[JT]

I will also say, to each their own.  I'm not going to say bottlers are wrong, that's just silly.  I would agree that the bottling process, like most processes in brewing can be examined and thought through to maximize efficiency.  It does require the brewer to sit down and figure out exactly what needs to be done beforehand, and reflect on what gave him/her the most headaches during the previous session. 

[bengelbrau]

I am a committed bottler, but I really am missing out on the "cool" factor of having some nice Perlicks just waiting to be pulled. If I ever pour from the keg, this will be one of the reasons.

[hopfenundmalz]

I don't bottle much anymore, but I do spend a fair amount of time doing maintenance on all of the old kegs I have. You know, leaking poppets, leaking PRVs, leaking lids/O-rings. Those new kegs at the LHBS really are attractive, but I have too many kegs now!

[JT]

I don't bottle much anymore, but I do spend a fair amount of time doing maintenance on all of the old kegs I have. You know, leaking poppets, leaking PRVs, leaking lids/O-rings. Those new kegs at the LHBS really are attractive, but I have too many kegs now!

I hear you there.  I bought a bunch of used kegs from MoreBeer that were promptly returned.  Their new Italian kegs are super nice.  Expensive, yes.  But super nice. 

[HoosierBrew]

I don't bottle much anymore, but I do spend a fair amount of time doing maintenance on all of the old kegs I have. You know, leaking poppets, leaking PRVs, leaking lids/O-rings. Those new kegs at the LHBS really are attractive, but I have too many kegs now!

+1.  I have a lot of kegs, too, and that does entail maintenance, for sure.  There is a fair amount of work bottling or kegging, so I guess I just don't mind the kegging work near as much.

[AmandaK]

I don't bottle much anymore, but I do spend a fair amount of time doing maintenance on all of the old kegs I have. You know, leaking poppets, leaking PRVs, leaking lids/O-rings. Those new kegs at the LHBS really are attractive, but I have too many kegs now!

+1.  I have a lot of kegs, too, and that does entail maintenance, for sure.  There is a fair amount of work bottling or kegging, so I guess I just don't mind the kegging work near as much.

I don't mind it either, but then again, I have a keg whisperer at home. He does all of the keg maintenance - pretty sweet!

[HoosierBrew]

I don't bottle much anymore, but I do spend a fair amount of time doing maintenance on all of the old kegs I have. You know, leaking poppets, leaking PRVs, leaking lids/O-rings. Those new kegs at the LHBS really are attractive, but I have too many kegs now!

+1.  I have a lot of kegs, too, and that does entail maintenance, for sure.  There is a fair amount of work bottling or kegging, so I guess I just don't mind the kegging work near as much.

I don't mind it either, but then again, I have a keg whisperer at home. He does all of the keg maintenance - pretty sweet!

Now that's efficiency !  Well done.

[hopfenundmalz]

I don't bottle much anymore, but I do spend a fair amount of time doing maintenance on all of the old kegs I have. You know, leaking poppets, leaking PRVs, leaking lids/O-rings. Those new kegs at the LHBS really are attractive, but I have too many kegs now!

+1.  I have a lot of kegs, too, and that does entail maintenance, for sure.  There is a fair amount of work bottling or kegging, so I guess I just don't mind the kegging work near as much.

I don't mind it either, but then again, I have a keg whisperer at home. He does all of the keg maintenance - pretty sweet!

My keg whisperer is the sound of leaking CO2! psssst.

[beersk]

For me it takes just as long to keg a batch as it did to siphon beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket when I was bottling.  Replace bottling bucket cleaning time with keg cleaning time. 
Time saved = however long it took me to wash, bottle brush, rinse and sanitize every bottle, along with the actual filling/capping time. 
I won't say I'll never do that again, but I will say that I don't miss it. 

You're doing it wrong. 

I doubt it.  Whether you clean/sanitize 50 bottles beforehand or not, cleaning 50 bottles takes longer than cleaning 0 bottles.

Meh, this argument really has no bearing on the overall time spent packaging your beer. Bottling or kegging, like stated above, there's a good amount of maintenance either way. Kegging has a lot more complicated maintenance, frustrating at times... It's great for lagers and hoppy beers, definitely. This isn't supposed to turn into a kegging vs. bottling thing, I don't think. Just saying, each has their place and I very much disagree that kegging saves time over bottling. On packaging day, yes, but overall, I'd argue they're fairly similar in time spent.
And "cleaning and/or scrubbing bottles" is totally unnecessary, especially if you rinse them well after pouring and store them upside down.
Anyway, each has their place. I have a bit of frustration with my used kegs and getting a good seal on them for the 3.5 to 4 gallons that gets kegged. Sometimes I'll have beers carbonate mostly in a week and sometimes they're still kinda flat... It can be frustrating. Seems like there's always something. I'm sure the pros go through this crap too.

[tommymorris]

Are there any significant issues with doing smaller batches on larger equipment? By large I mean a 10 gallon BK and 10 gallon MT.

I normally do 6 gallon batches. I did a 3 gallon on my equipment recently. Two major differences. First, my efficiency went from 79-80% normally to 71%. Not sure why, actually. I did use a base malt I have never used before. Second, the mash lost heat faster than I am used to. It dropped 5F over an hour. I think this was because there was so much empty space in my 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler during the mash. My FG was 1005 which was dryer than I expected. I think that was from the quick dropping temp. The mash started at 150F.

But, I want to move to 3 gallon (or less). I can't keep up with 6 gallon batches with out constantly finding ways to give away beer.

In summary, this was a learning experience and I will get a handle on the new process over a few batches.

[S. cerevisiae]

I don't bottle much anymore, but I do spend a fair amount of time doing maintenance on all of the old kegs I have. You know, leaking poppets, leaking PRVs, leaking lids/O-rings.

I used to feel like a keg maintenance man.  I switched to using all new AEB kegs.

[S. cerevisiae]

I normally do 6 gallon batches. I did a 3 gallon on my equipment recently. Two major differences. First, my efficiency went from 79-80% normally to 71%. Not sure why, actually. I did use a base malt I have never used before. Second, the mash lost heat faster than I am used to. It dropped 5F over an hour. I think this was because there was so much empty space in my 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler during the mash. My FG was 1005 which was dryer than I expected. I think that was from the quick dropping temp. The mash started at 150F.

But, I want to move to 3 gallon (or less). I can't keep up with 6 gallon batches with out constantly finding ways to give away beer.

I built a 3-gallon brewery when I switched to 3 gallons as my packaged batch size.  From my kettles (24 and 27 quarts) to my mash tun (5-gallon Igloo) and hot liquor back (5-gallon Igloo) to my kegs (3-gallon AEB), everything is sized for producing 3 packaged gallons of beer.

I struggled to keep my yeast bank healthy via normal strain rotation when I was brewing five packaged gallons at a time because five packaged gallons was too much beer.  I wound up having to subculture strains just to keep them alive.  Reducing my batch size to 3 gallons allows me to subculture a new slant from an old slant and propagate a starter at the same time, ensuring that all of my strains get subcultured at least once a year through normal use.  I am brewing a 3 packaged gallon (3.3 to 3.5 primary volume) batch every four to six weeks.

[theoman]

And "cleaning and/or scrubbing bottles" is totally unnecessary, especially if you rinse them well after pouring and store them upside down.

Word. The hardest part of bottling for me is making sure the dishwasher is empty on bottling day so I can use it to sanitize the bottles. After that, it's the one step my wife helps me with. I get everything set up and the beer transferred to the bottling bucket with the priming sugar. She fills the bottles and I cap them. Smooth and fast.

[beersk]

I normally do 6 gallon batches. I did a 3 gallon on my equipment recently. Two major differences. First, my efficiency went from 79-80% normally to 71%. Not sure why, actually. I did use a base malt I have never used before. Second, the mash lost heat faster than I am used to. It dropped 5F over an hour. I think this was because there was so much empty space in my 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler during the mash. My FG was 1005 which was dryer than I expected. I think that was from the quick dropping temp. The mash started at 150F.

But, I want to move to 3 gallon (or less). I can't keep up with 6 gallon batches with out constantly finding ways to give away beer.

I built a 3-gallon brewery when I switched to 3-gallons as my packaged batch size.  From my kettles (24 and 27 quarts) to my mash tun (5-gallon Igloo) and hot liquor back (5-gallon Igloo) to my kegs (3-gallon AEB), everything is sized for producing 3 packaged gallons of beer.

I struggled to keep my yeast bank healthy via normal strain rotation when I was brewing five packaged gallons at a time because five packaged gallons was too much beer.  I wound up having to subculture strains just to keep them alive.  Reducing my batch size to 3 gallons allows me to subculture a new slant from an old slant and propagate a starter at the same time, ensuring that all of my strains get subcultured at least once a year through normal use.  I am brewing a 3 packaged gallon (3.3 to 3.5 primary volume) batch every four to six weeks.

AEB kegs are the sh*t! Have 3 of them and really want more. I brew 4 to 4.5 gallon batches nearly every week this year...I must drink more than you do. Try to stick to 2 pints a day and a few more on weekends. Five gallons of beer is generally too much, as I start getting tired of a beer about half way through the keg and want something new. But there were also times where I wanted more of a given beer, but that was pretty rare. My issue with smaller batches is putting less beer in a 5 gallon keg and having all the head space...it's not a problem, just something about it irks me. The smaller kegs are probably the way to go, but I just can't justify spending the money.

[Jimmy K]

Are there any significant issues with doing smaller batches on larger equipment? By large I mean a 10 gallon BK and 10 gallon MT.

I can't speak personally to the mash tun, but the bigger kettle will likely have a faster boiloff rate.

And any deadspace in your equipment will hold a larger percentage of fermentables.