BeerBorg

Hey gang. So this is me; homebrew beginner in 2020 when quarantine made all stores near me… insane. I currently use 2 Home Depot bucket DIY fermenters, and bottle in growlers from local breweries (which I have learned is inappropriate although it works like a charm).

Any recommendations for kegging if I don’t feed an army and don’t drink a ton? Storing/cleaning bottles is a pain, but I know nothing about kegs. I usually make 1 or 2 batches at a time that are 4 gallons each. Do I need to refrigerate a keg? I’m in SoCal, so I only brew during fall and winter for cooler temps.

Thanks all for your common beer sense. I hope we assimilated some Vulcans. And a Klingon or 2.

Brad

Welcome.

First a comment on bottling in growlers. There are a couple of problems with that approach. They're not really designed for there amount of pressure that you'll get calibrating in the bottle. They're also really only meant to hold beer for a short time, for example, you bought a beer at the pub and want to drink some the next day.

Bottling in used PET soda bottles can work, but the green ones don't block light so ther beer can be skunky and ther brown ones are usually root beer and it's *REALLY* tough (but not impossible) to eliminate the smell and taste of the root beer. If you want to bottle but don't want to go to the trouble of getting a capper, you can use flip top bottles, like grolsch (unfortunately green) oor Fisher (brown bottle, but not as common).

Kegging is definitely easier than bottling, especially with bigger batches. You will want to keep the kegs cold for a variety of reasons that i won't get into.

I bought a kegerator (a refrigerator especially made for kegs). A neighbor just repurposed a refrigerator. At first, he just took out the shelves and had to open it when he wanted a beer, but he later made a couple of holes (one for the co2 line and one for serving). I've never done that, but i know you have to be careful not to puncture cooling lines.

Another option would be more of a temporary setup, but you could fill a big plastic bin with ice (or ice water, which can actually cool better) and pt the keg in that. I may or may not have used this approach while i was in college and kegs went on sale.

Good luck in your future brewing efforts, whatevert roe you follow.