Kegging Pros And Cons

[Bats]

Hey Guys,
I'm thinking about getting into kegging so that I don't need to be cleaning bottles all the time.
Just wondering if anyone can give advice and any pros/cons?
I have a mate that said you need to clean the lines all the time if you don't pour a beer regular enough. Is this true?
Cheers.

 

[gava]

Hey Guys,
I'm thinking about getting into kegging so that I don't need to be cleaning bottles all the time.
Just wondering if anyone can give advice and any pros/cons?
I have a mate that said you need to clean the lines all the time if you don't pour a beer regular enough. Is this true?
Cheers.

I love kegging! only bottle off the left overs (sometimes)

pros:
Empty fermenter into kegs easy!
Storage
No bottle bombs
coolness factor

cons
Co2 can be expensive
buying the taps etc can be expensive (although you can get away with a plastic tap)
It starts you on the track of a very expensive journey


love the kegs..
Check out my kegerator build in my singnature.. kegging led me to this..

 

[argon]

Hey Guys,
I'm thinking about getting into kegging so that I don't need to be cleaning bottles all the time.
Just wondering if anyone can give advice and any pros/cons?
I have a mate that said you need to clean the lines all the time if you don't pour a beer regular enough. Is this true?
Cheers.

kegging = awesome

bottling = PITA

argument complete

 

[cdbrown]

You don't have to flush the lines if you don't want to, but it's not hard to do and does clear out the small amount of beer that's in there. I only flush every now and again when I think of it. Usually if I've just washed and cleaned a few kegs I'll add some boiling water to one keg and give it a quick charge of gas before connecting up each tap and pouring some through. Takes no time at all.

Bottling on the other hand just takes far too long with all the cleaning of bottles, pouring each of them, pouring dex if not bulk priming, capping, waiting for them to be carbed, saving and storing the bottles for the next batch.

 

[kelbygreen]

also you can drink it pretty much the next day or so with kegs.

 

[peted27]

there are no cons other than the initial investment. gas equates (for me, 2.6kg tank swap and go) to around $3 a keg to carb and dispense. so ongoing costs are roughly the same as carb drops. you won't look back

 

[Mattese]

I have been kegging for about three years now, and my only issue is the portability of the kegs. Yes it is possible to take a keg to a party, but it is a bit of a PITA.

I think if I bought a bottle filler that might alleviate it to some extent. Just my take on it, however I have been called lazy before...

 

[Acasta]

its possible to bottle from a keg right? Theres your portability right there.

 

[Gout]

if you manage to build up stock of beer, or it requires to be aged then kegs are a dream to store and or move.

Only disadvantage is its easier to grab a bottle of beer to take to friends or give to mates to take home and try..... this could be overcome with a CPBF to fill bottles.

I will forever keg, as bottling was the reason i once stopped brewing

 

[bignath]

Love the kegs....

1 bottle to clean (albeit a very big one)
1 bottle to fill

minimal storage space (or no storage space). I reckon the average kegger would probably have 4 kegs as their setup. Sure there are brewers who have 10 or more in their massive chesty, but there's a huge amount who have the 2 keg, one tap special thing too..

My chesty only fits 3 at this stage, maybe 4 if i get a thinner diameter one. I have 6 kegs. That means i store 3 either with beer in them, in my conditioning fridge waiting for a spare spot in chesty, or they are empty and clean, sitting on a shelf in my garage (read: brewery). 1 keg = 2 and a bit boxes of beer, but takes up way less space than 50 or so empty stubbies...

If your chesty is big enough for the amount of kegs you get, there is no storage problem at all....

My big CO2 bottle from BOC costs about $60 i think for the refill, and $13 per month. There are cheaper ways to do this but it's where i am at the moment...My last gas bottle lasted almost 2 years. I turn the gas off when not in use (habit i know..) and every 4 or 5 pours give it a quick squirt of gas to charge..

Bottling is the biggest pain in the arse of brewing to me (besides the lengthy carbonation waiting/teasing game...)

 

[brettprevans]

ill admit to cleaning my lines last Friday for the 1st time in 2 years. no issues. case closed

if youve got cash, and drink a lot, kegs are the go. if you drink bugger all then bottle.

or check out any of the other kegs v bottle threads (sorry couldnt help myself)

portability - pour directly into bottle, or brew a few litres extra and put them into bottles and keg the rest or just leg the keg aroubnd (I do all 3)

 

[Mattese]

its possible to bottle from a keg right? Theres your portability right there.

It is an option to buy a Counter Pressure Bottle Filler, just another expense, and there has been a little debate as to how effective they are. I don't really know, having never seen one. The whole portability issue is just one aspect I didn't really consider prior to buying my keg setup.

 

[argon]

I will forever keg, as bottling was the reason i once stopped brewing

I have a mate who got me into brewing that is using this exact reason for his not brewing any longer... now that i don't have to bottle any more i can brew and ferment just about as often as i like

Disclaimer: I No Chill so i can store batches prior to fermenting for as long as i need... "Brew in fury ferment in leisure"

 

[porky]

Best reason for kegs....(for me)

I need to brew 1 double batch every 5 days. That is 73 brews per year...

That is 3504 bottles per year....
That would never happen.

I have 29 kegs in use, and don't have more than 3 or 4 empty at any time.

12 beers on tap, 14 back ups, all stored cold.

Clean beer lines about twice per year.

cheers,
bud

 

[QldKev]

if you manage to build up stock of beer, or it requires to be aged then kegs are a dream to store and or move.

Only disadvantage is its easier to grab a bottle of beer to take to friends or give to mates to take home and try..... this could be overcome with a CPBF to fill bottles.

I will forever keg, as bottling was the reason i once stopped brewing

Same here I stopped brewing for a few years as I got sick of bottling. Second time around after about 3 years I was going to pull the pin again and the wifey said get a keg setup. Never looked back. It would depend on how much beer you drink, if you average 3 bottles a week it would be a waste, but for my household that gets through up to 24 bottles a week it helps a lot.

Note sure where some people get their CO2 from, but owning my own bottles, it cost me about $1 in CO2 per keg to carb and dispense.

I'm not too worried about portability, I did look at the portable pressure sprayer setup, but now it's a good excuse to go and get a carton of JSGA or LPCA or something for a change.

QldKev

 

[argon]

I'm not too worried about portability, I did look at the portable pressure sprayer setup, but now it's a good excuse to go and get a carton of JSGA or LPCA or something for a change.

QldKev

Exactly... portability for me equals a trip to Dan's or one of the boutique bottlos around where i work.. my homebrew, stays at home. I'm greedy like that...i put in all this effort for MY beer i'm not about to go around someone else's place to give it away

 

[MarkBastard]

Kegging is awesome. If you can read through the kegerator thread and still want to bottle you are INSANE imo.

 

[bignath]

Best reason for kegs....(for me)

I need to brew 1 double batch every 5 days. That is 73 brews per year...

That is 3504 bottles per year....
That would never happen.

I have 29 kegs in use, and don't have more than 3 or 4 empty at any time.

12 beers on tap, 14 back ups, all stored cold.

Clean beer lines about twice per year.

cheers,
bud

Bud, are you serious mate?

Holy shit that's a lot 'o' beer.......

 

[DanRayner]

+ 1 to everything everyone here has just said.

I hate bottling.

Bottling = 30-60bottles cleaned plus 30-60bottles sterilised plus 30-60bottles filled plus 30-60 capped = hours

Kegging = One clean, one sterilise, one fill, one carbonate = 20mins*

In terms of portability; sometimes I counter-pressure fill (when I can be arsed - do it more for comps), sometimes I take a 9L keg to a party (they're cute but exxie!) but if it's just a casual thing I'll fill a coke bottle and cap with one of these doovilackies

but wot others have said is right - it does get expensive but you can start off pretty cheap (I'm guessing $200-400?)

cheers!

Dan

*these days I'll rinse after I finish a keg, then later I'll sterilise and fill with CO2 a few kegs all at once (in-line) - so each/any can then be ready to fill with beer whenever. (Fill one with mild oxonia - that way you know there's no air or O2 in it, then transfer/push that volume of oxonia water over to the next keg with CO2 - and repeat with the following keg - bammo! kegs are sterile and full of CO2 - no oxidation.)

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

Exactly... portability for me equals a trip to Dan's or one of the boutique bottlos around where i work.. my homebrew, stays at home. I'm greedy like that...i put in all this effort for MY beer i'm not about to go around someone else's place to give it away

For portability, just go to a mag shop and get a couple of brass tubeless tyre valves(like TB's party kegs), drill a whole in a PET cap and fit the Valve.

Then get a cheap tyre attachment and charge your bottles after the poor, easy and very cheap option.