Home Brew Kegging

You already tried and tested producing your own homemade beer, and likely you have gone the route of bottling the brew. The majority of home brewing kits include plastic bottles and screw caps; and some opt for glass bottles, metal caps and a cap sealer. Although, the bottles must be rinsed out and sanitized each time it's reused.

After brewing your very own beer a couple of times and your enjoy the process and results, it is time to consider kegging your brewed beer instead of bottles. Kegging is simply the transfer of the beer to a pressurized keg (Just like at your local pub) rather than bottling it.

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages and you will need to consider whether or not kegging out weighs bottling. The first disadvantage of kegging is the cost. It is a costly start-up initially compared to simply re-using the bottles you already have. In order to start kegging your home made beer, CO2 tanks need to be purchased and a large storage fridge - called a kegerator - not to mention the actually kegs themselves. The second obstacle is storage. Bottles are obvisously easier to store than a big keg inside a bigger keg fridge. If space is an issues, then consider sticking with the bottle until you have more room in a bigger house, maybe you can build a bigger garage, redo the basement, etc. The wife or kids probably won't like tripping over kegs left in the middle of the kitchen, or sitting on them in the TV room.

Some drawbacks of bottling to think about; the convenience of not having to bottle your beer, the ability to serve your fine home made beer to houseguests straight from the tap, and the quality of the brew will keep better, longer when kegging. If you have been brewing beer at home for some time now, you may be able to justify the initial costs of kegging. Not to mention the money you will save long term brewing your own beer than buying it retail. And, if you have the space and talent and are ready to move to the next level of home brewing beer, than why not take that next step.

Especially if your the sort who enjoys entertaining at home often and will take pride in serving your homemade beer to your neighbors. You will feel prouder serving a frosty cold one straight from the tap of your kegerator unit.

In the end, if you do choose kegging your own home brewed beer, don't discard your bottles just yet as they will come in handy for travelling to parties and barbecues. Quality, home brewed beer isn't looked upon as being cheap, bathtub suds anymore - The craze of homebrewing is sweeping the nation, so get with the trend.

To conclude, if you are experienced and have been home brewing for a while now, money is not standing in your way, and you have space to keep your kegs, it might as well just be time to move up in the home brewing world and start taking it seriously. You can enjoy your beers just like you do when you go down to your local pub - straight from the tap.