Kegging

[labrewski]

So after I had 3 batches to bottle recently
And not a lot of spare time to do it I'm thinking I should be kegging
Basically what I'm asking is what's the pros and cons of kegging
Any simple but essential tips I need to know
Quality does it lower or higher I think glass is good as in coke from a glass bottle all ways tastes better

 

[MmmBeer]

It knocks 2 hours off bottling day.

Do you need any more reasons?

 

[DavidHatton]

Best thing I have done, as I mainly brew 4.8% to 6% beers. will always bottle stronger beers.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Recently went over to kegs - wish I had done it a long time ago

Much quicker, I believe it improves the quality of the brew and the carbonation level is much more flexible than in a bottle. Not gassy enough just add a bit more CO2, too gassy just let some off the keg

You can carbonate via secondary fermentation or by gas under pressure from a bottle - sodastream is much more expensive than a pub type bottle

I assume you mean stainless steel kegs i.e. Cornelius Kegs - plastic ones can cause a lot of problems. I found they leaked and would advise you avoid them

 

[Brewnaldo]

I'd say its good to do both. I have a 5, 10 and 20 litre keg. Bags of flexibility there.

 

[Rob11TC]

I've just brought kegs to start kegging. Hoping it improves quality and will be much quicker when time to keg instead of bottle.
Getting a fridge that fits kegs in can be tricky.

 

[Drunkula]

I think the biggest thing that people have trouble with kegging is balancing the lines. You get people dropping the pressure every time they're on a session which is absolute nonsense.

Make sure you get some 3/16" pipe in the beer side somewhere and some sort of flow control. You can get inline ones that pubs use for under £7 delivered. That doesn't tie you to a tap and you can use anything on the end including 95p plastic picnic taps.

As said above plastic barrels are absolute rubbish. If you get one for Christmas ask Father Christmas for the coal instead.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I've recently started kegging. It's great. It's not an insignificant outlay for the equipment (keg itself, gas bottle deposit and regulator being the three big expenses). There are other parts you can spend on (thinking tap).
Personally I use balanced lines. I see a lot of people having carbing pressure and then a serving pressure, but to me they are one and the same. That way, I set the desired pressure when I first hook it up and then don't need to fiddle untill the keg is empty. I'm also patient enough to wait a couple of weeks while it carbs up (set and forget method), and I gather this is more reliable in terms of carbonation level than burst carbing (shaking keg at higher pressure).

 

[gavp1979]

I have had kegs for about a year and would definitely recommend it over bottling, as mentioned above by @MmmBeer the time saving alone is a massive bonus but I think the best thing has been winding my mates up with pictures of nice draft beer freshly poured from my garage while the pubs have been shut.

 

[lupinehorror]

started kegging with my last brew. i won't be going back to bottles.
simple set up at the moment but i'll expand to a proper canister instead of bulbs when finances permit.

 

[gavp1979]

started kegging with my last brew. i won't be going back to bottles.
simple set up at the moment but i'll expand to a proper canister instead of bulbs when finances permit.

Once you have the regulator and paid a deposit the ongoing costs are much cheaper than bulbs. I am hoping to pick a refill of a 6kg tank up today for £10. I have had my last one for a year and although it has not has run out yet I think it is low and for the small cost of a refill I don't want to risk it running out over Christmas

 

[obscure]

I do a mixture I have a few half size corny kegs (9.5L) plus some of the Dark farm style mini kegs. For session beers it makes life so much easier you have one vessel to sanitise then can add the beer straight to the keg. Normally I still carb with sugar in the keg, but recently have tried forced carbing, and found it works well and will probably do it more in the summer when I have more beers that don’t benefit from a long period of conditioning.

I still occasionally bottle, for stronger beers that I reckon might take me months to drink my way through a batch I don’t want to tie up my keg with. The initial outlay is higher than bottles but corny kegs last so just a few pounds here and their for new orings. Also while I like my dark farm style kegs the corny kegs are a lot easier to clean, (and check for cleanliness).

CO2 wise I use a mixture of bulbs and soda steam cylinders, this is a matter of it being convenient for me, and means I can fit a keg in my kitchen fridge on the week end, but is significantly more expensive so don't go for unless you have a specific reason that a full size cylinder won’t be practical.

 

[lupinehorror]

Once you have the regulator and paid a deposit the ongoing costs are much cheaper than bulbs. I am hoping to pick a refill of a 6kg tank up today for £10. I have had my last one for a year and although it has not has run out yet I think it is low and for the small cost of a refill I don't want to risk it running out over Christmas

yeah, thanks. couldn't stretch to it with initial set up but that's my next brewing buy.

 

[Sandimas]

As others have said, if it's stainless steel kegs with external gas then they're great, if it's plastic homebrew kegs then be prepared for a whole new world of pain: do a search on the forum for keg issues.

 

[PhilBrew]

One of the worries I had about kegging was that having beer "on tap", readily available, 24/7 would make it harder for me to control my consumption ... TBH though I'm generally finding, since I can choose to just have a half/however much/little I fancy at times (I don't HAVE to choose from the volumes in the bottles I have left) I'm in better control of my drinking

One "downside" I've found, though it shouldn't be a problem if I got my act together a bit better, is how I'm now finding I don't have the stash of bottles I'd have had previously from which to deliver to friends along with Xmas offerings ... got to plan such things smarter for next year.

Cheers, PhilB

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Worth adding too, bottling and kegging aren't mutually exclusive.
Firstly, with anything over a 19L brew, there will be a handful of bottles, which I like as I can give them to friends and family.
Also, with a few extra components, it's easy to transfer to growlers, smaller kegs to take out (for example using two black disconnects and piece of 3/8 line), and to fill pet bottles using a carbonation cap. I now keep a few pet (some brown, some reused soda water bottles). Filling the bottles from the keg is easy and oxygen free.

 

[Falco]

I do a mixture I have a few half size corny kegs (9.5L) plus some of the Dark farm style mini kegs.

Is there any benefit of one over the other with these two types?

I haven't got the house space for a dedicated kegerator so would go for these sizes of kegs to fit in the kitchen fridge. CO2 wise I've got a pub size cylinder in the garage which I use to refill Sodasteam bottles to make fizzy water so can use these to carbonate the kegged beer too. That's the plan anyway.

 

[obscure]

Is there any benefit of one over the other with these two types?

I haven't got the house space for a dedicated kegerator so would go for these sizes of kegs to fit in the kitchen fridge. CO2 wise I've got a pub size cylinder in the garage which I use to refill Sodasteam bottles to make fizzy water so can use these to carbonate the kegged beer too. That's the plan anyway.

Personally I would say the big advantage of Corny kegs is they are a lot easier to clean, and you can use standard ball lock fittings. The dark farm ones I have are 5L which fit in the fridge a bit more comfortable than a half size keg, so I suppose that’s an advantage. Tap units are also a lot cheaper for corny kegs than mini kegs, so overall if I was starting from scratch I would probably go for 9.5L cronies over 5L mini kegs.

 

[Falco]

Thanks for that @obscure

I did think that Cornies would be easier to clean due to the wider opening so will consider the 9.5L ones.

I've got a large larder fridge for fermentation in the garage that I'd use for storing the keg between sessions but have you or anyone else have an opinion on the best dispense method for a mini Cornie in a kitchen fridge?

I'd imagine it's less faff using a keg mounted tap rather than a Pluto gun or party tap?

 

[obscure]

Thanks for that @obscure

I did think that Cornies would be easier to clean due to the wider opening so will consider the 9.5L ones.

I've got a large larder fridge for fermentation in the garage that I'd use for storing the keg between sessions but have you or anyone else have an opinion on the best dispense method for a mini Cornie in a kitchen fridge?

I'd imagine it's less faff using a keg mounted tap rather than a Pluto gun or party tap?

At the moment with it being fairly cool I’m not bothering to refrigerate my kegs, I have a flow control tap and the beer is a Scottish heavy so can be kept at a fairly low pressure. I can fit this one in my fridge but it’s a lot,easier if I detach the gas and tap (another plus for corny kegs is ball lock taps which can be easily detached and reattached).