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stokems

stokems

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How do most people afford this? Seriously, I've drop 2-300$ over the last few months and am no where near the control panel that I'd like.
My wife is gonna toss me out if I keep buying misc. stuff from eBay and amazon.
Well.......time to butter her up.
 
I don't have a wife. It's that easy.

Right now I'm deciding whether to stop by the Apple store on the way home and buy an airport express as a wireless access point for my BCS box I'm building. (neener neener!)

B
 
Some people live in expensive houses, wear expensive clothing, drive expensive cars, and make expensive children.* I choose to spend my money on beer and brewing equipment :mug:

* According to the WSJ, a child born in 2009 will cost, on average, $222,360 to raise to maturity.
 
Piecemeal! I'm gathering pieces and parts and just putting them on a shelf for now. Yeah, it's going to take a while but with warmer weather coming, I'm going to want to brew outside... :)
 
stokems said:
How do most people afford this? Seriously, I've drop 2-300$ over the last few months and am no where near the control panel that I'd like.
My wife is gonna toss me out if I keep buying misc. stuff from eBay and amazon.
Well.......time to butter her up.
Click to expand...

I've dropped around $400 getting a wort chiller and getting into kegging... Ouchie! I still don't have everything I need. :cross:
 
Although I am fast approaching my other hobby, paintball, I am still under that price. Although I have not gotten into building an entire rig yet. That's hopefully next year.
 
Chefkeith said:
Some people live in expensive houses, wear expensive clothing, drive expensive cars, and make expensive children.* I choose to spend my money on beer and brewing equipment :mug:

* According to the WSJ, a child born in 2009 will cost, on average, $222,360 to raise to maturity.
Click to expand...

Amen. No kids= awesome brewing stuff. Dream smashers, that's what I call em.


_
 
pics LOL, in my wildest dreams! well in the big picture building an electric rig is costly. I have a propane rig but want to brew year round. Big toys for big boys.
 
wildwest450 said:
Amen. No kids= awesome brewing stuff. Dream smashers, that's what I call em.


_
Click to expand...
My boy stayed at his Mamas for a few days this past week and we lived the single life for two nights. That **** is expensive!! I thought kids were expensive, until we went to bars like the old days one night.

stokems said:
pics LOL, in my wildest dreams! well in the big picture building an electric rig is costly. I have a propane rig but want to brew year round. Big toys for big boys.
Click to expand...

Me and my wife put a measley $20 per each pay check into a personal account. That's $40 of accountable money a month each. I use this for all my hobbies and am currently working on an electric rig myself. I've been collecting peices for about a year and a half. It's almost done.
 
Well, the best bit of advice I can offer is to quit counting :)

I've had to acquire my stuff slowly over time. Start simple and get something working and then go from there.
 
Yeah this is cheap. I spend way more money playing golf than I do brewing, and I don't get beer from golf. After greens fee, lunch at the clubhouse, and buying a few dozen balls that I lose, I can easily drop a hundred bucks in an afternoon at the course. Then there is the Harley, fishing gear, bicycle.....
 
milesvdustin said:
Yeah this is cheap. I spend way more money playing golf than I do brewing, and I don't get beer from golf. After greens fee, lunch at the clubhouse, and buying a few dozen balls that I lose, I can easily drop a hundred bucks in an afternoon at the course. Then there is the Harley, fishing gear, bicycle.....
Click to expand...

@milesvdustin - Let me help you with your money issue. Just send the beer and the harley my way. :D
 
CodeRage said:
Well, the best bit of advice I can offer is to quit counting :)

I've had to acquire my stuff slowly over time. Start simple and get something working and then go from there.
Click to expand...

Amen to that...

BTW, I lived down in your neck of the woods for the better part of 10 years... Satellite Beach, Melbourne, and Melbourne Beach... Just glad to be back in a part of the country where we actually have seasons... Not warmish (winter), warm (early spring), HOT (late spring/late fall) and holy F it's HOT out (summer, which IME, runs from about May through October)...

Loving that we got snow last night and some today... :D

As for the OP... I don't really track what I spend on brewing... I just make sure I can afford to spend what I need to each month, or when ordering something. Right now, money is tight since I'm between jobs... Good chance that's about to change though. If nothing else, with a few months of contract work. OR, I'll be getting a perm (or as perm as it gets these days) job up in NH... Keeping fingers crossed on that one (when not typing at least)... :D
 
stokems said:
How do most people afford this? Seriously, I've drop 2-300$ over the last few months and am no where near the control panel that I'd like.
My wife is gonna toss me out if I keep buying misc. stuff from eBay and amazon.
Well.......time to butter her up.
Click to expand...

+1 on that! $300 on Blichanns? Yeah, they look purty, but I'm in it to use the stuff, not stare at it. I'm in it for the functionality. A converted keg works fine for me.

Yeah, I kinda figured it would take me a while to come up with all the parts. I started gathering my bits and pieces a year ago and gave myself two years to complete the whole shebang.
 
Heh, it's not just electric brewing. I got a great deal on some 25g stainless kettles for $125 each. The false bottoms I want will cost $150 each :)

-Joe
 
stokems said:
How do most people afford this? Seriously, I've drop 2-300$ over the last few months and am no where near the control panel that I'd like.
My wife is gonna toss me out if I keep buying misc. stuff from eBay and amazon.
Well.......time to butter her up.
Click to expand...

So you have already used the eBay trick. It tends to make each purchase small enough that it does not register on the radar.

Home brewers are the epitome of "do it yourself", and with that mindset costs can be controlled quite a bit. We do not all need Blingman kettles and three-piece stainless valves on all the equipment. For example look what Walker did with the DIY PWM for the BK. Homemade counter flow chiller is another cost saver. Someone made brew vessels out of used food-grade plastic barrels. Many control panels are overkill, mine included, and can be made a lot less expensive. Armed with some knowledge and ingenuity, they can be put together for way less, and safely too. Also, be patient and gather the parts over time.

As a young man I had more time on my hands than money. That made me shy away from bling and develop skills to make stuff myself. This is not a bad thing. Now that I am older the money/time situation has reversed, but I would still be embarrassed to buy and show off shiny stuff someone else made. IMHO, it just goes against the whole idea of home brewing. After all, we can buy some very good beers now, yet we make our own.
 
When you get your first set of necessary equipment (carboy, big pot, wort chiller, etc), it's going to hurt a little.

After getting my setup, I just over time would buy something here and there that I saw could improve my brewing time and quality.
 
Buy, sell, barter, trade.... In your quest to find what you need to build your system, you will likely come across things that you don't need - but are a great deal. Buy them! Then resell and make a couple of bucks.

I have a spreadsheet of my build that lists all the parts and what it would cost to do it new. I also have a running total of all the beer related hardware that I have bought and sold over the last two years. My investment is 1/2 of what it would be if I bought it from scratch due to my buying and selling.

Example: I have bought 6 different kegerators over the last two years and sold 3 of them. My current ones are two brand new Kenmore ones (bought at outlet center for $199 each) and a used Beverage Air from Craigslist. Total investment in kegerators (after buying/selling the others) is $175.
 
I have done this very slowly, and tried to find inexpensive ways to get decent results..like using a $25 muck bucket and an aquarium heater

I will say the hobby has improved my ebay/craigslist skills...

I enjoy good stereo, but never will be able to afford that McIntosh equip I occaisionally drool over, so I find good used equipment..

so, step by step..its a cinch by the inch, a trial by the mile (I don't know who said that, but it makes sense to me..)..
 
I just got a $1,000 bonus from work today. It's all going into electric brewing!!!
 

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