Poll: What is your investment in homebrewing?

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Since I've started homebrewing I have spent:

  • < $100

  • < $500

  • < $1000

  • < $2000

  • < $5000

  • < $10000

  • < $20000

  • < $50000

  • < $100000


Results are only viewable after voting.
I have about $150 but I have been doing this for about a month or two. Will be spending about another $100 by summer.
 
I have been brewing for almost 5 years. I have spent probably 4k on brewing equipment....which isn't bad as far as hobbies go. I can also "justify" it because someday I would like to own a small brewery. It turns the hobby into the potential for something more.
 
Been brewing off and on since 1991, so hard to quantify this question. I'm a cheap ass, so I guess my most expensive piece of equipment is my boil pot.
 
I've only spent about $300, but many of the pieces of equipment, such as the heating element and kettles, were already in my house. I have a feeling that I will be spending another three Bens on some de-luxer all-grain stuff - mostly Igloo coolers and, well, Igloo coolers - within the next six months. Assuming, of course, I do a five-gallon, all-grain batch. This is not likely to happen in the near future.
 
So far this year I've spent 350 bucks. Altogether (ingredients too) I checked the 5k box, but it's probably more like 3-4k.

I have a 2 burner stand and second bayou burner. I have 3 10G SS kettles, 2 ICs, a plate chiller (which I don't use because I hate it), a 20G SS kettle, a 10G Igloo MT, a 4 tap kegerator, a 2 tap kegerator, a ferment chamber, another chest freezer being used as a fridge, 2 pumps, a bunch of kegs (I'd guess 9-10 of them) 5-7 fermentors, two propane tanks, a monster mill, and probably a few things I'm forgetting. Just quick disconnects alone probably set me back 2 bills.

I'm a year in basically. I've made the mistake of buying multiples of items because I didn't get the right one to start with, and I've had a few things fall into my lap because a fellow brewer got sick and had to give up some of his stuff.

I don't know if this constitutes having a problem or not, but I won't be showing this post to SWMBO. FWIW, I make great beer, and she and our friends love it. If I knew then what I know now, I may have waited a year and just bought a Sabco or a Morebeer sculpture.

But then again, I'd be just a newb if I waited!!!!
 
in the span of almost 14 years brewing: bottle tree w/2 injectors (one broke), 8 gallon mega pot, 15 gallon mega pot, two 5 gallon pots, wing capper, bench capper, bottling bucket, Corona mill, O2 set up, keg/fridge conversion set, two 6 1/2 gallon carboys, three 5 gallon carboys, five used corny kegs, 14 gallon heated/cooled conical from MB, 10 gallon AG cooler set up from NB, counter flow bottling set up, mash paddle, big spoon, 3 or 4 auto siphons, a few hydrometers & thermometers, 2 strainers, 2 funnels, many cases of 16oz/22oz/12oz/1L/6oz bottles (I have no idea how many of what), and a Celli tower (flea market!). we gotta include kits & ingredients and wine/mead too? hell, I don't know. way too much but somehow not near enough.
I've given away some equipment: 5gal carboy, 5gal pot, books, wing capper, and many of a variety of bottles.
 
hmmmm . . . I answered before I knew we weren't counting ingredients - All the money I have spent (including ingredients) I am sure goes between 10-20K easy. I would like to hope it was under 20K anyway:) I have been brewing for 17 years though, so, $1000 per year on a hobby you love is not really all that much money in my book. I am sure serious golfers spend much more than that. Plus, I really have not bought much in the way of store-bought beer in the past 3-5 years, so that offsets some of the cost.
Single biggest purchase was a Morebeer 3 tier 5 gallon brew stand/system I bought about 13-14 years ago. It cost around $1300, free shipping and 50lbs of grain came with it. Best money I ever spent in my life.
I don't spend money on much to be honest - not clothes, vehicles, or much else.. I hunt and fish, but don't spend a lot there. I am pretty content spending money on brewing. There is almost nothing I would rather do with a free day than brew beer. Can't think of a better way to spend my money.
 
I've probably got at least $10,000 including kegerators, kegs, 3-tiered stand, my 12.2 gallon stainless conical(gift from my wife), chillers, cold plates, ingredients, the list goes on forever. But that is over 20 years of brewing.
 
Hmm, I voted in the <1k, but know that I have been thinking and if I actually add it up....

Starter Kit - 120
7gal kettle - 90
6.5gal Carboy - 30
Bottles - ~60
5lb co2 tank - 70
Blichmann burner /w leg extensions - 170
Ferm chamber - 100
Valve / diptube - 50
Mash tun - 70
Keggle - 50
Cutting / polishing discs for keggle - 40
Misc tubing, air locks, etc - 100
Misc. Kegging parts - 50
Temp controller - 40
Stir plate + flask - 70
Copper IC - 60

Unless I'm forgetting something, which I probably am, I am just over 1k without ingredients.

Planning on building a 4 tap keezer soon and putting together 2 more keggles. So my cost will go up quite a bit in the next couple months.
 
I'd say close to thousand over the past 2 years. I'm completely set up to brew 10 gallon batches but haven't made the jump.
 
My post above show an annual average of at least $500 but honestly there were the fat years where I had lots of money to spend on brewing(and did) and the lean years. In the past 5 years I have probably spent less than $500 total not counting ingredients.
 
3 tap kegerator with a tower, kegs and Perlicks was the most expensive at about $1k, forcing me into the <$2k poll category. My brewing equipment is just a beginner's kit, 10 gal triple clad stainless kettle, a couple extra Better Bottles and misc. bottle tree, vinator, scale etc. So, minus kegerator, under $500.
 
Under $500. Maybe not by much though.

I bought a lot of my set up as a kit and it's lasted me. I still have both buckets, capper, wands, hydrometer, spigot, some of the bottles, an airlock and some other misc gear from it.

My outdoor burner was on blow out sale at Cabelas with a pot. Watch Cabelas and Bass Pro for those. They have ridiculous sales now and then.

I made my mash paddle and spiral wort chiller.

Between the kit, what I drink and what's shown up on the porch, I've plenty bottles.

Caps are cheap and one LHBS sometimes has printed caps that no one wanted for whatever reason for real cheap.

I made my tun from an existing Igloo cooler.

My starter/rehydrater is an empty fifth bottle of Jager.

All the LHBS I use have mills and will either let me crush or crush for me, free.

Got my Better Bottle on sale.

Buying local for all but my initial kit has also worked well for me. No shipping. An 8.75% discount ;) here and there.
 
I'm all in.

I fold with 2 keggles, 3 mash tuns, 10 corny's a converted undercounter BevAir ferment chamber. You Win. Plus I just sent you an order for some more cam locks so I can convert the Mash Tun that wasn't set up for cams.
 
I have a simple set up and I've made it work for me. My beers are coming out good so I'm comfortable where I'm at. Cooler mash tun $20, SS 13 gal BK $90, Burner $30, Grain mill $180, Carboys $100, Wort Chiller $40, and misc $30. I've definitely brewed enough to where I'm saving money at this point.
 
I've probably spent on equipment (or had given to me as a present around 300

I bought a kit for my brother and I to brew with, that was like 70 or 80, plus our kettle was like 70, but for myself I was given a 100 dollar brew kit and I have an additional 40 for a 5 gallon stock pot. Plus some other odds and ends things here and there (my brother has a thing with breaking hydrometers and thermometers)
 
Not too much so far maybe $200 I got alot of stuff for Christmas/ birthday presents but I'm currently building an AG brewery and might have to build an outside brewery Ina woodshed type building. Even with all that I don't think I'll break $1000, for now.
 
In equipment I have around 130 and around the same in recipes. I scored finding all my stuff on craigslist for 100 bucks!
 


GIGGLE...OK OK OK A TOTAL LOL was in order! I couldn't answer the poll :D

It all started with a basic home brew kit, a borrowed kettle and a membership on HBT!!!
 
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I got most of my stuff for free. Several glass and several plastic carboys for free when my work was cleaning out storage space. Mash tun from a cooler someone was throwing out because the outer shell had a crack. Brew kettle for free because my mom bought a turkey fryer on clearance then realized she was afraid to use it. Honestly my most expensive piece of equipment is a $20 bottle capper.
 
$460.17 according to my spreadsheet. Most expensive piece is my freezer which I paid $125 for. Only use/need 2 carboy's. Kettles were free so that helps. I can't see going much over 500. Maybe when I have a permanent place.
 
I have tried to go cheap. I would say that i have spent around $150 on equipment out of my pocket. Got a few things as gifts that i am not including. I have a pretty good BIAB setup. I still need to make a wort chiller. The ice bath takes too much time trying to cool 5gal batches. But, I have more time than money.
 
Rule # 1 of hobbies is to NEVER add up receipts. :tank:

Hah...too true. I was following that rule until this thread started. My wife has been REALLY REALLY cool about this one (she has hounded me for years to find a hobby), so she has yet to ask me to account for my spending. However....the number was much bigger than I expected.

The good news is that I am almost done. I have come to the conclusion that I must have a way to cold crash these primaries if I am ever going to have clear beer. After that...nothing but ingredients and good times.
 
As for the question the OP asked about expensive stuff making better beer there's no correlation at all. My conical is my most expensive piece of equipment, but the beers fermented in it are no better than the beers I still ferment in my 20 year old $7 buckets. I spent about $225 to build a temp controlled fermentation chamber for my conical(or my buckets), that investment improved the quality of my beer tenfold.
 
Although I did get into this to save money and carry on the family tradition, the money saving dream was the first thing to get thrown straight out the window. Most expensive investment would probably be all the innards to my keezer at 350ish. Easily my favorite toy though! It was a gamble with SWMBO, but she loves it too!
 
IMO, buying brewing equipment or upgrading brewing equipment is kind of like riding a bike. We probably all started with a tricycle, smashing into walls. Then came the 20 inch 2 wheeler with training wheels, still smashing into things, until getting use to the brakes. Then, later. Off came the training wheels, but still smashing into things. Later on came the 26 inch 3 speed. Then, the ten speed or the mountain bike. All the bikes had tires and peddles. They all went down the hill, consistently. The difference being, some of them made it easier and faster. When coming back up the hill.
 
The majority of my money was spent on equipment:
Top Tier stand
3 blichmann kettles
therminator
pump
hop blocker
auto-sparge
misc QD's, tubing, spoons, mash paddle
grain mill
hop rocket (newest addition)

All of the above I consider sound purchases, simply because they will last a long time.

Luckily I was given two working fridges for free, so one is a fermentation chamber with temp control. The other is a 3 tap keggerator. I would consider these pieces of equipment a luxury, simply because I wasn't looking to keg, the fridges just kind of fell in my lap.

I will never add up what I have spend this far, nor post it, that is a paper trail I don't want floating around. :)
 
Although I did get into this to save money and carry on the family tradition, the money saving dream was the first thing to get thrown straight out the window.

Not necessarily. Even though I've spent some coin here or there, even brewing extract, I can brew 5 gallons of quality beer for the same price or even less than some low quality BMC beer.

2 cases of PBR runs about $40

all the ingredients to make a 5 gallon extract batch are $30-$60ish dollars.
 
It would be interesting to know the equipment each level of spending bought.

I'm guilty of investing several thousand dollars over the years; it was well worth the investment. Of course that doesn't include ingredients.

As an aside another interesting poll would be one examining the amount of time invested in homebrewing!
 
My mom bought me a basic kit for my birthday. Aside from ingredients, the only equipment I have bought has been a bayou burner, a larger kettle, some bottles, a second fermentation bucket with an airlock, a wort chiller and two hoses, a small growler for starters/yeast washing, and other sundries.

I'm in for less than 500 bucks.
 
Between me and my buddy we have spent under 500. Our kettle, worth chiller and burner were all second hand from another buddy of ours, then our mash tun was dirt cheap as we found a deal on CL for coolers and another buddy gave us the rest of the parts. Then all of the other misc things(buckets, autosiphon, etc).

We are very simple brewers and don't find it necessary to have all the bells and whistles. We also make pretty damn tasty beer IMO.
 
Deluxe brewing starter 180
Two brewpots bc i lost the first one 120
extra carboy 35
some growlers 25
Custom fermentation setup 40
odds.and ends 30
thats about $430
 
Im probably around the 2k mark si ce I started less than a year ago.

The bulk of that went into a
5 tap kegging system
Chest freezer
Mlt
Chiller
Pot
Burner
Extra kegs
 
Spent way to much in the beginning and have since gone back to the basics. The beer tastes just as good from my Ice Chest Mash Tun as it did from my B3 setup. Have plenty of money and time, just other priorities to spend it on....
 
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