Kegging vs. Bottling

[Caddarn]

I find bottling to be the most off putting part of brewing so I'm toying with the idea of getting a cornie in the new year. I'm wondering how the two processes compare (labour wise) when you take cleaning & maintaining into account... What are your experiences of the pro's and con's of both?

[Haydnexport]

put it this way , i'll never go back to bottling ! so much time and effort compared to kegging.

[orlando]

What are your experiences of the pro's and con's of both?

Night & Day!

[Secla]

Your cleaning one big bottle rather than 40 or more, force carb rather than priming.
Loads of time saved

[Wonkydonkey]

You will end up getting a fridge for keeping the keg cold-or should I say, keep it a stable temp the allows you to pour the best beer.

[MTW]

I have cornies, but only one fridge. They only go in there when I'm not using it to ferment, and when I can be bothered to hook them up. Without a second, dedicated fridge, they only get occasional use.

Even with a second fridge, if I was forced to get rid of one or the other, I'd lose the kegs rather than the bottles. I just like the simplicity of beer in a bottle in the end, even if the initial cleaning/filling takes a bit longer. Nothing puritanical; beer from a keg can be as good as anything, just the appeal of a bottle.

[shepp]

Looks to me like when you go in the kegging direction then you need to be prepared to drink one beer till it's gone or buy more kegs. Then you need a fridge for the kegs and space to put it, CO2 and various fittings.
I think all that kit to maintain is just as much hastle and more cost, more space, beer does not taste any better.
If you are organised, set up a system with no rinse sanitizer, bottle tree and in a comfortable position, beer at hand and radio on, then it's not that bad a job.

[Nitro Jim]

I prefer to bottle...
you can build up a stock of different beers but more importantly I am not that keen of force carbonated ale!

[gobuchul]

Kegs only for me.

Well worth the initial expense.

Regarding cleaning I simply leave the empty kegs sealed until the next brew day, then a scoop of oxy in each one and fill with the warm water from my wort chiller, leave to soak for a while then rinse by filling with more chiller water. Works very well for me. I do have quite a few kegs though.

If you have the space then a small chest freezer is really useful.

[rpt]

I keg and bottle. I keg most beers as these are session beers and it is so much easier than bottling. Some beers only make sense in bottles (for me anyway) since they are strong and I expect them to last for a long time, even years e.g. RIS, strong ale, Belgian ales. As well as being less effort, kegs also allow proper pub style beer by using a hand pump with the pressure set low. But then you can take a bottle with you to a friend's. (Although there are ways of filling a bottle from a keg but that's another story.)

[Caddarn]

If you are organised, set up a system with no rinse sanitizer, bottle tree and in a comfortable position, beer at hand and radio on, then it's not that bad a job.

This is pretty much what I do now but still find it a chore!

I'm an extract brewer and I normally get around 19l per batch which would fit a cornie nicely though I do wonder where the hell I'd put them... hmmm...

[shepp]

If you are organised, set up a system with no rinse sanitizer, bottle tree and in a comfortable position, beer at hand and radio on, then it's not that bad a job.

This is pretty much what I do now but still find it a chore!

I'm an extract brewer and I normally get around 19l per batch which would fit a cornie nicely though I do wonder where the hell I'd put them... hmmm...

A bigger concern for me would be where to put the fridge

How about giving polypins a try?
Once you get the knack apparently they work very well, I have two 10 litre ones here I will be filling tomorrow.

[rpt]

I gave up on polypins because the beer oxidised after a few weeks.

[spanspoon]

gone back to bottling after using cornies for the above said reasons.
for me cornies take time to get right and i felt i lost some flavour.
organised bottling isn't a chore and once your brew is bottled they're convenient.

[aamcle]

I bottle most of my brews, I have a Corny it's been a pig with leaking gas and contaminations but I think I got it right on the last batch so that is nice.

Unless you have a lot of kegs you will have limited choice of drinks available whereas bottling offers more choice, the only big plus for kegs is the ability to force carbonate and get beer without sediment.


ATB. aamcle