Let’s discuss the pros and cons of kegging beer vs. bottling beer.
The most important factor here is cost. Plain and simple: kegerators are expensive, at least compared to bottling. I’ve seen the price on kegerators drop recently, so it’s not as expensive as it used to be, but if you’re just starting out with home brewing and you’re not sure how serious you’re going to get, making an investment in a kegerator is a big decision.
Bottling your beer is much, much cheaper, but it takes longer and is more work. You need to either a.) buy empty bottles or b.) re-use consumed bottles from beer you have purchased. You need to be extra careful about cleaning and sanitizing if you decide to re-use bottles. I’d also recommend avoiding bottles that use labels or stickers and stick with the ones that use etching.
Kegging usually takes about 2 or 3 days to force-carbonate beer, whereas bottling can take about 2 weeks before the beer is bottle conditioned or carbonated. So let’s re-cap advantages of each:
Kegging
- Fast – drink your beer 2 or 3 days after kegging
- Easy – no cleaning and sanitizing dozens of bottles and racking beer to each
- Fun – let’s be honest, it’s pretty fun to pull on the tap and get a fresh, cold beer for you and your friends
- Cheap – especially if you re-use bottles
- Mobile – bottles are easy to transport and share
- Versatile – you can also have fun with designing your own label, etc.
I have been home brewing for along time now, but have never kegged my beer. I hear a lot of people saying how much easier and better it is, but my main concern is the cost and equipment needed. What are the basics required (i.e. what would you consider a MUST) and what is just store owners trying to sell me gadgets?
This is the best advice I have found for new keggers.
After the tank issue, then it’s just a regulator, lines, beverage in and gas out connectors and a tap or faucet of some sort. Oh and the keg!