Bottling vs Kegging

[Dewald Posthumus Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dewald Posthumus]

Depends on the beer being served, TBH.

Breweries will age their beers in barrels or kegs, so no need to age in bottles...

[AlexBrew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AlexBrew]

Personally I bottle. As I do 45litre batches - it is a slep to store, clean beforehand, and bottle and clean fermentors .. I guess all-in-all is quite an effort - but doesn't bother me that much - it's something to do. I usually put on some music and make it my own time. Weigh out the dextrose boil it up .. take FG readings.. tra-la-la.

Thought about kegging - but not ventured that route yet.

[BeerHolic Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BeerHolic]

Depends on the beer being served, TBH.

[BeerHolic Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BeerHolic]

So when you visit a brewery would you prefer:

1. Beer from the tap?
2. Beer from a bottle?

The use of the word "period".
Suggesting that is always the case and everybody beleives it to be so, which may not be the case..

[Dewald Posthumus Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dewald Posthumus]

The use of the word "period".
Suggesting that is always the case and everybody beleives it to be so, which may not be the case..

So you were just being obtuse because I used a word that offended you?

I have split a batch whereby I bottled 20 liters for my brother and kegged 30 liters for myself. I tasted both, I prefer the kegged version.

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

I used to enjoy bottling until that first keg ... then I asked myself "how on earth could you enjoy bottling that much? ... kegging is da bomb bitch"

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

So you were just being obtuse because I used a word that offended you?

I have split a batch whereby I bottled 20 liters for my brother and kegged 30 liters for myself. I tasted both, I prefer the kegged version.

+1 I will take any of my kegged beers over the previous ones that i bottled ... hard to explain, but it just tastes better.

[RudiC Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RudiC]

I bottel because that's what I have and don't feel it's too much effort for the reward. So I can't compare to kegging.

What I'd like to know is, if you keg a batch, what is it you have to do wrt cleaning? You obviously clean the keg, do you also clean all the posts on say a corny, the beer lines and tap. Or is that a once every couple of brews type of thing? Then the maintenance costs involved also. Has anyone tried to work out the cost of kegging once you have all the equipment? Been wondering about that since I started thinking of getting into the whole keg thing.

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

I bottel because that's what I have and don't feel it's too much effort for the reward. So I can't compare to kegging.

What I'd like to know is, if you keg a batch, what is it you have to do wrt cleaning? You obviously clean the keg, do you also clean all the posts on say a corny, the beer lines and tap. Or is that a once every couple of brews type of thing? Then the maintenance costs involved also. Has anyone tried to work out the cost of kegging once you have all the equipment? Been wondering about that since I started thinking of getting into the whole keg thing.

Once the keg is empty I fill it with 2L boiled water and a few scoops of SPC (±20g) ... close and shake... then add a little pressure and push solution through the line and tap ... takes 2min.

Fill keg with a little sanitizer and pressure to push that through line and tap ... it stays like that until I keg again.

Every 5-8 brews i will strip the keg and taps and give them a proper clean (soak in SPC)

O-rings on lid and post get lube with every fill.

Maintenance so far AFAIK has only been filling CO² every few months (and a fridge that had to be replaced but not really related to kegging only)

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

Breweries will age their beers in barrels or kegs, so no need to age in bottles...

Some breweries will age in barrels or kegs. Plenty examples, specially bigger and darker beers, are aged in bottles, similar to wines. Specifically mentioning things like Belgian Tripels and Imperial Stouts here. Most guys here don't brew them. Let's face it, South Africa has a "light lager" mentality. We (yes, all of us) has a thing for a light lager. That's why Castle Lite does so well.

For me, a lager (any lager, doesn't have to be light), shines when it's sat in bulk aging, not in a bottle. That's why I prefer my kegs. I make a lot of lagers these days, and I absolutely ADORE what bulk aging (or aging in the keg) does for it. It's fantastic. Nothing else lets that crisp notes shine like bulk aging. Bottle aging, IMO, imparts too much yeast influence over time, which is something you don't want in the beers we typically enjoy.

[BeerHolic Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BeerHolic]

I have tasted many a kegged beer and do not get the "it tastes better" part.
Mybe they are not the greatest brewers.
Mybe my taste is not sensitive enough, which could likely be true as I have below average sense of smell.
So kegging would have no taste benifit for me.

[BeerHolic Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BeerHolic]

How do you know when your keg is close to empty ?.
Most keg setups have a drip try, is there a lot of waste ?.
Maintenence of running a keg setup i.e. o-ring replacements, replacement of other components etc. ?
Cost of CO2 and how often to refill ?.

[BeerHolic Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BeerHolic]

So you were just being obtuse because I used a word that offended you?

I have split a batch whereby I bottled 20 liters for my brother and kegged 30 liters for myself. I tasted both, I prefer the kegged version.

No I am being Acute.

[Dewald Posthumus Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dewald Posthumus]

My kegging system is an old SAB kegging system with a chill plate that I bought from a second hand store for R1k some years ago.

I don't have a drip tray, have a jockey box - minimal spillage - as in milliliters.

I regularly check my kegs by weight and will have a good idea of when I'm empty, I brew every three to four weeks and never run out of beer (50 liter batches)

SPC - 5kg = R250: I use 50g at most to clean the keg when it's finished, and run that solution through the entire system.
Co2 - R70 for a 2kg refill - every two to three months.
O-ring replacements - once a year at R50 per keg.

If I was to bottle 50 liter batches:

120 bottles for a batch = R750 - I would have to buy 3*48 boxes.
Emily bottle capper = R550
Bottling bucket plus tap = R100
Siphon = R150
Caps 200 = R90
And all sorts of other paraphernalia.

Adds up to R1640

Kegging 50 liters:
My keg setup = R1000
Keg = R400
Co2 bottle = R1000

Adds up to R2400

[hopingmadinZam Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hopingmadinZam]

No I am being Acute.

BOOM! Math Joke!