Keg, bottle or both?

Brewing Processes
1

Many homebrewers never keg, and many who set up a kegging system never bottle again.

And yet, some of us who do use kegs still bottle a significant amount to provide as gifts and competitions. And some keg exclusively but use a counter pressure bottle filler or beer gun to fill the occassional bottle.

How much do you bottle? Keg?

How much of your homebrew do you bottle?
  • I only bottle my homebrew
  • I bottle most of my homebrew, but occassionaly keg
  • I split fairly evenly between bottling and kegging
  • I almost exlusively keg and rarely bottle
  • I only keg anymore
  • I only keg, but I use a CPBF/Beer gun on occassion
0 voters
2

I only keg for the past two years.

I have about 100 bottles ready to go if the need ever arises though.

3

I only bottle because it is the best way and there is no other way to store beer!!!

B.S.!!!

Actually I don’t have a kegging system (yet) but Santa may be good to me this year.  I’d expect I would only bottle after that if I had all my kegs in use and needed the keg.  I would then bottle to free up the keg.  And also bottle for competitions.

4

I’m about 80/20 kegging to bottling. Most of my funky/big beers get the bottle, whereas “normal” stuff goes into the kegs.

5

I keg almost exclusively.

I would bottle more…but I’m just too lazy. Kegging is so much easier.

6

Bottle only,1984-2009
Matthew

7

If it weren’t for kegging, I’m not sure I ever would have made it past my first year of brewing… yes I am that fricking lazy.

8

I keg almost all my beer, except I bottle half my annual big beer series (RIS, Amer BW, surprise (this year its Baltic Porter).

the rest of the bigs gets kegged into shorty kegs.

I bottle off the tap or CPF (but usually the former since I’m too lazy) when bottles are needed for competition for regular beers.

9

I bottle all my brew. I like opening all fridge and seeing all those bottles in there. I recently switched to 22oz bottles and it helps shorten the time to bottle.

10

If I didn’t have to bottle for comps, I probably wouldn’t bottle at all.  Nothing better than going to the fridge and having the choice of many on tap at the same time.  I too have a hundred or so bottles cleaned and ready to go if the need or desire occurs.

11

I bottled once. Once.
If I ever do a barley wine or imperial that would change of course, but I’ve never brewed something that needs to be aged (beer-wise). No competition submissions yet either, seems a lot of work for someone to tell me if my beer is good or not. I just brew for the household pipeline right now.

-OCD

12

I switched entirely to kegging (hated dealing with all those bottles), but now realize I’d like to bottle some of each keg (sometimes).  Good thing I only gave away my bottles (which are easily replaced) and not my stand capper!

13

Says the man who uses the Methode Champenoise.  :wink:

14

The ONLY thing I have in bottles is a 2 year old ABC.  I have 16 cornies with beer right now and bottle some of that only when I’m in the mood to share.

6 Ventmatic draft tower makes bottles obsolete!  ;D

15

I bottle now which is a huge pain but plan on kegging when I get back to the States and can get a basement keg-e-rator.

16

I keg mostly, I fill bottles for competitions or sending out. I just bottled 1/2 of a batch of the beer from the Surly rally. So I could remember why I keg. :wink:

17

I almost always keg. Some styles like Hefes I prefer to bottle.

18

I keg all the beer and then bottle some to give away.

19

I have for 4 years now brewed a Holiday Cheer spiced ale. I made it a tradition to brew it on Christmas Eve
and bulk age it in fermenters until the following fall, and bottle. The last two years I switched to bottling it
in bombers for sharing. I have not had the enthusiastic response I had hoped. (BMC drinkers mostly. Fellow
brewers have always loved my holiday beer.) This year I kegged it. I asked about bottling from a keg in another
thread because of this. Otherwise only keg any more.

20

I cannot believe that it took me so long to start, but now I mostly Keg and that is because the labor consuming job of
handling bottles is now gone.  I am still in the learning curve on the methods to obtain good carbonation in any bottles
that I fill from the keg. That has been a challenge but the experimentation continues.  FWIW, I own 6 ball lock kegs.
4 are currently filled and 2 have not arrived yet but will be welcome additions to the collection.  I plan another Saison
and a Lager for them when they arrive.

I do enjoy the result of a good bottle conditioned homebrew.

Edit: the other 2 just showed up…ugly but holding pressure. :-\