Kegging or Bottling?

[Jussy]

Hi there,

I'm new to this and have some pretty basic questions to ask before I get my first brew going tomorrow. I haven't bought bottles or kegs yet and was just wondering about the relative merits of each. Instinctively, kegging seems like it might be a more time efficient way to go and worth investing in some kegs as I'm planning on doing quite a few brews. Is it difficult to keg? Does it require any specialist equipment? Do I need to add anything to create pressure and carbonate the beers? I'm mainly planning on doing IPAs and stouts just now if this helps. Does bottling have any particular advantages?

Cheers for any help and sorry if these are silly questions!

 

[Brewedout]

Personally I prefer to keg - as you say it saves a lot of time and effort.

It isn't hard to keg, I used plastic King Kegs for years but have recently moved to use corny kegs (stainless steel, with external CO2 cylinder). Whether you choose to use a budget plastic keg or a King keg all you need to do once fermentation has finished and settled down, clean and sterilise using your choice of cleaner/steriliser, then syphon the beer into the keg taking care to not splash it around. You can buy syphon tubes with a device to prevent you sucking up to much sediment/trub from any hb shop. Before I start cleaning I boil about 60-80g of sugar in a small amount of water (about a mug full) allow this to cool and stir into the beer once it is in the keg. If your using a beer kit you would probably want to use some beer finings to help it clear quickly, you would add these when the beer is in the keg.

Rub a little vaseline around the o-ring in the lid to ensure a good seal, and don't over tighten it or you may find the gas leaks out. I find that if you go finger tight first then a small extra twist using both hands is normally enough.

I normally bottle only for wheat beer (where I want more carbonation and the ability to shake up the yeast to get it in my glass : ) and for specialty beers, but I do bottle a few here and there from each brew ready for those occasions when I want to transfer my beer away from home. Plastic kegs cannot contain the same pressures that good bottles can.

If I were you beings as your brew will be ready soon, get a keg. Don't buy glass bottles, start collecting from friends, family, neighbours, friendly pubs... you will be able to get them for free! Thick brown glass is better, try to avoid thin glass as you risk bottle bombs.

If bottling you will need to add a little sugar if fermentation has stopped, you can use free software on the www. to calculate how much sugar you require using a carbonation calculator. 1tsp per bottle would make a fizzy beer.

This is brief, I'm sure others will have more to say - or different opinions!

 

[c_burgess]

Seconded, I'd look at king kegs. The only downside is the ability to share but maybe friends and family could sample from the keg rather than giving them bottles.

Here are my experiences and I am not biased as I own 4 corny kegs, a king keg and I still bottle too.

Corny kegs are great for brewing beer that won't be drunk quickly as no air or light gets inside, the beer will keep for a relatively long time and you have good control over how fizzy it is. The initial cost is high and some people find it hard to get c02 bottles but once you do it's cheap for top ups.

King keg is simple, brew the beer then syphon into the keg along with about 80g of sugar and leave it for a couple of weeks and the beer is ready to drink. The problem is that half way through the keg you start needing to top up the gas, this is when it can start getting expensive. A top up/swap costs 5-8 quid and a gas cylinder will not last more than say 4 brews. You also don't have much control over the carbonation level other than the amount of sugar you pitch with the beer.

Bottling is time consuming and once you decide how much sugar to prime with you are stuck, follow recipes and prime correctly and it won't be a concern but with the kegs it is easier to solve an over carbed beer. Then there is sediment, although you know how to pour a beer your mate Dave probably doesn't but once you've explained once he should be ok.


I probably sound negative about beer storage but I'm not, I love cracking a bottle of beer I've brewed or hearing a friend tell me that my bottle of APA was too hoppy. I also love going to the shed and being able to pour a beer from a corny and it having a really good head. The king keg is sat in the room where my band practices.


Take your pick but don't be suprised if you change your mind in future, what you brew is important, the serving method is more about your circumstances.

 

[rpt]

I prefer to bottle. My only experience of using a barrel is about 30 years ago - all I can remember is that it wasn't very successful. I've also read too many stories of problems with kegs leaking or losing pressure.

Bottles are much more versatile than kegs. You can have lots of different beers available - you can easily keep a few bottles back for longer term storage. Once you start drinking a keg you need to finish it or keep filling it with CO2. Plus a part full keg isn't available for a new brew.

Filling a keg is easier than bottling but you can make that process simpler with a bottling bucket, little bottler, bottle rinser, bottle tree and a no-rinse sanitiser. It's more gear but definitely worth it. Acquiring bottles isn't hard and if you have to buy them, they are readily available in the supermarket and even come with free beer. Just make sure you use brown bottles or store them in the dark.

Also be aware that a plastic barrel can't hold much pressure so is no good for heavily carbonated styles like lager.

 

[springtime]

I've found that the economy barrels tend to bow at the bottom and then eventually leak fron the cap and the tap so in the long run it's actually a false economy. I changed to cornys and haven't looked back since.
Yes the initial investment is higher the cost of the corny and the CO2 bottle and regulator but these are all one offs.
You can get cornys for around £50 if you search hard (candirect). A regulator for £25 and pub CO2 refils for around £25 (which last forever).
As the cornys are 19 ltrs it always leaves enough beer for 5 or 6 bottles from a 40 pint kit - which is handy as you gradually build a stock of various bottled beers.
However, the thought of bottling 40 pint bottle beers each brew is too stressfull.
I can keg & bottle the remaining pints in well under an hour comfortably - this includes cleaning & sterilizing all of the equipment.

 

[fbsf]

I do most ways:

Budget barrels are great for taking to parties where it's likely most of the beer is going to go on that evening, but aren't the best for longer term storage - as mentioned before there is a need to re-gas after about half a barrel and that can get expensive. Also, they aren't any good for lagers, as they can't hold the pressure needed to carbonate the lager to acceptable levels. They are cheap, however.

Bottles have lots of advantages - portable, no worries about regassing, easy to refridgerate. However, cleaning and bottling 40+ bottles every brewday can be a right pain in the derriere. A bottle tree and little bottler can take a lot of the pain away, but it's still a fair amount of work, and doubled if you have to remove labels from used pub/bought empties first. Saying that, the bottles are generally available for nothing, so it only costs the money for the crown caps (2p a go normally).

Cornies do work exceptionally well - I had a porter in one of mine for 4 months with no noticeable drop in quality, even when there was less than 10 pints in it. However, they need gas and the associated gas/beer lines. They also have a tendency to foam at the tap, although this can be cured with a reasonable length of 3/16" beer line between the corny and the tap. But they are expensive. Look at the thick end of £200 for a 2-corny setup.

So, and using a pun I've used elsewhere on this forum, it's Findus Lasange for Courses. Each has it merits and downsides...

I like bottling, but also like having the cornies when I want to do a "me" brew that sits in the garage and is nicely low-rent to make!

 

[dodsi]

I'm in the "both" camp... for ales and porters/stouts etc a budget barrell is quick and easy and for storage upto 6 months is fine.

for speciality/portability bottles are winners.

therefore, I have a little bottler, bottle tree, capper and supply of bottles plus 3 budget kegs for "home" use.

 

[rpt]

Bottles have lots of advantages - portable, no worries about regassing, easy to refridgerate. However, cleaning and bottling 40+ bottles every brewday can be a right pain in the derriere. A bottle tree and little bottler can take a lot of the pain away, but it's still a fair amount of work, and doubled if you have to remove labels from used pub/bought empties first. Saying that, the bottles are generally available for nothing, so it only costs the money for the crown caps (2p a go normally).

I think you make it sound worse than it is. You don't bottle the same day that you brew so the work is split. I remove labels from bought bottles as I drink them, so by the time I come to bottle I only have to sterilise the bottles. I use Starsan so it is very quick. A bottle squirter and tree make it even easier, but it wasn't that hard before I got them. Even writing on every bottle with a chalk pen isn't that bad.

I have no doubt that corny kegs, once you've got them set up, are great but bottles have lots of advantages.

 

[johnlaurence6]

I guess the above comments explain why I actually do both.
I have several king kegs but i prefer to only put around 24 in. That means I can bottle another 16 pints and get the best of both worlds but why?
I still put 80 grams sugar in my keg even with only 24 pints; its the gas pressure I am after not the alcohol and the extra space above the beer means it can hold its pressure right to the last drop (around 10psi or more). I gave up with gas bottles. Too expensive.

To get the beer cool - put your pint pots in the freezer and fill them slowly from the keg.

Bottles make the beer sharper IMO and the gas level is always the same. You need to ferment at least 2 weeks: 1 week primary, 1 week secondary ideally under air lock, then sanitize and fill the bottles as described in threads above. 2 grams of sugar (half a sugar cube) in each bottle , cap and leave in the airing cupboard 2 weeks.

Personally I drop the half sugar cube straight in to the bottle. I'm not a believer in boiling sugar in water. Sugar osmotic pressure is lethal to bacteria whereas the water can contain chlorine and bugs - which is the only reason I can see for boiling it.

Best wishes with your brewing.

 

[mattrickl06]

I prefer bottling - i have a full 7 foot rack of 5 shelves in the garage with different beers / ciders / lagers / stouts / ginger beer etc on each shelf which looks cool when its all full and the bottles are labelled etc.

I wouldnt like to drink the same beer for 20 days on the trot and much prefer the versatility and choice afforded to me by the simple bottle.

 

[Baz Chaz]

I wouldnt like to drink the same beer for 20 days on the trot and much prefer the versatility and choice afforded to me by the simple bottle.

+ 1 I always bottle, batch prime 40 to 60 g of sugar for a 23 ltr brew. Doesn't take as long as some people make out if you're organised, no rinse sanitiser is great, bottles are free and doesn't take long to build up a stash.

You can take half a dozen bottles round to a mates to sup while watching sport on TV or take to a party etc. Bottles don't leak or the seals don't fail and generally straightforward to use, I write the brew number on each cap instead of labelling, but on the odd occasion I do label bottles the finished article looks pretty impressive.



Seeing as it was mentioned earlier in the thread the one thing I don't get (generally) is why all the rush Some guys don't want to go AG 'cos a brewday takes too long', don't bottle 'cos it takes too long' :wha: this is a hobby and 'bodding about' on a brewday and bottling should all be part of the enjoyment surely :thumb:

 

[Charlatan]

As a fellow newbie, what is the opinion on the 5l mini kegs? I purchased four thinking they would be a perfect compromise of both size and portability while allowing me to refrigerate but there doesnt seem to be a great deal of love for them on here.

 

[oz11]

They seem to divide opinion. I love 'em and have an ever increasing collection. I use beer king 2000 taps (with 16g co2 cartridges) to dispense the beer.

Generally from each brew (approx 20L) I fill two mini-kegs and bottle the rest.

 

[Ceejay]

I love the portability of bottles and 2 hours bottling (from end to end) really doesn't feel like much of a chore when I see 40 bottles at the end of it. Like bazchaz said, I don't see why people who brew always want to make the cheapest beer, in the shortest time possible. For me, it's about making the best beer I possibly can, and if it takes a couple of hours twice a month to bottle it? Who cares?

If I could afford a decent corny setup, with kegerator etc, then I would probably go down that route but I can't and I don't really have the space either. I want to get to the stage where i always have a few different beers I can drink, and I can achieve that very easily with bottles.

 

[alawlor66430]

I prefer to bottle, batch prime and bottle and it won't take to long but the beer just seems fresher to me out s bottle, kegs must be good to otherwise there wouldn't be so many people using them, so I suppose it comes down to preference, maybe bottle half and keg half and decide for yourself, but like u said I'm +1 for bottles

 

[springtime]

An advantage of kegging that is often missed is that you can pour as much beer as you like.
So if you only want half a pint, that's what you get - popular with the ladies who drink beer :thumb:

 

[Titus A Duxass]

I like kegs because I can have a non fizzy pint.

 

[Sandimas]

It depends......

I prefer bottling for stouts and lager-type beers that need a bit of fizz, but prefer kegging for real ale type brews, which I prefer flatter. However, I've had a few keg sealing problems over time so now bottle 1/3 or 1/2 of my real ale brews as well.

 

[JKaranka]

6 minikegs and 80 bottles :

 

[loady]

I found with brown bottles that its hard to see the sediment entering the neck of bottle, though great for stopping the power of light ruining your beer.