap into a soda bottle works great for me.

BUT if you want to make special beer that you don't think you can do with extract, OR if you want to save a lot of money on ingredients AND you also want to face a new learning curve, you could go with AG.

Wow that was monumentally long and un-useful. Sorry. Good luck!

 

[pavs]

I agree with the bottling part. I just have my friends come over and drink. I found some great prices online for 1/2 gallon growlers. They were like 7 bucks a piece. Plus my local brewery sells thier beer in growlers so that s like a 2 for 1, sweet delicious beer to drink then a reusable growler. I just fills those up and off I go. Never bottle again!

 

[Mustangfreak]

I went keg first since I'm in an apartment.