[tygo]

It's not a bad idea and I'll be considering it for the barleywine I have aging right now.  But I'll also be strongly considering bottling it since it'll be aging for a good long while in the bottles (provided I can keep my greedy little fingers off of it) and I think I'd like to referment a bit in the bottle.

Plus the aforementioned issues with having an 11% beer on tap.

[rjharper]

I've read before that a bottling wand fits snugly into a cobra tap, and I think I've seen it mentioned where you can vent the keg until there's just enough pressure to push the beer out into cold bottles without much loss of carbonation.  I've got a BW on tap, and its taking far too long to finish, using up valuable faucet space...

[hamiltont]

I've read before that a bottling wand fits snugly into a cobra tap, and I think I've seen it mentioned where you can vent the keg until there's just enough pressure to push the beer out into cold bottles without much loss of carbonation.  I've got a BW on tap, and its taking far too long to finish, using up valuable faucet space...

I've done that and it works.  Now I just put the bottling wand (with the 2" long piece of 3/8" tubing that adapts it to the bucket otherwise) right in the Perlick faucet, drop the pressure & fill that way.  Basically the same deal just less work.   What I found though is to "flush" the line first to keep the foam down. Just run out a half pint before bottling. Cold bottles (same temp as the beer) work best for me. I tried the freezer approach & had more foam. Another point I should make. Clean the inside of the faucet spout with starsan & a piece of paper towel or something first to get those nasties outa there before inserting the bottling wand. Cheers!!!

To the OP's question.  I generally just bottle strong beers (10%+).  An exception would be "hoppy" beers. IMO, those need to be consumed quicker to enjoy the hops, and dry hopping in the keg is easier for me.  Cheers!!!

[darvyle]

wow, thanks for all the info guys.  From the comments I'm going to keep it simple and bottle the batch.  I have room in the spare fridge to keep it at a nice temperature for long term aging after natural carbonation.