| That is the question most home brewers eventually | | | | Kegging does free the homebrewer from the |
| ask soon after getting hooked on brewing their own | | | | mundane and tedious tasks of cleaning and sanitizing |
| beer. Most home brew enthusiasts see it as a natural | | | | bottles, storing the empties (always seems there are |
| progression from novice to expert, much like going | | | | more empties than fullies), and waiting weeks for |
| from extract to all-grain. However, even with all the | | | | beer to carbonate in the bottle. It also gives you |
| positives of kegging your home made beer there are | | | | control by easily adjusting carbonation levels to your |
| a few things you need to understand. First off, and | | | | liking for a given style or batch. A kegging system |
| probably the most important for many is the cost of | | | | also opens the door to other possibilities, like closed |
| kegging equipment. | | | | beer transfer for sanitation and filtering for crystal |
| For some it might be a hard sell to the wife or | | | | clear beer. |
| significant other on the merits of spending a few | | | | Even with all the cleaning, and all the liberating |
| hundred to upwards of six hundred dollars on C02 | | | | freedoms of kegging your beer, bottling your |
| tanks, canisters, towers, and maybe even a | | | | homemade beer still has its place. For instance, |
| kegerator. Wasn't one of the reasons given for the | | | | seasonal or specialty beers that you don't want to |
| need to brew your own beer the money that would | | | | drink everyday would do better in a bottle. Especially, |
| be saved? For those lucky few whom money is not | | | | when you are giving some away for gifts or to take |
| an issue or those, like me, with a wife that loves | | | | to a small get-together where a keg would be |
| beer, you will have to consider the space needed for | | | | inappropriate. Bottles also let you add a custom label |
| a keg system. | | | | that personifies your beer or adds that personal |
| Not only will you have to have space to store | | | | touch and flare to the beer. |
| everything required you will have to have a place to | | | | If you have the cash and space you can easily |
| dispense from. If you also appreciate food in addition | | | | relieve yourself of the tedium of priming and bottling |
| to appreciating beer this usually means that you will | | | | and enjoy the convenience and flexibility of a |
| need a spare refrigerator or even better-a kegerator, | | | | complete kegging setup. However, bottles will always |
| an appliance whose sole purpose and function is to | | | | have their place in the grand scheme of |
| serve beer. Can there be a higher calling for an | | | | homebrewing. |
| appliance? I think not. | | | | |
