Cornelius keg V Bottles

[SPR]

I've been making beers for around 2 years now and have always used bottles so far.

I make different types of ales and ciders and like to drink them cool.

Like everyone I'm starting to get fed up with bottling and have been looking at the kegs.

At first glance it seems to be a lot easier, but then you have to consider a fridge to put it in, cleaning, CO2 etc etc. As opposed to cleaning 45 bottles and just filling them.... you can then just put them in fridge and also drink what ever you happen to fancy.

So I was just looking for your guys' experience with these in practice and any advice you can give on the pros and cons of the kegs.

Money is not issue here, so I'm not trying to cut costs, just looking for an easier way to drink my beer which I now prefer to purchased beer, which is the only reason I still make it.

 

[TheQuokka]

I recently made the change to kegs, and I love the ability to just pull a glass of clear clean beer whenever I feel like it - but if you go visiting you really need to fill some bottles or some kind of "party keg" or the like. It's a bit hard to get the freezer into the car...

 

[SPR]

I recently made the change to kegs, and I love the ability to just pull a glass of clear clean beer whenever I feel like it - but if you go visiting you really need to fill some bottles or some kind of "party keg" or the like. It's a bit hard to get the freezer into the car...

What do you do about cooling it ?

 

[Godsdog]

Cornie kegs and either a home build kegorator or Lindl flash cooler if money isn't an issue

 

[Wabby]

Love my kegs and taps. Never going back to bottles. Ever.

 

[SPR]

Cornie kegs and either a home build kegorator or Lindl flash cooler if money isn't an issue

Thanks for that. Just searched Lindl flash cooler and nothing?

 

[BlackIsland]

I love the ability to do both, and they each have their pros and cons, some of which are obvious, so me less so. I'm sure I'll miss some, but some that come to my mind:

Bottling I can keep a huge variety of beers. I only have 4 kegs, and two taps, so not so much, unless I bottle from the keg.
Bottling I sanitize 48 bottles. Kegging I sanitize 1 keg.
Bottling consumes caps and priming sugar. Kegging consumes CO2.
Bottle carbonating can be tricky - something goes wrong, you can get flat beer or bottle bombs or just the wrong level of carbonation. Kegging and force carbing, while not foolproof, is more forgiving.
Bottling means I have to teach novices how to pour without the dregs. Kegging means I have to teach novices how to fully open the tap and prevent foaming.
Bottling means 48 hot water rinses after pouring. Kegging means 1 good disassembling and cleaning.
Bottling is portable without any extra fuss. Kegging is portable with filling a growler or using a mini-keg.
Bottling takes me 90 minutes including cleanup. Kegging takes me 30 minutes including cleanup.
Bottling takes 2-3 weeks to carbonate, and the hop aromas and flavors of beers with a lot of late addition/dry hops can change quite a bit in that time. Kegging takes 2 days to force carb, so aromas/flavors can be fresher, and you can dry hop the keg.
Bottling means party guests have a lot of choices, but you have a lot of cleanup. Kegging means guests get as many choices as you have taps/kegs.
Bottling means I get to make cool labels for my bottles. Kegging means I get to make a cool label for the tap handle.
Bottling requires storing and managing a lot of bottles. Kegging means storing and maintaining kegs, a CO2 tank and a cooler/fridge.
Bottling has a learning curve to figure out how to do it fast, easy, and get the results you want. Kegging has a learning curve to figure out how to do it fast, easy, and get the results you want.

 

[Steved53]

Thanks for that. Just searched Lindl flash cooler and nothing?

Try LINDR PYGMY

 

[SPR]

Try LINDR PYGMY

Many thanks found it

 

[simon12]

I have 2 cornies and a variety of pressure barrels and personally I find having to clean all the beer line and messing about with gas nearly as much hassle as bottling, pressure barrels are the easiest when they work properly but are a nightmare when they don't and are my current favourite.

 

[Godsdog]

Many thanks found it

2/3 of us on here have one and I highly recommend them but if you do go that route get the 20 litre one without the compressor as your pub gas drives your ale through the pygmy
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=56686&highlight=lindr+flash+cooler
there you go the forum thread on them

 

[SPR]

2/3 of us on here have one and I highly recommend them but if you do go that route get the 20 litre one without the compressor as your pub gas drives your ale through the pygmy
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=56686&highlight=lindr+flash+cooler
there you go the forum thread on them

Many thanks for the pointers on that, very interesting and helpful.

Looks a very nice piece of kit indeed.

 

[SPR]

I have 2 cornies and a variety of pressure barrels and personally I find having to clean all the beer line and messing about with gas nearly as much hassle as bottling, pressure barrels are the easiest when they work properly but are a nightmare when they don't and are my current favourite.

I was initially going to just go out and buy one to try it, but what you have said is exactly what I'm thinking after reading up.

So far I haven't had a single problem using bottles and to be honest the only reason I'm thinking of other options is bottling day which I've taken a dislike to.

I make mainly high end Red/white wine kits (winexpert eclipse) and have just gone from bottling to 20l bags in a box which is so much easier. I store in glass long term and then bag when ready to drink. Takes minutes.

My only experience with barrels was a king keg which was useless and wasted an entire batch because it didn't seal properly. I do understand the cornys are a different standard entirely though.

I'll give it some more thought but the cleaning pipes, gas etc seems like it will be more messing around for me whereas I can just clean the bottles, fill them and drink whatever I want, cool.

 

[Godsdog]

Line cleaning is a breeze just do it when you do an empty cornie

 

[SPR]

Thanks for all your advice on this. I've just ordered a new corny Keg and started a new thread on how to set it up properly.