Hello and some questions about kegging

[brewgasm]

I bottled for the best part of 30 years.
Ultimately used the brown PET bottles which are very light but do last.
I have never ever had a bottle infection despite only modest care in bottle washing.
I think the time element is over stated because some people become obsessive about sanitation of bottles.

For nearly 10 years I have been kegging & I prefer this method & the beer so produced.
But you do need to face the investment (second hand set up from an auction started me off) & you will still need to bottle 23-19=4 lites approx of beer. BTW you now need to sanitise both kegs & beer lines & this alone takes time & demands care.
Think twice & if you are short on $ maybe defer.
Otherwise good luck.

I clean and sanitise my lines and taps as part of process of cleaning and empty keg can be done in half an hour or less (15 minutes if you don't mess around. The bottling process used to take me upto 4 hours.

I was talking to a brewer last night and he bottles his batches in 40 minutes. Could have pushed me over with a feather lol

 

[Schikitar]

Out of interest, what are peoples methods for cleaning kegs and lines - I'd rather not reinvent the wheel (or watch american brewers on youtube)..

 

[Austin]

Could you fit a keezer under your stairs?

By total available space, probably. But the door is only ~70cm wide by 100cm high which is probably the constraining factor. There's also no power, so I'd have to run a cord through the door or wall or something else.

 

[Austin]

Nottingham yeast for 95% of my beers

I pretty much always use US-05. Is there any good reasons to consider changing?

 

[scomet]

G’day Austin, my reasons for using Notto are;

I love the tastes in produces in my ales and faux lagers.
It ferments quickly drops clear (cold crash) cleans up and leaves no odd tastes I can perceive.
It is very temperature tolerant I only use the fermenting fridge in the middle of summer. The hot part of summer is for drinking not brewing...
I buy it in bulk from Ross, mail order, save $ and I dont feel guilty over-pitching.

For a big Porter (20L) I use 4 tablespoons rehydrated in 600ml boiled water stand 15min stir 15min add to aerated wort. I keep the yeast in the fridge, take out what I’m going to use, have the yeast, water ,and wort at the same temp 20c -2 +2 then watch those ‘babies’ rock.. splash of vodka in the airlock and listen to the sound of beer, aint had a ‘gusher’ in years…

How long have you been brewing? Learn to clean and sanitise like a mf., this is where most bad tastes come from, imo, then worry about yeast, water, etc etc I started with US05 and made some great beers :-} (& with tap water!)

 

[Austin]

I love the tastes in produces in my ales and faux lagers.
It ferments quickly drops clear (cold crash) cleans up and leaves no odd tastes I can perceive.
It is very temperature tolerant I only use the fermenting fridge in the middle of summer. The hot part of summer is for drinking not brewing...
I buy it in bulk from Ross, mail order, save $ and I dont feel guilty over-pitching.

That sounds like my relationship with US-05. I'm amazed at how well it performs in poor conditions. I did a brew over summer and I thought all was lost as the fermentation was between 28-30 C. But after bottling and what not, it's been a huge hit and I've had lots of people want some. Weird.

But is there any appreciable flavour difference or a benefit such as better value for money?

How long have you been brewing? Learn to clean and sanitise like a mf., this is where most bad tastes come from, imo, then worry about yeast, water, etc etc I started with US05 and made some great beers :-} (& with tap water!)

On and off for maybe 15 years. Did kit and kilos until I got totally sick of them. There would have been a couple Nottingham packets in some of them. But I decided to try all grain a couple of years ago. I do it via a bag, and it seems to work out OK.

 

[scomet]

I think you answered your own question, I see no 'major' taste/$ advantage with Notto, there are so many variables with brewing. Plus, I hear a lot of these yeasts are just 'badged up' from a few core suppliers... who knows, brew what you like to drink, sorry love:-} Cheers

ps my overpitching yeast comes after years of trialing to gauge the results (purely subjective)