Bottles or King Keg?

[Beerlover]

Had a break from home brewing for a couple of years now, brewed quite a few kits before and always used my king kegs to store my beer, I’ve just bought a couple more kits to get going again and I’m really tempted to go down the bottle route this time as got fed up with leaky taps and beer not being particularly carbonated before, I know there’s a lot more hassle involved and was just after opinions as to if it’s worth it for the end result...?
Cheers!

 

[Drunkula]

Pfffft. This will gets lots of points of view but I'd bottle. If you can guarantee a barrel works then I would do it but I find them an utter pain in the arse and even after sandpapering and having them work fine they're like timebombs waiting to ruin the beer.

 

[DavidDetroit]

With properly maintained bottles, the hassle of prepping for bottling day is minimal. It becomes something you can do quickly though it can still be tedious. I use the flip-tops. The rubber rings have to be replaced eventually but the cost is minor and the larger bottles makes for fewer to fill.
So, if there is no debris in the bottles, a quick cleaning with a cleanser, rinse and sanitize (many ways to sanitize).
The downside is the number to fill no matter what.
Batch priming and then having a partner to help is valuable. Some, I'm sure, can bottle as fast as two people if their system is effective.
I haven't had any trouble with carbonation since I use a calculator or a recipe.

 

[parpot]

I completely agree with David, the positives outweigh the negatives by far. I have a couple of corny's but always bottle unless I am getting ready for a party or Christmas etc. I also use mainly swing tops but also use PET's for checking on carbonation, i.e squeeze the bottle or when I run short of ST's. IMHO also by bottling I control my drinking!!

 

[kelper]

Mini kegs! 5L will fit in fridge with dispensing tap. Easy to get just the right carbonation.

 

[simon12]

If you get a king keg working properly, don't mind lower carbonation and can get it to the right temp. it is the least hassle by far but can be a hassle to get it working.

 

[kelper]

Why would a keg give lower carbonation? It's down to the amount of priming sugar. Most keg users will add gas as the level drops. It's much harder to adjust AFTER bottling.

 

[Rich Moyes]

I really like my king keg, but find the beer goes quite flat towards the end; even after adding multiple c02 canisters, for that reason i tend to bottle them unless i know i will drink it all quite quickly - parties, bbq, Xmas etc etc

 

[kelper]

I found that too until I replaced the o=ring on the float where it attaches to the tap and also fitted some fuel pipe clips to each end of the float's hose. Some beers just keep on giving - my wherry has had no CO2 injected and wooshes out when the barrel is only 25% full.

 

[Drunkula]

Why would a keg give lower carbonation?

Usually because of the PSI they're rated to and that little rubber safety valve doing a squeel that can fright the friggin pi$$ out of you if it goes off next to you in the shed.

You can get some decent carbonation at around 10psi if you've got some temperature control going on.

The other problem with the pressure barrels is that you've got zero resistance at the tap to stop it foaming. I toyed with putting a connector so I could run a party tap from them on a hose which I might do if me and the barrels start speaking again.

 

[trummy]

I prefer PFT pop bottles 2 ltr size - Can have a pint, put the top on and its fine for the next night. Plus we are away in the m/home several times a year and its a good way to carry the beer