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Nice dilemma

Northern Brewer General
#1

I just did a side job for which my wife has said I get to keep the money all for myself. This doesn’t happen too often.

So I’m gonna get either an all grain setup or a kegging setup. I really want to get into all grain eventually, and also I’m starting to get bored with bottling and would love to put some stuff on nitro.

I know that somewhere down the road I will eventually have both, but wondering if anyone has strong feeling on which one I should get now?

I feel like if I was doing all grain, I would want the keg setup to get the most out of it, and conversely, if I had the keg setup, I might think that I didn’t want to use extract anymore.

This is a nice problem to have though - any ideas

#2

Personally, I’d say keg setup. You’ll save time, space, and money once you are setup. You can move to all grain much easier, cheaper, but I’d wait for those reasons exactly. If it’s not too much too ask, how much money are we talking? You could probably do both at the same time. Start by moving to BIAB. Not sure what your setup is like now, but if your doing full volume boils outside with a burner, you can switch to all grain (BIAB) for no more than a $10 grain sack.

#3

I did all-grain set-up first. But from a practical point of view, I may have switched to kegging first had I realized how easy it can make your life in the end.

So All-grain for adventure and creativity.

Draft for standard of life improvement. Plus you get to pour yourseflf pints and pretend you are Sam or Woody from Cheers.

#4

I have around $350 to spend. But I already have access to a G-Mix & regulator, so the keg route would definitely be cheaper for me.
Had just wondered if people would say get the Grain thing all sorted and make better beer before kegging.

Kegging would definitely make life a lot easier!

#5

[quote=“Flibster”]I have around $350 to spend. But I already have access to a G-Mix & regulator, so the keg route would definitely be cheaper for me.
Had just wondered if people would say get the Grain thing all sorted and make better beer before kegging.

Kegging would definitely make life a lot easier![/quote]

You can do both for around that price. Check craigs list for used kegerators. If you find a single tap on the cheap, start with that. Or maybe a chest fridge and just use picnic taps to start. You can always add on later. No reason you can’t move to all grain and start kegging.

#6

[quote=“Flibster”]I have around $350 to spend. But I already have access to a G-Mix & regulator, so the keg route would definitely be cheaper for me.
Had just wondered if people would say get the Grain thing all sorted and make better beer before kegging.

Kegging would definitely make life a lot easier![/quote]

this all depends on what your ideal all grain setup is. You can brew all grain with a $5 bucket and some paint strainer bags or drop a few grand on a fully automated RIMS system. I assume somewhere in between those two but the point is you have a lot more room to play with costs if your only goal is to go all grain.

#7

you can easily do both with that money, just spend wisely

#8

Both kegging and AG brewing have the potential to vastly improve the quality and your own enjoyment of your homebrew. Both are pretty revolutionary! Here’s one thing to consider - when I finally switched to kegging, my wife told me, “If I had realized that kegs would mean no more bottles everywhere, I would have bought you a setup years ago!”

Christmas is coming, and Perlicks make a pretty nice gift at right around $40.

#9

Personally, I have been in your shoes. I would chose kegging as it will lead you to an entirely new adventure with your beer and it won’t take much for you to get to AG.

#10

You have almost400 bucks to blow do BOTH easily

#11

[quote=“El Capitan”]Both kegging and AG brewing have the potential to vastly improve the quality and your own enjoyment of your homebrew. Both are pretty revolutionary! Here’s one thing to consider - when I finally switched to kegging, my wife told me, “If I had realized that kegs would mean no more bottles everywhere, I would have bought you a setup years ago!”

Christmas is coming, and Perlicks make a pretty nice gift at right around $40.[/quote]
All true. But the space savings from loosing the bottles is offset by the space required for a fridge and spare kegs. $350 is enough to get into both at a basic level, and you can then add from there. For kegging you need to figure out how many beers you’ll want on tap at once, then get a fridge that will accommodate. You will also right off the bat need a CO2 tank, regulator, taps, lines (hoses), connectors and kegs. And for some reason, no matter how many kegs you get, you’ll realize later you need more.
Biggest cost on going AG is a mill. But once you buy that you can purchase sacks of grain and save enough that it pays for itself pretty quick. Everything else together costs less than the mill if you go with the Denny Conn set-up (highly recommended).

#12
http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/ http://brewing.lustreking.com/gear/mashtun.html

You can build a Mash Tun for ~$50, depending on the cost of a cooler.

Kegging, start with a freezer and temp controller (see my signature line) and picnic taps. As you save some money, buy the faucets/shanks.

#13

Get the keg system and with the time you save, do another side job! :mrgreen:

#14

Do both. All-grain brewing can be super ultra cheap. If you want to be super cheap about it (as I am), it really requires just a grain bag or two and a large kettle or two. Done. Get the kegging stuff for sure. If you want to brew all-grain, you will find a way!

#15

Moving over to a keg system is lifechanging for a brewer. You eliminate the single biggest time waster (and pain in the a$$) cleaning and filling the bottles. I do bottle some beers that I want to age, but on my schedule. Imagine when you got your first DVR in 2003 and realized that you can watch TV anytime. It’s that much better.
Chet

#16

What’s a DVR? :mrgreen:

I still don’t have one of those.

#17

If your only doing one AG for sure. If I had to give up AG or kegging you would be damn sure I would not be moving back to extract.

#18

In my opinion, It totally depends on how much beer your brewing and what equipment you have already. I will say, I think it’s easier to piece together and AG setup over time since every upgrade you’ll use until you’re fully ready for AG.

Since you have that lump sum, I’d go kegging system. It is SO nice and you really have to flip some coin to make it useable. The nice thing is, a lot of the online dealers tend to have sales over the holiday season. I got a killer deal at kegconnection.com 2 years ago on cyber Monday.

You’ll need a fridge or freezer - look on Craigslist
co2 and regulator
kegs and all the hoses/fitting

You can get away with a picknic tap setup for a while.

Do you have a large kettle or burner yet?

#19

Thanks for all the replies guys - I was gone from civilization (Internet access) for the past 3-4 days so just read all the responses now.

I already have the old used upright freezer, a nitro tank and regulator so it seems that I’m so close to being set up for kegging that that is the way to go. Seems I just need a CO tank, regulator,dispenser and temp controller

Also, cleaning the bottles is beginning to be a royal pain. I will scour the websites over the next month or so and try and get a deal somewhere which might leave me something to get me started in AG.

Love this site :mrgreen:

#20

[quote=“Flibster”]Thanks for all the replies guys - I was gone from civilization (Internet access) for the past 3-4 days so just read all the responses now.

I already have the old used upright freezer, a nitro tank and regulator so it seems that I’m so close to being set up for kegging that that is the way to go. Seems I just need a CO tank, regulator,dispenser and temp controller

Also, cleaning the bottles is beginning to be a royal pain. I will scour the websites over the next month or so and try and get a deal somewhere which might leave me something to get me started in AG.

Love this site :mrgreen: [/quote]

you have all that do both easily

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