Packaging my Beers--A Journey of Iterations

I've put a hold on kegging until I have a proper setup, so last week, I bottled fifteen gallons of beer.  That's roughly six cases.

Packaging, for me, has been a journey of iterations.  Like most homebrewers, in the beginning I bottled.  It was a chore.  Tedious.  Laborious.  Messy.  I actually preferred the task of cleaning over that of bottling.  After a few years, I purchased a kegging setup (tank, regulator, picnic tap and one Cornelius keg).  A few batches later, I made the decision to keg exclusively.  The more I listened to Jamil Zainasheff on the Brewing Network, the more I heard the message repeated that kegging was necessary if I wanted to improve my beer, dial in carbonation, clarity, etc. If I wanted, I could always fill a few bottles off the tap, but no more mass bottling of 48-96 bottles at a time.  Already predisposed to abandon the dreaded chore of bottling, all I heard was:

"kegging > bottling"

And I bit.  Hook, line, and sinker.  Every batch I brewed in the past 18 months went into kegs.  The vision was to build a four tap keezer with chrome faucets.  A proper way to store and dispense my beers.  That will happen some day, but it hasn't yet.  The 7 cubic foot chest freezer that was originally purchased for that project has been promoted to the much more important role of fermentation control.  Kegs of homebrew went into our basement side-by-side fridge (a few shelves and drawers removed) to be dispensed via picnic tap.  Functional enough, but I know it was an eye-sore for my wife.  Add that to the fact that I didn't have any bottled beers to share outside the house.  Wasn't happy with the carb level from the DIY beer gun, and growler fills were the same story.

Turns out it's not quite as simple as the formula above.  Kegging may be better than bottling in some cases, but bottling may be better in others.  I realize that when Jamil says "kegging > bottling" (you do know I'm paraphrasing), that's really part of his "how to win at competitions" theme.  If you have the proper equipment and master the technique, you can bottle already-carbonated beer from the keg and send it off to comps without fear of yeast sediment being shaken into suspension from poor handling by others.  Sounds great, but I don't need to worry about that right now.

Truth is, some styles should be bottle conditioned, and many styles actually benefit from it.  Don't get me wrong; I don't like a ton of yeast sludge in the bottom of any beer, but that is easily dismissed with proper patience in the fermenter, cold crashing, possibly even fining, and good racking technique.

So I'm bottling again.  The day will come when I will package my beers both ways:  bottle conditioned and force carbed in kegs.  But until I have a basement bar with a 4 tap keezer, I'll have to be content with bottle conditioning all of my beers.