To Keg Or To Bottle

[Bigd2657]

Hi All,

Just a quick question to try and clear my mind up.:) .

I am very undecided as I have got 4 beers on the go in the primary stage at the minute. The beers are as follows:

1/ Old Suffolk Strong Ale.

2/ Wherry.

3/ Brewferm Framboos ( raspberry beer)

4/ Admirals Revenge.

My question is I am very unsure as to which beers to bottle and which beer to put in a keg, whether it be a king keg, or whether I go to the supermarket and grab a couple of mini kegs which I can drink and then re - use ( in the interests of recycling of course):whistle:

Or whether to bottle all this beer which will seem like quite a lot of bottles and space which will be needed.

I don't really intend to start drinking any of this until about Mid - May when the weather seems to be getting a bit better.

Any help or guidance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Big D 2657

 

[Ajhutch]

My personal approach is to bottle beers that I am more likely to fancy just once in a while and keg stuff that will be finished fairly soon after starting, as I don't like to leave a tapped keg undrunk for too long in the interests of freshness. Personally that would lead me to bottle the raspberry beer for sure.

 

[Razor]

I prefer to bottle most things but I do have a couple of mini kegs that I've used for drinks that I'm going to want to drink enough of to finish the mini within a week.


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[Dutto]

Probably the same as above:

o King Keg or Wilco Keg for beer I drink by the litre.

o MK for reasonably special beers. (I usually empty the MK within a week once it's opened.)

o Bottles for anything that I will be happy to lay down for three months or more and tend to drink in moderation.

 

[aamcle]

If you're going to keep it for some time then it's bottling time!!

Plastic kegs are not too good a choice for longer term storage, so buckle up and get it done :)

I agree bottles take up space, I got some metal filing cabinets via FreeCycle I can't recommend them highly enough for bottle storage each draw takes nearly all a batch.


aamcle

 

[Bigd2657]

aamcle

wow what a good idea, just having a look on freecycle at the minute.
lol

 

[aamcle]

Keep at it it took me a long time to get the cabinets I have :)

aamcle

 

[Bigd2657]

Hi AJ Hutch

With response to the raspberry beer how long do you think I should leave this in the bottle for. My LHBS said it should be okay after about a month, but it was on special offer so I think they where just trying to palm it off on me. lol.

Cheers

Big D 2657

 

[Fil]

the other consideration is what sort of condition you want from your brews, mini kegs and pressure barrels are great for the lower to mid conditioned brews but for brews you want to have a high level of condition you will struggle to beat bottles.

 

[willycoolj]

Hi All,

Just a quick question to try and clear my mind up.:) .

I am very undecided as I have got 4 beers on the go in the primary stage at the minute. The beers are as follows:

1/ Old Suffolk Strong Ale.

2/ Wherry.

3/ Brewferm Framboos ( raspberry beer)

4/ Admirals Revenge.

My question is I am very unsure as to which beers to bottle and which beer to put in a keg, whether it be a king keg, or whether I go to the supermarket and grab a couple of mini kegs which I can drink and then re - use ( in the interests of recycling of course):whistle:

Or whether to bottle all this beer which will seem like quite a lot of bottles and space which will be needed.

I don't really intend to start drinking any of this until about Mid - May when the weather seems to be getting a bit better.

Any help or guidance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Big D 2657

Wherry and admirals revenge in keg, then bottle old Suffolk strong ale and brewferm framboise in bottles to age


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[MrDasherD]

Faced with that list I would do as follows -

Wherry ... keg/pb. This is very drinkable as soon as clear ... usually for me 2 - 3 weeks in pb (I like it young and fresh ... not everyone's taste I know). And once started it doesn't last long.

Raspberry bear ... bottle. I do a wheat beer kit with added raspberries and it is a 'go to' beer for those occasions when only a really cold beer, straight from the fridge, will do. It's also good to take on camping trips!

Old Suffolk ... bottle. This makes a lovely beer which needs to be savoured!

Admiral's Reserve ... keg. Did this last year and bottled it. I don't think it was 'special' enough to warrant bottling for a special occasion but would be quite happy to drink as a heavy session beer 😏.

I'd certainly be drinking some before May and would be planning further brews for then (maybe a nice summer ale heavy on elderflowers)

 

[Llanbrewer]

If you're going to keep it for some time then it's bottling time!!

Plastic kegs are not too good a choice for longer term storage, so buckle up and get it done :)

I agree bottles take up space, I got some metal filing cabinets via FreeCycle I can't recommend them highly enough for bottle storage each draw takes nearly all a batch.


aamcle

What happens when the drawers slip off the slider and jam?