It’s official, bottled 4.5 gallons tonight and I’m beat. Considering I’ll probably never (not in a long while) have 2 beer-dedicated appliances in the garage for a proper fermentation chamber and keg chamber, which would you choose if you could only choose one and why?
Well… what about a spare fridge? I’ve been in your shoes and this is my current (and probably final) plan. Keg 5 gallons, add sugar to carbonate, fill Grolsch style bottles from keg (for sharing,etc.), and let the rest of the beer carb in keg. If I had to choose I would stay with bottles since sharing my beer, to me, is just as enjoyable as making it. You may want to invest in swing-top bottles to make things just a bit easier.
I went through a phase where I hated bottling. Just remember that one funky bottle means one funky bottle of beer. One bit of funk in a keg means the whole batch is toast.
With the typical used keg route, propper kegging and draft serving is every bit as much work as bottling. All things considered
To me, kegging is pure joy compared to bottling. There was a bit of work setting up my keezer, but well worth it. Picking up Mark’s Keg Washer cut my time down considerably too, and my pbw usage. My routine now is to clean and sanitize in advance, flush the keg with co2 and store it under pressure. When I’m ready to rack the only thing I’m cleaning and sanitizing is my auto siphon.
If money is the main obstacle for freezers or refrigerators, you can check out Craigslist too.
Money isn’t the issue, we actually have a good sized three car garage so space is fine too. It’s the selling the SWBHO that I need two appliances that will only be used for beer.
Buy her something nice and have them delivered on the same day.
Just do what I did for a year, keep telling her you’re in too deep to turn back now! Just never tell you only need one more thing, because that will be a lie!
What about beerbox or party pig? Those fit in the fridge you have. After you annoy her with that for a while she’ll beg you to build a kegerator.
To answer your original question. I would get the fermentation chamber first (assuming you don’t have another good way to control ferm temps). No use kegging bad beer.
good news is you can add the appliances on the cheap. fridge used is pretty cheap and once you take all the shelves out it makes a good keg storage device ( i get 4 in mine and use a kegerator for another 2 kegs). I bought a scratch and dent chest freezer for $200 and johnson controls temp controller for $70 for temp controlled fermentation chamber.
love kegging beer. I bottle beers I dont want to clear up in a keg - weizens, wits.
If you buy a refrigerator, you can use the bottom for kegs and the freezer is still usable for food storage.
… and hops
Food? Well I do have some frozen Balaton cherries in mine. Can’t decide if they go into a mead or a Baltic Porter/RIS.
It’s a campaign promise.
Completely agree, Jim. MANY a homebrewer overlook this factor because kegging is new to them and they think it’s just the end-all-be-all of brewing. Bottling very much still has its place.
And OP, I suggest you do a bit of modifying of your procedure if it’s become too much of a pain. Check out the “Bottling tips for the homebrewer” thread on HomeBrewTalk. Great thread about streamlining the process.
Man, glad my wife has always been cool about letting me buy beer stuff. I certainly never say anything about the purses and shoes and what-the-hell-ever else she wants to buy.
I’ve heard SWMBO. She Who Must Be Obeyed…but what’s SWBHO? She Who Buys Half Of? Either way…ain’t nobody got time for that :
I got my chest freezer (7CuFt) and fridge(22CuFt) off crags list for less than $200. The Chest is my Keezer, and the fridge holds my 2 16 gallon fermenters. I quick and easy temp controller for the fridge, and you are all set. The Keezer, well that cost a bit more…
Tim
There is one other thing about kegging and serving beer on draft. It is colder than serving bottled beer. You can set the thermostat a bit lower for the kegs, and if it is a dedicated kegerator, the only time that you open the door is to service or change the lines of kegs. 99 out of 100 times I’d say that draft beer is colder.
I know that you don’t always want beer to be the coldest you can get it, but even with an English style beer, it is nice to pour it cold and let it warm up gradually in your hand while you’re enjoying it.
I love kegging for a multitude of reasons (I, too, bottled for 15+ years), but the coldness, freshness, and shelf life of draft beer can’t be beat. If you do it well, that is.