Who prefers bottling over kegging?

[theck]

Just started brewing again after being off ten years... Went straight to kegging. I always disliked bottling and wanted to keg back then but that was in my college days and money was spent on other things. I'm by no means rich but see the benefit and ease in kegging compared. I don't have a ton of bottles around now, empty and full, and it doesn't take hours to fill a keg which is the best when you have kids. I'm the only one drinking it really besides friends when they stop over and if I need to take it elsewhere I use a growler, or fill a friend's. To be honest I'm mostly brewing for me so not concerned about giving bottles to people. If I bring some to the brew shop I put it into a mason jar. Even though I just got back into brewing and only 8 batches in after a hiatus I will never go back to bottles.

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[mtnagel]

The great thing about kegging is that the beers will last a very long time in a dark, oxygen -free, temperature controlled environment.

Are you really saying kegging has an advantage of longevity over bottling??

Would you leave a beer in a keg for 10 years and then drink it? I'd leave a bottle that long. I think it was a Brew Dog bottle that had a 10 year "best by" date on it.

 

[ChuBru]

Are you really saying kegging has an advantage of longevity over bottling??

Would you leave a beer in a keg for 10 years and then drink it? I'd leave a bottle that long. I think it was a Brew Dog bottle that had a 10 year "best by" date on it.

Whats the difference?..a keg is a big bottle

 

[mtnagel]

Whats the difference?..a keg is a big bottle

Well I guess I don't know. I've just always heard that beer in a keg doesn't last forever. But I guess that was in reference to store bought kegs where you wouldn't have a way to add new CO2. So if you keep pressure on it, the beer in a keg stays fresh?

 

[Epimetheus]

Granted, kegging is better in every way (Wait, lemme put on my big, foam, We're #1 finger. Waves it around. That's better.) But right now I will stick with bottles because I don't want to get and maintain even more equipment. Yeah, I know it is many individual bottles. That is OK.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Well I guess I don't know. I've just always heard that beer in a keg doesn't last forever. But I guess that was in reference to store bought kegs where you wouldn't have a way to add new CO2. So if you keep pressure on it, the beer in a keg stays fresh?

it will be like bulk aging.

 

[Bulls Beers]

I only keg, except for a batch or two of Apfelwein a year. Bottling is a pain in the as s. I haven't bottled beer in many years.

 

[eastoak]

i started out bottling and thought i didn't want to deal with the complexity and hassle of kegs, regulators, gas and so on...until the first time i filled a keg in 5 min (or whatever minutes). i looked around the garage like, huh, i'm done? i sold all of my bottles for dirt cheap and gave away whatever didn't sell. instead of fixed taps i use those cobra/picnic taps or whatever they are called, easier to clean (i think, who knows?). if i want to give some beer away or take some with me i freeze a growler and fill right from the tap. sometimes it foams a bit but i just keep it floored until it's full. someone mentioned oxidation in bottled beer and i seem to be very sensitive to that flavor and imagined it in every bottled sip, not fun. all of my beer is 6% or less so i'm not going to age anything (i still bottle sour beer) it's all consumed cold and fresh.

 

[QuercusMax]

I just got a 5-tap system. I've bottled for 8 years. Kegging is awesome. It's New Year's Eve and my guests are pouring their own pints. My Dortminder, Black IPA, and Cherry Cyser are huge hits, and I poured 4-glass flights for 8 of my guests as they arrived.

For personal consumption bottles are just fine. Parties, not so much.

 

[Yooper]

Are you really saying kegging has an advantage of longevity over bottling??

Would you leave a beer in a keg for 10 years and then drink it? I'd leave a bottle that long. I think it was a Brew Dog bottle that had a 10 year "best by" date on it.

Sure. Since kegs are non-oxygen permeable like glass bottles, but you can top off with co2 to purge oxygen, maybe the beer in there would stay fresher, longer.

Also, glass bottles can let a bit of light through, but kegs don't.

I don't see any downside to kegging at all.

 

[mtnagel]

Got it. Makes sense.

This thread literally convinced me to start kegging! At least starting small. Already had 2 cornies that I got a deal on when I first started brewing 2 years ago (like $20 each) when I assumed I would keg, but didn't. And I just bought a dorm fridge on Craigslist for $70. Now for the rest of the stuff! I figure I'll keg 2 batches that we are likely to drink faster and bottle the ones that I expect to hang around longer. Then we'll take it from there.

 

[theck]

Got it. Makes sense.

This thread literally convinced me to start kegging! At least starting small. Already had 2 cornies that I got a deal on when I first started brewing 2 years ago (like $20 each) when I assumed I would keg, but didn't. And I just bought a dorm fridge on Craigslist for $70. Now for the rest of the stuff! I figure I'll keg 2 batches that we are likely to drink faster and bottle the ones that I expect to hang around longer. Then we'll take it from there.

Get more kegs now while reasonable... Seems like prices are going up.

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[JimRausch]

I haven't read through the whole post, so am just responding to the original question.
I just hit my 2-year anniversary and have done over 30 batches. I actually LIKE to bottle. I currently have about 14 batches in bottles that I can pick and choose from, depending on my mood. Couldn't have that many varieties on tap.Plus it makes it easy to gift friends with a 6 pack sampler.
However, since I've never even explored kegging, I can say nothing bad about it. Perhaps if I tried it, I'd like it. But for now at least, I LOVE bottling.

 

[thisisbeer]

I still don't understand why people say you can't have that many varieties on tap. I usually have four varieties on tap and a few more bottle conditioned. If I keg that gives me the opportunity to do both. Sometimes I even do a six gallon batch to put some in a keg and bottle some to give to a friend.

 

[sapper-nc]

I started brewing/bottling around 1991 and a little over 1 year ago started kegging. I have not bottled 1 beer since I started kegging. I thought I would, but filling growlers and pints has been all i needed. I brew alot more now that I keg too but it did cost some money and time to get things rolling. .. i will admit im a pack-rat and you would be surprised how much equipment i got for free just by asking my Facebook friends if they had any I could have.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

there is only one downside to kegging that I can think of: when the keg kicks. with bottles, you know exactly how much you have left. but I'm always caught off guard when the keg blows.

 

[newbies13]

If you forget about time to drink, and money, there is no reason to bottle as a primary way to carb your beer. If nothing else it's a huge investment in time and energy to wash and sanitize all those bottles and then fill and cap them.

I've always kegged, my first beer ever made went straight into a keg. But I do bottle some of the beer to give as gifts once it's carbed up. Also I sometimes make more beer than I have kegs, and need to bottle to make room.

But really, there is no sane reason to bottle over keg imo.

 

[newbies13]

People keep saying the only kegging downside is space and cost. Those are a couple big ones, but what about the extra work? How long does it take to clean a keg and the lines? What about mysterious CO2 leaks? Foaming?

I clean my bottles as I go. When it’s time to bottle, it takes me about an hour to bottle and cap two cases, from the time the priming sugar is dissolved to carboy soaking.

I think people that hate bottling must be doing it wrong. I know I was very happy when I threw my wing capper as far as I could. Also don’t bottle out of that stupid gurgling dripping bottle bucket spigot. Bottling over the dishwasher means no more sticky floors.

It seems to me I have a choice between staying with simple and reliable versus expensive and fussy.

Startup cost is certainly a factor, once you have the stuff it's pretty cheap. I would guess around .50/gal.

Cleaning the keg and the lines is not an issue though. Once it's empty just fill it up with soapy water, let it run through the lines, rinse and repeat with sanitizer. The whole process takes 5 minutes or less.

CO2 leaks are only a problem when you first set the system up, in my experience anyway. I certainly had to hunt down a couple, but once I solved it, it's been a non issue. And foam is usually solved by getting a longer beer line, which costs all of $3.

 

[MarsingRedneck]

Interesting responses. Keep em coming. I was initially curious if there are some who have the space, money, etc but just prefer to bottle for whatever reason. Myself, there's just something about a brown bottle of beer that is appealing.

PLUS, my wife will let me put a 6 pack of bottles in the fridg. I couldn't get away with putting a keg in our fridge so it would involve an additional cost not to mention the continuous purchase of CO2 Just saying....

 

[Rhumbline]

I'm certainly not a big time brewer, maybe a dozen extract recipes done last year. Maybe that's why kegging has no appeal for me.

I read the posts with seemingly dozens of issues regarding kegging. Pressure, leaks, hose length, nitrogen/co2, cleaning, etc. and that's just more of a commitment than I'm looking for. And I'm not interested in having a room in my house devoted to beer.

I make sure that there are a few beers in the fridge, but I've never been tempted to drink just one ounce of beer.

I'm not knocking kegging, it's just not worth considering for me.

 

[Beerbeque]

I have bottled all of my 177 batches of beer ( yeah, 177 batches) and have no plans to keg. I don't mind bottling at all and like having a few bottles of many previous batches that are well aged and hiding in the corners of my 3 refrigerators just waiting to be rediscovered.

 

[Zuljin]

Something just occurred to me. Bottlers are better home brewers than keggers, and bottled beer is better than kegged. Think about it.

Keggers rely on store bought CO2. We bottlers make our own. So, you keggers, enjoy your "commercial macro" CO2. We bottlers will be over here making our own. Yeah. We brew CO2. We control what it's made from. You keggers have no control at all. Hell, half the CO2 you buy in the store is actually butane anyway. Y'all may as well buy kegs of Red Dog. That's what it's going to taste like anyway.

Ha! Take that!

 

[mtnagel]

Nothing says you can't use priming sugar in a keg to carbonate there. Of course you still need CO2 to dispense it.

(I'm not even a kegger).

 

[rowan57]

I like bottle conditioned beers and I sort of like bottling. Cleaning and prepping bottles is piss easy for the most part. I drink 2-3 beers at a time of an evening. Bottles get rinsed and dumped in hot water before I go to bed, labels peel right off the next morning (any that don't, get recycled) then the bottles go in the dishwasher then into boxes for storage.

 

[mtnagel]

I like bottle conditioned beers and I sort of like bottling. Cleaning and prepping bottles is piss easy for the most part. I drink 2-3 beers at a time of an evening. Bottles get rinsed and dumped in hot water before I go to bed, labels peel right off the next morning (any that don't, get recycled) then the bottles go in the dishwasher then into boxes for storage.

Hmmm... I never thought of using the dishwasher. Does that work well?

I get this residue in the bottles even though I thoroughly rinse them right after pouring the beer out. I've resorted to using a drill and a bottle brush, but it's a royal pain in the butt to clean them that way. I might have to try the dishwasher since I basically get free detergent since my gf makes the stuff

 

[Rhumbline]

The dishwasher is great. I don't use any soap at all, just run the thing on a normal cycle after having rinsed the bottles out right after drinking.

It gets so hot that they are pretty well sanitized and I then dunk them in Starsan just before bottling and put the bottles back on the dishwasher rack to drain prior to bottling.

Another shortcut I use is to do almost all 22 ounce bottles, with a half dozen or so 12's. This cuts the # of bottles in half and a 22 ouncer is about my standard dose.

 

[mtnagel]

Well I was thinking I'd run them in a normal load with other dishes with detergent. I can't see how the detergent would be bad as I put my (cheaper) beer glasses in there and drink out of them.

 

[MarsingRedneck]

Hmmm... I never thought of using the dishwasher. Does that work well?

Works great.

 

[fartinmartin]

I don't do my glasses in the dishwasher, cos it leaves an odour in the glasses, surely this would also apply to the bottles ?

 

[MarsingRedneck]

I don't do my glasses in the dishwasher, cos it leaves an odour in the glasses, surely this would also apply to the bottles ?

I put the DW on rinse, NO soap and start er up. Cleans and sanitizes just fine.