Bottling is fine. Bottling works. Bottling is also 45 minutes of sanitizing, filling, capping, and hoping you got the priming sugar math right, only to wait another two weeks and open your first bottle to flat beer because the yeast was tired. At some point, you will keg. This is just what happens.A basic kegerator setup consists of a Cornelius (corny) keg — the 5-gallon soda kegs that are the homebrew standard — a CO2 tank and regulator, and a fridge or chest freezer to keep it cold. You can often find used corny kegs for $20–$40 each. A full CO2 tank is around $20 to fill. The fridge is the expensive part if you’re buying dedicated, but many homebrewers repurpose an old one.The process is dramatically simpler than bottling. Sanitize the keg, transfer your beer in, seal it, hit it with 30 PSI of CO2 for a few minutes to purge oxygen, then set it to serving pressure (10–12 PSI for most ales) and let it carbonate over 5–7 days. Or “force carbonate” at high pressure for a few hours if you’re impatient. You will be impatient.The quality improvement is real. No oxygen pickup from bottling. No bottle bombs. No waiting on priming. Just cold, carbonated, draft homebrew on demand.💰 Startup cost: $150–$300 for a basic kegging setup⏱️ Carb time: 5–7 days natural · A few hours force-carb🍺 Serving pressure: 10–12 PSI for most ales at 38°F✅ Used corny kegs: check eBay, Craigslist, local homebrew shopsYou’ll bottle your first few batches. You’ll keg everything after. This is not a prediction — it’s a spoiler.
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