Dubbel: bottle or keg?

[schrodinger]

I'm brewing a Belgian (a dark dubbel, og 1068) for the first time since obtaining a kegerator. I know Belgians are often bottle conditioned. So I'm debating whether to keg or bottle it. It's chugging along fiercely and promises to be one of my best beers ever. I dearly love Belgians...

Does anybody have first hand experience comparing bottled vs kegged Belgians (particularly a dubbel)?

 

[jameson]

Go half with bottle and keg the other. Drink keg first to free up room and save few bottles for winter. Just got through a keg of dubble about a month ago was on tap for about 4-5 months.
Cheers jameson

 

[angus_grant]

Well the tripel I brewed July last year was basically undrinkable due to hot alcohol in the 12L keg I put it in. The 4 bottles i had 2 weekends ago were fantastic. I am a bit sad thinking of the 12L I choked through from the keg.

I still have 3 tallies and 4 stubbies left of which I will take a few to the qld case swap in late June.

But it was the first big AG beer I brewed, first liquid yeast stater, etc, etc. so you may have more success out of the fermentor. When I brew it again I will be guided by the taste out of the fermentor. Hot alcohols and I will bottle age it.

 

[Crusty]

Just my opinion obviously but I feel all Belgian beers benefit from extended time in the bottle.
Save your quicker drinking APA's for the kegs & bottle this one, put it aside & forget about it for at least six months.

 

[OneEye]

A keg is just a big bottle, one you can actually purge with CO2 too! If you can spare a keg then I would fill that up and put it aside for a few months. Let it condition in the keg.

 

[schrodinger]

Jameson: That's a great idea. I'll definitely bottle some, if not half.

Angus and Crusty: Thanks for the warning about letting it condition adequately. I'd better do another brew very soon so I'll have something else to drink, and won't be tempted to crack this one before its time. How big was that tripel?

OneEye: Would you prime it in the keg, or force carbonate when ready to serve?

 

[OneEye]

I'd prime in the keg if not serving straight away. That secondary fermentation could be where the magic lies...

 

[angus_grant]

Tripel ended up using about 8.5kgs of grain in a BIAB.
Result was 8.5% in the keg and little higher in bottles. Maybe 8.8% or so

 

[sp0rk]

Hmm, going through this dilemma myself right now
I've got a Belgian dark strong ready to bottle, but lately I've been having problems with most of my bottled beers being gushers
Therefore so I don't waste all this time and effort, I'm thinking about just kegging it and leaving the keg in a corner for 6 months
Anyone else had any experience with kegging strong Belgians?

 

[mje1980]

I've done it once or twice, but I regretted it. I'm slowly building up a cache of champagne bottles. They go so well in the bottle. Especially with age.

 

[sp0rk]

I don't really have access to a mass lot of champagne bottles, I've already had a look around for some
The choices are flip top grolsch bottles or keg

 

[angus_grant]

I don't want to sound like an arse but my tripel was bottled for 12 months and not one gusher out of the 8 or 9 bottles. Other beers have aged for 5 or 6 months in the bottle.

If you are getting gushers you should revisit your bottle (don't forget the caps) cleaning and sanitising processes. If these are up to scratch, then look at your bottle priming processes. And maybe whether final gravity had been reached in your ferment.

What is going to be different with a champagne bottle compared to a normal tally? If you're getting gushers in tallies, then you'll probably get gushers in champagne bottles.

If you don't want to use bottles, then prime the keg and let it condition normally. I suppose with a keg once you tap it, you can then control the CO2 levels with your bottle if it ends up being a gusher as well. You must have quite a few kegs if you can keep one out of service for 6 months or longer.

 

[Wolfman]

What about natural carbing and letting it sit for 6 months or so then using a beer gun to bottle? I have a Belgium strong and an American stout that I want to age. I know holding up two kegs for 6 months seems like a long time but bottling is a pain in the ass!

 

[sp0rk]

What about natural carbing and letting it sit for 6 months or so then using a beer gun to bottle?

This is probably what I'll do

I've got 6 kegs, my keezer fits 5 and I only go through a keg every 1 to 2 months, so available kegs isn't a problem

 

[sp0rk]

If you are getting gushers you should revisit your bottle (don't forget the caps) cleaning and sanitising processes. If these are up to scratch, then look at your bottle priming processes. And maybe whether final gravity had been reached in your ferment.

Now that I think of it, I think I've only ever had gushers with Tallies, a quick spray with starsan for the lids when I pull them out of the bag may not have been enough
Might take all my Grolsch bottles over to the mother in law's and run them through a hot cycle in the dishwasher to give them a good clean and hope for the best

 

[Leyther]

Resurrecting an old thread here, I'm about to ferment my first Belgian (Leffe Redieuse clone), I have 4 kegs but only enough fridge space for 3 hence I don't want to tie a fridge keg up for 6m to condition a beer unnecessarily.

Once I ferment, keg and put some CO2 in the keg is it OK to just leave in the garage for 6m un-refridgerated or will this wreck there beer?

 

[goatchop41]

Resurrecting an old thread here, I'm about to ferment my first Belgian (Leffe Redieuse clone), I have 4 kegs but only enough fridge space for 3 hence I don't want to tie a fridge keg up for 6m to condition a beer unnecessarily.

Once I ferment, keg and put some CO2 in the keg is it OK to just leave in the garage for 6m un-refridgerated or will this wreck there beer?

It'll be fine mate.
If you wanted to really condition it like a big bottle, you could naturally prime it in the keg. Add about half as much priming sugar as you would if you were bottling, then close it up, purge the headspace and pressurise just enough to ensure a good seal on the lid of the keg