Switching back to bottling from kegs

[jimmy_jangles]

I have zero will power, if there is cold beer in the fridge....i'm drinking it. bottles kept out of the fridge is the go for me haha

 

[Rocker1986]

I found bottling and cleaning them a ******* pain in the arse to be quite honest. Hated it. So glad I moved to kegs, my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. I still bottle the excess from each brew, but that's only a couple of 6 packs, and the (soaking in perc) cleaning doesn't happen anywhere near as often anymore due to there being less of them. Much quicker to drain the FV into one 19 litre container and a few smaller ones, than a heap of smaller ones.

I wouldn't be getting rid of the kegs/keezer if it was me, you'll probably only regret it later on. I'd actually love the problem of not drinking much of them at the moment - it'd allow me to build a stockpile! :lol:

 

[Cocko]

As said and IMO

Keep kegging rig for the future. Bottle now if it suits best, surely you have bottled before , so easy....

Or, drink straight from FV

 

[mxd]

keep the keezer, clean the kegs and to keep it in use, put water in it and just have it as soda water, non alcho ginger beer etc.. That way the keezers in use and the wife can enjoy it too. Then when you get back into brewing/drinking you'll be thankful

 

[Coodgee]

The grain father is pretty good man. Makes brewing pretty hassle free. Personally I've never bottled a full batch in my life. I bought my keg setup before my first batch was done fermenting.

 

[welly2]

Haven't bottled a single beer in 4 months after a few years doing nothing but that. No regrets whatsoever. The mere thought of bottling makes me twitch. Which I'm doing now (twitching) while this saison I'm planning on bottling is busying mashing away. Having bought stuff in the past and then sold it because I didn't think I was going to use it, massive regrets. If nothing else, put it away in storage and see if you don't feel the need to use it in 6 months time and then make your decision. Realise you wanted to use the proceeds to fund a Grainfather, which as a Grainfather owner I can't recommend enough, but looks like you've got a cracking keezer set up you'd more than likely miss.

 

[Rocker1986]

keep the keezer, clean the kegs and to keep it in use, put water in it and just have it as soda water, non alcho ginger beer etc.. That way the keezers in use and the wife can enjoy it too. Then when you get back into brewing/drinking you'll be thankful

I have a keg of soda water in my kegerator at the moment, it's not a permanent situation as it will go when I have enough kegs of beer for it, but it is nice to be able to make fizzy cordials with, when I don't necessarily feel like a beer. I reckon it's a good idea.

 

[peekaboo_jones]

I've been thinking of kegging but it doesn't really suit my areas. Bottling is still quite convenient and I think pretty easy.
I have a 20L cube which I fill up with a local home brew shop mixture of bottle wash and sanitiser. It sits in my bar.
Once beer is consumed, I rinse bottles out with cold tap water, and fill up with the washing solution and place the bottle into a milk crate under my bar. Anywhere from 1 hour to 3+ weeks
When appropriate I clean the bottles with a brush, rinse and place up side down on a drying rack. 28 long necks can be washed and rinsed within 15 mins.
Once dry, cover opening with foil.
It works for me.

Having said that, I do want to get one keg, gas and the bits so I can put into my fermenting fridge at peak party times etc or take to someone else's bbq party.

Do what suits you

[Edit]
Washing solution is recycled back into cube, haven't had an issue with infections. I get rid of it maybe every 2-3 months...

 

[JDW81]

when I don't necessarily feel like a beer

Said no home brewer, ever...

 

[Killer Brew]

If you do decide to sell your kegging gear then I could be in the market

 

[niftinev]

Never kegged, don't drink enough to warrant it, have about 150 flip tops of various brews on hand with about another 200 empty flippers and don't regret it.
Always able to have a different beer depending on mood, weather, food or friends
Only thing is do you have the room, i need more space! 10 cars worth
and i don't sell anything (only give away) you may want to use it in 10-15 years time and faark how much will it cost then

 

[Tony121]

I had a 10 year hiatus with my brewing due to various reasons - not approving wife, renovating houses, kids, not approving wife, etc., etc.

I thought I would never brew again until mid last year, my father was cleaning out his garage and asked whether I wanted all my brewing gear -
Various kegs, taps, guns, regs, CO2 bottle and home made keezer.

I decided to start brewing again and am over the moon that all my gear was kept, even though over the years I had told my old man just to get rid of it. I am now building my kettle for BIAB, purchased additional fridge and well and truly falling back down the rabbit hole.

Take it from someone who has been in a similar situation, DO NOT SELL, just adapt and you will be back kegging in another stage of your life.

Enjoy bottling in the mean time....

 

[bouncingcastle]

On the other side of this one to Tony. I sold all my gear about 7 years ago and finally have the space to brew/keg again. Really wish i had hung onto all my gear, it's getting challenging running it all through the finance minister and I think I will fall short of the setup I used to have (initially anyway)

 

[doctr-dan]

Don't sell your gear, I dont have ahigh turn over . Maybe 1-3 beers a day max on hot days with the occasional blowout to maybe 6 with a social gathering.
I still find kegging more convenient time wise.
I have ambitions of bottling a few batches and letting them mature for variet etc ( that's why I have a wardrobe full of long necks )
It hasn't happened
Just a thought couldn't you squeeze in double the amount of 9ltr kegs as you do19ltr kegs for variety?
And just get the grain father as well

 

[Kingy]

I started selling off my gear about 5 years ago as brewing became more of a chore back then. I was dead set sure I wouldn't brew again.
Then I had to start buying more gear when I wanted to start up again. I'm lucky the price I put on my kegerator was to high for it to sell as I'd be kickin myself if I had to replace that(All tho I'm looking to upgrade that now my brewery is nearly finished)

 

[Matplat]

Now that I've started, I seriously can't imagine ever not brewing!

I'm not sure you can get more satisfaction than drinking delicious beer that you made from scratch.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

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.

I can't agree with this enough. You can get 9.5L Kegs from KK that would be great for small batches. I currently use one for soda water.

Like others have said, the main thing that drives people away from bottling is the cleaning and storage of all those bottles. Not to mention the procurement process. I can't remember how many times I dumpster dove out the back of a mexican restaurant for corona bottles, then spending hours trying to get the rotting lemon or lime wedge out of them.. The final straw for me was when I collected a stack of milk crates containing 100 or so bottles with my Jeep's wing mirror backing out of the garage and sent them flying onto the driveway.

Keep the keezer - just downsize your kegs.

 

[Matplat]

Not to mention the procurement process. I can't remember how many times I dumpster dove out the back of a mexican restaurant for corona bottles,

That's commitment right there... I just looked up on gumtree and paid $0.40-0.50 per crown seal tallie....

 

[MastersBrewery]

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.

This; but with the BigW as kettle. Matho's original Bm clone had a batch size of 10-12L brilliant for variety. Thought of doing this many times. CPBF to help empty the kegs also works.

 

[Rosscoe]

That's commitment right there... I just looked up on gumtree and paid $0.40-0.50 per crown seal tallie....

I just drank several dozen and washed them... Wasn't such a chore really[emoji39]