Bottle's VS Keg

[NickP]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post but here goes.

I have been kegging my beer since I started brewing, but since I have gone All Grain I have started to use a couple of bottles as well as the kegs so I can see what is happening.

Just tried my last brew which is about 4 weeks old now, the bottle of beer has a much more defined hop character, however when I compared this against the keg version I noticed that the kegged version is much more rouned and all of the flavours merge into one.

Now i think i prefer the bottle as the hop character is much more prononuced (which i prefer) but im wondering whats happening and how come they taste so different. One more thing to note is I didn't use any extra suger etc to produce carbonation i have just left them to to their own devices although carbonation for me is ok.

[WishboneBrewery]

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27899&p=302453#p302453

Its seems we are asking the same kind of question

[pantsmachine]

My guess would be that there are different weight layers within the FV and you are drawing off those layers into a bottle and sealing. Whereas with a keg the whole package gets to meld together. I have noticed something similar when brewing with honey. An occasional bottle will really shout out 'honey' where the others will not. Assume layering effect? Not sure what kind of Kegs you are using or indeed what kind of beer but i prefered bottling myself over KK's. The few times i did use the KK's i am sure they imparted a flavour to the beer. Then again the beer was in them for an awfully long time. Don't know about cornies as they're not my thing and zero experience of them.

[Eadweard]

I think different levels of carbonation is a big factor in bottle vs keg.

[Northern Brewer]

I think different levels of carbonation is a big factor in bottle vs keg.

I agree. Somehow it's a different 'type' of carbonation that accentuates the hops' bitterness, perhaps in the way of carbonic bite.

[Earth Titan]

When I started I used kegs but got fed up with all the gassing, beer going flat, kegs leaking etc. A right old pain in the ....

Although bottling is also a pain in the what not, the beer seems to taste better and keeps longer without all the hassle above. If I could afford to go to cornies I think I might consider it, but this way I know I can save a few bottles from a brew for few months without tieing up a whole keg.

Just my opinion.

[a-slayer]

I always used to to put my AG brews into kegs, but on doing similar taste tests with some bottles I have become convinced that bottling produces a superior flavour. Also the bottled beers are better tasting no matter how long it takes to finish the brew, I always found the last gallon in the keg used to be a bit off even with using carbon dioxide. I have even stored some bottles for over a year and it just keeps getting better with age.
So bottles win with me now every time and all my beer goes into the old quart cider bottles , no conditioning sugar is ever needed .

[NickP]

The type of keg im using is a king keg top tap, and i would say the keg has higher carbonation than the bottles, the keg poured beer holds its head better than the bottled poured. Not sure if maybe they are coming into condition at different times i also dont put any priming sugar into either since going AG i dont seem to need it.

[Jim]

For me, although bottles stay fresher longer, I much prefer the smooth taste of draught beer. I'm pretty sure it's the level of carbonation that makes the difference.

It's also said that bottled beer retains hop aroma better than draught, which I think is true. But it still doesn't beat fresh draught ale.

[farmhousekeg]

Last night I popped open a 5 and a half month old APA in a bottle. It was crystal clear, held its head nicely and had all the hoppy flavour that I expected from this particular brew. I have used a few kegs in the past year but strangely I have never really been happy with the beer in them - of course it could be that the same beer would also have been sh*te if I had bottled it. However for me the real advantage of bottles is that I can hopefully keep my beers fresh for a long, long time and (if I have enough bottles - presently about 280) then I can still stock a large range of styles without the expense of a lot of kegs or cornies AND I can be reasonably sure that the beer will not spoil before I have a chance to drink it. So far I vote for bottles.

[trucker5774]

I almost always bottle. It allows transportation and cooling. I have just been experimenting with my beer engine. I enjoy all my bottled beers but also like a head (which I tend to lack from my bottles) I have used the beer engine to pump the beer from the bottles. This gives a much better mouth feel to the beer and gives that "cask character"

[a-slayer]

farmkousekeg mirrors my views exactly... bottles for me every time and lots of them. You just need good bottles and look after them, all mine get swilled out after use and a campden tablet in them to keep them sweet till next time they are needed, then it is just a quick swish out with water and refill. I can clean and fill 10 gallons worth of beer bottles in 40 mins. Never had a sour bottle yet.

[6470zzy]

I think different levels of carbonation is a big factor in bottle vs keg.

I agree. Somehow it's a different 'type' of carbonation that accentuates the hops' bitterness, perhaps in the way of carbonic bite.

I concur with this idea of carbonation levels and have in fact noticed rather marked differences in beer that I have purposefully bottled with different levels of priming sugars (very easy to do with the carbonation drops)

Cheers

[yashicamat]

As far as I see it;

Plastic pressure barrels (King Kegs etc.) - these seem to produce the smoothest ale, partly due to low carbonation I suspect. I find they tend to produce a "fresher" hop aroma and flavour, but this does start to fade after about 2 weeks though, so hoppy pale ales are best drunk young in my experience. The last gallon of beer can start to turn a bit though and I don't find the barrels are sealed well enough to condition the beer properly (to 1 vol of CO2, i.e., as in a good pub beer).

Bottles - retain hop flavour and aroma, although it's not quite the same as the keg version. The environment is ideal for maturing beers so I find this storage medium ideal for IPAs and malty beers, especially anything very strong which isn't likely to be drunk quickly enough to keep in a normal keg. It also has the advantage that it's both portable and one can see if the beer is clear easily enough.

Corny kegs - a practical solution, but I am yet to be convinced by this system. I've ran mine since early this year and I still find the beer shifts character quite a lot when stored in this way. I don't particularly like "fizzy" beer, so that particular ability of this system is of no use to me (except when doing wheat beers). The stainless steel construction *should* lend itself well to long term storage and maturing of beers, plus the CO2 top pressure *should* mean that beers can be dispensed over a long time period. I've found that beers still seem to degrade though, albeit at a much slower rate.

Pub casks - I shall get back to everyone on this one! I currently have filled a pin with my Snape's Stout and will report back in 3 or 4 weeks when I start the cask. I am hoping to achieve very good condition in the beer with this method, although it has the same shortfalls as a pressure barrel which one allows air to draw in as the beer drops, i.e., oxidation.

[Capped]

Bottles for me,no contest. D'ya know,I'm still using John Smith's Pale Ale (wha???) bottles that I used to use when I made ale for my ol' man when I was 16-17 years old. Those bottles are 28 years old - I can't even begin to imagine just how many gallons of ale has passed thru' them. They've seen more action than John Wayne and I couldn't part with them,even if I'd a practical reason to!