Switching back to bottling from kegs

[mjadeb1984]

Hi all.
I'm about to do something Drastic.
I'm gonna give up on kegging and switch back to bottles. Crazy you say? You'll regret it? Maybe. I'll tell you why. First, don't get me wrong, I love brewing my own beer, I love everything about it. except after the birth of my first child and another on the way I have had little to no time to drink as much. Last time I brewed was January last year. 2015. And gasp! I haven't even touched my kegs since they emptied, some time in late January 2015. So I've got this sweet keezer I built with two manky smelling kegs in it. The main thing stopping me from doing anything about it is the fact I just don't drink that much beer to justify brewing into kegs. I miss having a different assortment of past bottled brews in the cellar to drink at different ages. I almost enjoy the brewing more than the excessive drinking you have to do to have two taps pouring on regular rotation. I figure if I move back to bottles I can sell my keezer, kegs and a few other bits from my lovingly built 3v brewery to streamline the whole process, buy a grainfather and rediscover my love of brewing. By brewing different beers and always having a multitude of choice of brews in the beer fridge.
I know bottling is a pain in the ass but when your organized and have some good music it's really not that bad. So what I'm asking from you guys is to pick holes in my plan. The missus gets pissed at me for chopping and changing all the time so I need some ammo to come back at her with. Has anyone reverted back to bottles for similar reasons, or is anyone staying staunch on bottling with no intention to move to kegs.
Also who reckons I could sell a keezer with a nice wood top and two perlick flow control taps on a tower font. Big gas bottle and reg and a round esky mash tun with beerbelly false bottom and temp gauge for the price or close to the price of a grainfather?

Cheers md

 

[Siborg]

Why not both?
I've often considered doing the same thing myself for similar reasons. I don't drink that much and my mates who do, live too far away to help me empty the kegs.

The only way I could see that working, or making any difference is if you lowered your batch size. Bottling IS a massive PITA. So why couldn't you, assuming you didn't lower your batch size, keg it, carb it, fill a dozen or more bottles with a counterpressure filler (the SS caps and a piece of line are a cheap way to do this), then drink the rest out of your keg, leaving the bottles for down the line?

I know the feeling of emptying a keg, and leaving it to stink but, think about this: Before you can bottle your next brew, you'd need to clean and sanitise all those bottles instead of just having to do it to the one keg to refill it.

I think the main thing tying me to kegging is not having to wait for carbonation. You can keg your beer, and drink it an hour or so after force carbing (allowing for disturbance to settle).

 

[Yob]

You will get time again.. Promise

Keep the kegs and keezer

 

[professional_drunk]

I've considered the same thing but I'll keep my keezer because the soda water keg is too popular. My drinking has reduced since I first started brewing and so even with a 4 tap keezer, I only keep 1 keg of soda water and 1 keg of session beer and the rest is in bottles.

Even if you go for bottling, you'd probably still want a fridge for the optimal storage environment and for wines and soft drinks.

 

[pajs]

I try and keep my brewing to the cold months. I have a silly number of small fermenters (10 litre max, 15 litre max). What I try and do is make lots of small batches of different beers (stovetop BIAB) but then combine bottlings. I get a production line ready of finished beers, work out a sensible order, then bottle them in sequence, racking into a bottling bucket with an autosiphon. Pretty easy to get two or three different beers bottled in the one session, with (for me) sensible volumes of each. I use a mix of 750ml and smaller bottles as well. No interest in moving to kegs at all, as I'd struggle to figure out how to chill enough of them (even small kegs) at the one time to keep a large number of beers at hand.

 

[mjadeb1984]

I do think ill miss the kegs in the future. But another reason was to switch to the grainfather. Using the sale of the keg setup to half finance that. And try move my messy 3v brew day to a streamlined indoor grainfather experience.

 

[seamad]

Before selling or buying anything why not do some biab's in your kettle and bottle those for a bit to see how keen you really are to start bottling again ?

 

[mjadeb1984]

True, true. That's a good idea. Something my missus would suggest actually. You guys are all so sensible. Or maybe I'm just to rash and impulsive.

 

[stux]

IME, its not the bottling which is the problem, but rather the bottle-cleaning.

 

[mjadeb1984]

Yes that's true I reckon. For a while I had a new big garbage bin full of a weak sanitizer solution where I'd dump my rinsed bottles as I drunk them. When they were full I'd empty all the bottles out, rinse, cap with glade wrap , and store so all they'd need was a quick rinse with no rinse sanitizer and they were good to go. That was a good system I reckon.

 

[Adr_0]

That's probably the reason I've never gotten into kegging - space, don't have the turnover, and don't WANT the turnover, i.e. "Oooh, delicious beer on tap... I think I'll have a beer. And another. And another." and impending alcoholism. Similar reason for originally downgrading from 50L (the first time) though I still have my 50L setup in storage in Brisbane.

Aren't there 9L kegs getting around? You can then keep a 19L of soda water or soft drink (Sodastream flavours), 9L of beer and the rest (5-12L depending on what you brew) as bottles. Only use the 9L if you're going to brew something you're likely to get through quickly or that your mates like, e.g. APA, wheat, bitter.

Good suggestions above using the kettle as a BIAB setup. You can keep your HLT or kettle to heat/store sparge water - probably the main bit of equipment you need to consider on top of your grainfather.

 

[Benn]

Kids grow up fast and your free time "slowly" returns.

 

[Matplat]

Yeah I reckon you would sell the kegs, start bottling, get really keen on brewing again, then wish you had some kegs!

Seriously though, I don't know why people whinge about bottling and bottle washing.
Empty the bottle, rinse with tap water, put it in the cupboard (1 min per bottle).
When you've got 20 put them in a storage container filled with water and napisan (10 min).
Leave for a week then rinse and dry (20 min).
Store in a crate upright and don't worry about dust getting in (seriously who the **** came up with that problem).
Rinse with star-san before bottling (10 min).

Granted it probably isnt as quick as kegging (I wouldnt know) but it really isn't that bad....

 

[Tahoose]

I'd hold on for now, do some BIAB brews, if you have a 3v system, surely you could just use the kettle for this?

For those who struggle with cleaning bottles hopefully this can help.

Soak bottles in tub with sodium perc (napisan/Di San)
Put them in to a milk crate, it helps if you fill it.
Put an empty milk crate on top and turn the two crates upside down, thus emptying the bottles.
Flip back to normal, rinse the inside of each bottle with pressure washer.
Drain the bottles as mentioned before, I rinse 3 times.
Total time for 25 stubbies is under 20 mins. Can do 75 in under 30mins.

The sanitising still takes time, but what can you do??

 

[contrarian]

Some sound advice here. If you are having trouble getting through a keg another approach is to ensure the beers you have in kegs aren't hoppy beers or hefe's that will lose their character quickly but rather beers that actually take time to develop in a keg. In my experience pretty much anything brewed with WY1084. My beers brewed with that have taken at least 3-4 months to hit their prime and could carry on for longer no dramas.

I also generally have a keg of non alcoholic ginger beer on tap. Simple recipe carb with your tank and use the taps for something that might be drunk by more members of the household.

Bottle other beers for high turnover and more variety and make smaller batches.

If you do go BIAB it is worth spending the money to get a well made bag, they last longer and are easier to use, also make sure it will fit over the outside of your kettle.

Smaller batches have shorter ramp times and BIAB can easily be fit around young kids. Mash in and then don't worry too much about when you pull the bag and ramp to boil. An extra hour or two on the mash doesn't make that much difference.

You can achieve what you want with the heat you have so why change anything other than $25 on a bag?

 

[superstock]

I'm the same. Kegs take too long to empty, (I'm not a big drinker) and you are stuck on one, or two in my case, styles. I usually do a base brew split into 2 small fermenters with different additions and bottle. Allows me to drink what I feel like at the time. The kegs are now full of soda water and cider for the ladies.
As suggested above, keep your kettle for BIAB.

 

[droid]

being conservative with your estimations on values for your stuff, could you fund the shortfall? if so with no divorce then hey.

i'd be concerned about selling everything and being a bit too far short and then having nothing. it sounds good in the sense of clearing things out and getting an indoor auto system, brewing small and having choice

bottles are a FPITA imho tho I still use some from each brew to give away or sample later etc but the Mrs is happy there's no bottles falling about in the pantry

it's a tough one and as I am pro-keg and a piss-head my opinion is just, well, like a burp

 

[mjadeb1984]

I know all of you are right. I should keep everything and bottle a few batches while I really make up my mind. I have been BIABing and really like it over the full 3v way. I'll just sit on my hands for a while and weigh it all up. I do really like the idea of the grainfather.

 

[Matplat]

Or you could build yourself a recirculating 1v system for minimal $$$, you probably would only need a bigW malt pipe and a few fittings if you plundered the 3v for parts.

 

[Mattrox]

Yeah I reckon you would sell the kegs, start bottling, get really keen on brewing again, then wish you had some kegs!

Seriously though, I don't know why people whinge about bottling and bottle washing.
Empty the bottle, rinse with tap water, put it in the cupboard (1 min per bottle).
When you've got 20 put them in a storage container filled with water and napisan (10 min).
Leave for a week then rinse and dry (20 min).
Store in a crate upright and don't worry about dust getting in (seriously who the **** came up with that problem).
Rinse with star-san before bottling (10 min).

Granted it probably isnt as quick as kegging (I wouldnt know) but it really isn't that bad....

I find bottling cathartic. I don't hurry, just methodically work through the process.

It's almost a zen type thing. Relaxing. I like capping with the superautomatica.

Zen and the art of bottling with patience.