BOTTLE / KEG Bottle Tree
The choice to bottle or keg is really up to you. Kegging gives the opportunity to enjoy your new creation a little sooner since the carbonation can be accomplished via a CO2 canister. With bottling, additional sugar is added to the beer so it can condition in the bottle. That simply means the remaining yeast that is suspended in the beer feeds off the new sugar, producing carbon dioxide and with the bottle caps tightly secured, carbonates the beer. The mouthfeel is a little smoother with generally smaller bubbles being created with a naturally carbonated beer but it's totally up to you to try out. The only drawback to kegging is the initial expense of the equipment. Bottling the first few batches may be a good starting point before commiting to more equipment.
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If bottling is the way forward, there are a few resources to keep in mind. A good technical chart from Palmer's How To Brew can be used to determine the proper amount of priming sugar to use. Click HERE for the link. Otherwise, generally 1 pint of water mixed with 4 oz (by weight) of dextrose priming sugar can be used for most styles of beer. Put 1 pint plus an ounce or two of water in a pot and bring to a boil for 15-20 min. Again, we're about to introduce something into the new beer so sterilizing the water is important. Then stir in the priming sugar and boil for another few min. This mixture must now be cooled to room temperature so the remaining yeast isn't harmed when mixed with the beer. A good mixing strategy is to dump the priming sugar mixture into your bottling bucket and then transfer the beer from the secondary fermenter into the bottling bucket. The mixing will take place on its own and a spoon or other device will not need to be used preventing any additional potential contamination.
Again, remember not to aerate the beer as much as possible when transferring into a bottling bucket.
Again, remember not to aerate the beer as much as possible when transferring into a bottling bucket.