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Lil' Sparky

Cowboys EAC
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I want to hear it all. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the really obsurd.

I started this thread here, because AG-ers usually require and have accumulated the most equipment. I know there's some of us who are going bare-bones and some who have spent a small fortune.

Add it all up - basic equip, mills, stands, burners, pots, coolers, kegerators, etc.

Here's where I'm at:
Basic kit + small odds and ends - $150
CFC - $60
Turkey fryer - $30
3 converted kegs - $150
homemade brew sculpture - $50
kegging equip - $250

Total = $690

My next project is building a kegerator. Then I'll be done. I promise! ;)
 
About $400 so far, just getting all my equipment and my first 5 brew's worth of ingredients.

But, its cool, I now have practically everything I need... 3 fermenters, 1 bottling bucket, Giant mixing spoon, 4 gallon stainless steel pot, 7 gallon stainless steel pot, turkey fryer, bottler, bottles, hoses and plenty of caps, homemade 10 gal mash tun. +shipping to Germany.
 
About $400 so far in equipment and ingredients. Would have been much less if I knew what I was doing out of the box. Now I have 1 5 Gal Glass carboy, 1 6 Gal Better Beer carboy, 2 3 Gal Glass Carboys, 1 1 Gal Glass carboy (for mead) and lots of other miscellaneous items.

Actually this works out well as now I can have 2 5 Gal brews going and 2 3 Gal brews where I can play mad scientist!

Who knows how much money I'll end up spending when I get into AG brewing! :tank:
 
three tier heavy duty stand outfitted with 20 gallon kettle / 20 gallon hlt / and 15 gallon mlt: $400
5 kegs: free
3 taps: $60
fridge: free x2
cboys: $220
Refrac: $35
Co2 5 lb: free
grain mill: $100
misc pieces parts: $200

THE ABILITY TO MAKE KILLER BEER....PRICELESS
 
I would say that my girlfriend and I have spent probably close to $550-600 on everything.

-Starter kit was ~$80.
-Misc. tools not in starter kit that have helped me, ~$50.
-Keg Starter kit with 10lb C02, $200.
-Sanyo 4912, $170.
-2 Cornies, $50.

Guess its a good thing that I don't have many hobbies, haha.
 
Hey. You're not allowed to ask for total costs. I don't recall who said it recently but if we publish this info, SWMBO will google something totally random and find those figures here. Oh well, I thought denial would work.

Some of my biggest purchases occured pretty recently but you have to also account for some of the little incremental things like another carboy here, new funnel there.

$112 Crankandstein grain mill
$100 6 Corny kegs
$52 20lb CO2 tank
$70 Primary + 3-secondary regulators
$110 Keggle (includes keg and costs to convert)
$40 50lb sack of two-row

and probably about $200 in random parts from mcmaster.com for DIY gadgetry that may or may not have been built.

In general, I don't buy anything new. If I can find it used, I buy it. If I can make it for a little less than buying new, I DIY for the learning experience.
 
Rough equipment estimates:

Original kit: $75
Original brew kettle: $35
Miscellaneous equipment (extra airlocks, carboy accessories, etc.): $50
Mash tun (including hardware): $50
New brew kettle: $42
Burner: $40
Propane tank: $40

Total: $332

I'm sure there's a bit more that I'm forgetting, but it's not too shabby!
 
There is a certain pride in finding better for cheaper and, ultimately, fabricating or fashioning your own components, and I think I did alright when I moved up to AG brewing.

5 gal HLT and 10 gal MLT = $55 total
SS hardware for each = free (from a friend, for the cost of a six-pack)
2 ball valves (the only parts I couldn't score from contractor friend) = $15
vinyl tubing for HLT & MLT = $4
wort chiller = $45

Prior to that...
8 gal brewpot = $40
burner = $40 (a turker fryer set-up would have been cheaper)
two carboys, primary/bottling bucket = $65
misc supplies (spoon, racking cane, bottle filler, airlocks/stoppers, thermometers, hydrometer, etc., etc., etc.) = ~$50-60
yeast-related things = $25

Total equipment = $350

Ongoing costs (besides ingredients)...
sanitation
water filtration (but it's not just for brewing, obviously)
propane
bottle caps
my guess is that this adds about $7-9 per batch to cost of ingredients

And if we are really adding it all up, then we have to add in our time.

But who really cares? I know what I've spent and feel like I paid good, fair prices for what I got when I needed it. I could probably have done better, but I'm happy with what I got and got it when I wanted it. But beyond all that, this is just too much fun. If I didn't homebrew, I'd *buy* more beer and still find ways to blow money.

But for the ledger-keepers, it's nice to be able to say that *all* equipment pays for itself after five batches (relative to the cost of retail microbrew) and that AG brewing comes down to less than 50¢ per bottle (for most recipes).

On the wish list...
a grain mill,
a fridge set up for better lagering
another carboy or two
not sure about kegging yet...maybe if I ever go bigger than five-gallon batches, but for now I like bottling

If/when I acquire all that, well, so much for that cost per bottle nonsense ;)
 
It's a hard question to answer in some ways.

Clearly, I have to include the $40 I spent on grain rollers from Yuri - but what about shipping on the beer I still owe him?

Clearly, I have to include the cost of the metal for the housing I'm building - but what about the 5/8" drill bit I had to buy to complete it?

What about the $50 I spent on a cheap new corded drill that I needed because said drill bit had a 1/2" shank, and my old drill was only 3/8", and I could neither find another 5/8" bit with that size shank nor return the one I bought, since I destroyed the packaging upon opening?

Difficult questions, all of these... :D
 
Since the inception of the hobby (12/28/04)

Equipment? $1,425.19
Ingredients? $1,100.84
Drinking my own yummy brewskis? Priceless.

Quicken makes it way too easy for me to see how much I've spent.
 
Less than I would have if I'd kept drinking out on the weekends rahter than brewing. And I remind the wife of this constantly.
 
$50. That's all. Not a penny more.

I want to see Yuri's tab. His is probably 86 cents for a 2x4 and a tube of chapstick and the rest he machined out of his own awesomeness.

Or Brewpastor's bill.
 
Cheesefood said:
$50. That's all. Not a penny more.

I want to see Yuri's tab. His is probably 86 cents for a 2x4 and a tube of chapstick and the rest he machined out of his own awesomeness.

Or Brewpastor's bill.

Just the cone for one of Yuri's stainless fermenters is more than some of the total bills listed here - not sure how many he kept, but I know he get em in bulk.

Brewpastor! OMG, there has to be small countries with smaller GNP's
 
Cheesefood said:
I want to see Yuri's tab. His is probably 86 cents for a 2x4 and a tube of chapstick and the rest he machined out of his own awesomeness.

I need to post a pic of those roller mills - they are PHENOMENAL. Once I get the housing made up (hopefully, I can work on it tonight), I will.
 
I don't have an actual number, but over $1500 for equipment would be fair - I started brewing in 1999 or 2000, and have added slowly over the years - some things I have purchased, gotten rid of, and now I want back again - SWMBO is ready to kill me!
There are the 'major' purchases, kettles, burner, chiller, lager freezer, temp controllers, kegs, CO2 gear, mashtuns, taps, drip tray, faucets, etc, but what probably costs just as much is all the little things that I purchase here and there when buying ingredients - new carboy, carboy handle, mash paddle, replacement hose, carboy caps, sanitizer, B-Brite cleaner, brew belt (heater) etc- it seems I never walk out of the LHBS for less than $50. I though AG was going to be cheaper! (I've been saying that for years now...)
 
MA_Brewer said:
I though AG was going to be cheaper! (I've been saying that for years now...)
I've never quite agreed with this assertion, either. Sure, the ingredients cost less. But if you've gone AG you are probably a full-out brewing nut and have a keg fridge, lager fridge, 10 cornies, pots, mash-tuns, coolers, blah blah blah. The AG thing, to me, is more indicitive of an overall obsession with brewing. This definitely costs more $$$. As for me, I'd say $1,200 - $1,500 and counting......$170 satudday for a Sanyo 4912 kegarator #2, $75 yesterday at Micromatic for 2 elbow shanks, $100 today for a pair of Perlicks for the in-the-works 4912 conversion/wetbar project. :rockin:
 
Wine starter kit: Free, gift from folks
5 gallon SS stockpot: Free, gift from company
30' cu immersion chiller: About $50 from lhbs
Two buckets w/ airlock & bung: About $20, lhbs
Carboys, 2x6.5, 1x5, 1x3, 2x1, plus caps, airlocks, tubes: About $80, lhbs
Old single door fridge for kegerator: $35 on craigslist
Second fridge for fermenting/lagering: Free on craigslist
Turkey frier setups with burner and 7.5 G pot: $15 each at Walmart, $30
Larger 60 quart aluminum boil kettle: $60 on ebay
Steel stand for said kettle and burner: Free, liberated from work
Mash tun 50qt cube cooler: Free, gift from family
Lautering manifold for cooler: About $15 worth of copper, home depot
Various valves, screens, plumbing hardware: $85, here and there
Digital probe thermometer from science supply: About $30
5lb co2 tank, full: $60 at lhbs
Propane tank, full: About $50 at home depot, second older one free.
Gas manifold, 4 port: $35 on ebay
Taps, shanks, handles, lines, disconnects: $40 each set, $120
Kick ass paint job on kegerator fridge: Gift from sister
Co2 regulator: $40 on ebay
Ball lock cornies: 4 for $80 on ebay, 4 for a gift, 7 more for $140 locally
Temp controller for fridge: Free from uncle who used to brew
Books: Got them all as gifts
Racking, filtering, measuring equipment: Probably about $75, I break racking canes and hydrometers quite a bit.
Various tools, lumber, hardware, etc: Probably $25 or so, most of it was free.

I figure I'm into it for about a grand without consumables or ingredients, but that's honestly not all that bad for a hobby I've been doing for years. Many of my other hobbies (bikes, cars, computers) have set me back more than that in the initial investment alone. I'm still pretty miserly about buying new brew stuff though, and I do like to support the lhbs when I can. :mug:
 
Ever since I picked brewing back up early last year, I've spent more than I care to share. The funny thing is I'm only about a quarter of the way finished converting my garage into a proper brewery. The walk-in cooler was just phase 1...
 
I've lost track because its been so long since I started. Yeah, the equipment costs add up, but when was the last time you wore something out ? You have to think like a business and amortize the expense over the next 20 years.

And if you want to justify your costs, make a few batches of wine. Decent juice based kits start at $50 and make 30 bottles of wine. $30 x 8 = $240. 30 x $10 = $300.

I made 3 wines and an apfelwein this winter. The apfelwien counts 1.5x because we got 44 bottles of that. So 4.5 x 30 x $8 = $1080. Ingredients were $25 for the peach champagne, $50 for one wine, $60 for the other wine and $44 for the apfelwein. $179. We are about $900 ahead for this winter's brewing "work".

We made a pledge for 2007 to drink a bit of alcohol at diner ever night for our health. *nods. Yes, its good to have a glass or mug once a day. I'm in this for the health of it, not to save money, so saving a bit is a side benefit.

Now, as far as beer goes, I brew specialty beers that cost about $1.50 a bottle up here. (wheat, honey, fruit, etc.) 5 dozen per full batch. $90 a batch. 10 pounds of grain + 4oz of hops + yeast + fruit or honey, etc. is costing $20 to $30 a batch. I'm saving $60 a batch or $12 a dozen. A dozen beer a week is another $600 a year.

It takes a long time to wear out copper tubing, steel brewing stands, heavy duty boil kettles, etc. I figure my equipment is good for 10 years of use, at least. I figure it pays for itself each year.

AND it keeps me in the house and out of trouble when I'm brewing.

If you really want an expensive hobby, take up rebuilding muscle cars or collecting sports cars or even owning a boat ! The next time your wife gives you the gears about brewing costs, grab your keys and tell her you are going to look at a new Porsche and after that you are going to Hooters to buy the guys a few rounds. See what she says then ! Take her credit card so that she sees it when she looks at the bill, just to rub it in.

Me thinks she will be a bit more appreciative of your brewing efforts.

Edit: I forgot the mango wine. 30 bottles/ $240. It cost less than $25 to brew.
 
brewman ! said:
If you really want an expensive hobby, take up rebuilding muscle cars or collecting sports cars or even owning a boat !

No, a really expensive hobby is cocaine. Homebrewing is nothing compared to a good coke habit.
 
Here's my current outlay.

$84 Two-Stage Brewing System
$13 Extra Bottling Bucket
$26 2 Fermenter Buckets
$42 2 used 6 gal carboys w/airlocks and dryer stand.
$60 Misc equipment - airlocks, auto syphon, carboy covers, stir paddle, stoppers, etc...
$50 Turkey Fryer
$20 Better Bottle 5 gal carboy
$60 10 gal rubbermaid mash tun and hardware
$20 5 gal rubbbermaid cooler
$25 2 20qt Stainless stock pots
$60 3 cases of EZ-cap 1/2 liter swing top bottles
$60 2 cases of EZ-cap 1 liter swing top bottles
$45 4 cases bomber bottles
$56 4 cases 12 oz bottles

$621 total - doesn't include all the craft beer I drank just for the bottles. Well not just.

I spent many times more for my 8" reflector telescope and Amateur Radio equipment. This is a relatively cheap hobby.
 
Let's see...

$125 original equipment kit
60 or so, odds and ends-- autosiphon, grain bags, mash paddle, airlocks, stoppers, etc.
50 2 24 qt. stainless stockpots.
50 copper wort chiller
Free turkey fryer (xmas gift)
20 5 gal. glass carboy
22 6 gal. glass carboy
50 4 cases 12oz. bottles

Total $377

Now, of course that doesn't include all the money I've spent on extract, grain, hops, yeast, sanitizer, kettle cleaner, bottle caps, water, ice....\

Still, compared with many other hobbies, not bad at all, I'd have to say.

Next up: mash and lauter tun.
 
I've got you all beat, sad to say.

I really hope SWMBO doesn't see this.


Brew system= $2200 custom made, with all accoutrements (heat exchange coils, immersion chiller, custom kettles, HERMS, fittings, false bottoms, etc), with shipping
SS fermenter= $500
6 glass fermenters=$130
counterflow chiller= $75
hosing=$50
kegs=$210
fridge=$180
Sundry other stuff+$200
(not counting expenditures such as grain and ingredients, cleaning supplies)

EDIT: I didn't take into account the supplies for the kegerator:

$100 for faucets
$30 for manifold
$60 for CO2 tank
more hosing. . .
probably ends up greater than $200.



Rough estimate total=$3745

and I'm sure there is stuff I didn't count. And I can't believe I'm admitting all of this.

I guess its the first step in recognizing your addiction. :D
 
Wine starter kit: Free, gift from folks

The pushers always start with the light stuff. *snicker

The infamous wine starter kit ! *laughs I know how it goes.

"Hey, why am I making silly wines when I could be making great beer ?" So you do the first extract kit and start reading about all grain. And the addiction begins.

Soon you are mashing in the kitchen. Then its in the garage with your first propane burner.

Soon you are making so much beer you don't have time to bottle it. Naturally kegs and CO2 are in order.

Then 5 gallon batches aren't large enough. Magically, keggles appear in your garage...

Next up is a kegerator. Multiple beers on tap, all the time. Then a full on brewstand.

I don't know what happens after that because I am not there yet... I keep having visions of SS conical fermentor, but maybe I need to have another homebrew and think about that.
 
brewman ! said:
The pushers always start with the light stuff. *snicker

The infamous wine starter kit ! *laughs I know how it goes.

"Hey, why am I making silly wines when I could be making great beer ?" So you do the first extract kit and start reading about all grain. And the addiction begins.

Soon you are mashing in the kitchen. Then its in the garage with your first propane burner.

Soon you are making so much beer you don't have time to bottle it. Naturally kegs and CO2 are in order.

Then 5 gallon batches aren't large enough. Magically, keggles appear in your garage...

Next up is a kegerator. Multiple beers on tap, all the time. Then a full on brewstand.

I don't know what happens after that because I am not there yet... I keep having visions of SS conical fermentor, but maybe I need to have another homebrew and think about that.

so true, Just bought my first grains (PM) I have just got a price for a SS pot and looking for a BIG burner.
 
Have not spent too much over the years. ($AU)
3 barrels $ 140
1 pressure barrel $ 60
Bench Capper $ 45
2 hydrometers $ 30
1 therm $ 10
1 new laundry trough. $35,000 (Had to build a new extension around it!)

Hassle from SHMBO : $TOOBIG

I am just about to go PM for the first time with some grain so here goes the $$$'s
 
The only asset that cannot be replaced is time, and I've spent much more time than money on brewing over the last fifteen years....

I cannot think of a better way to spend my time!

(Well, maybe one or two....)

Time now for another stout. -p
 
I started brewing in September of 2006 and have well over $1800.00 but man is this fun!!!! I keep telling myself this is the last piece but i can't stop. Is this an addiction???:ban:
 
Lets see.
6.5 carboy 26 bucks
5 gal carboy 23 bucks
bucket fermenter "kit" was 40 bucks when I first started. Came with some malt yeast and a capper.
bottles- maybe 20 bucks
5.5 gal. kettle-40 bucks
miscellaneous-50 bucks

Now that I'm going all grain, you can add another 300 for a new brewpot, MT, wort chiller and all the accessories to convert with valve's and thermometers.

All in all around 800 bucks thus far for equipment.
Around 130.00 thus far for ingredient kits.


Dan
 
I don't want to add it up but probably around the 400-450 range.

I noticed a lot of you guys don't have wort chillers on your list. I consider this almost as essential as a good mash tun.
 
Let's see

Original kit ~$50
Original brewpot ~ $65
Misc Equip (hoses, canes spoons, broken hydrometers, spare carboy) ~ $75
17 Cases empty bottles and a carboy ~ $50 (bought from an ex homebrewer friend)
2 - 14g brewpots, mash tun, hlt, 4 carboys, 3 cornies ~ $300 ebay auction
turkey fryer ~ $40
 
Cheesefood said:
I want to see Yuri's tab. His is probably 86 cents for a 2x4 and a tube of chapstick and the rest he machined out of his own awesomeness.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I'm afraid my bill is pretty steep...

I'll see if I can add it up, but it'll be tough - I've made countless $1.00 to $25.00 trips to various hardware stores in search of fittings, tubing, fasteners, etc.

First, I'll call the stir plate free - I've sold enough to actually more than cover the cost of one, even at the meager profit I make on them. I'm also not counting the kegerator, as I bought it originally to house commercial beer. It's been nice, though, and it was the reason I started kegging almost immediately.

Starter Kit (a la Ale Pail): $75
Grain bags: $25
9 Gal Stainless Kettle: $80
Better Bottle/Spigot: $35
Pipe/fittings for cool dangling hops bags: $20
24 22 oz'ers: $25
A lot of Grolsch (yes, I'm counting it!): At least $75
Bottle Tree: $30
Two Erlenmeyers: $50
Turbotap for the kegger: $250 (not really worth it, if you're wondering)
CFC: $40
Recirculating pump/motor for the Frankencooler: $50
6 Cornies: $150
DIY Grain Mill: $50-ish
DIY Fermenter: $500-ish (4 more at home waiting to be finished and sold...will probably offset this a bit...which puts my fermenter investment at almost $2,000....not going to add that into the mix here)
20 gallon kettle: $180
Quick disconnect fittings for HERMS: $60
March pump (eBay): $80
DIY HERMS Heat Exchanger: $35
60 qt Cooler Mash Tun Conversion (including false bottom, sparge arm, Brewmometer): $100
Brew Closet raw goods: $100-ish
Space Heater for Brew Closet: $25
A/C Unit for Brew Closet: $50
3 RANCO controllers: $105
Turkey fryer: $40
Natural gas burner to replace turkey fryer: $80
Hardware, tubing, fittings, etc, etc: Easily over $200

I'm not even sure I want to add this up!!! Here goes...

Ouch...$2510

...and I didn't even try to include ingredient costs...

EDIT: ****. I just realized that I spent more on "etc, etc" than a lot of dudes have spent on their entire setup. Perhaps I should start seeking out some bargains...
 
brewman ! said:
The pushers always start with the light stuff. *snicker

The infamous wine starter kit ! *laughs I know how it goes.

"Hey, why am I making silly wines when I could be making great beer ?" So you do the first extract kit and start reading about all grain. And the addiction begins.

Soon you are mashing in the kitchen. Then its in the garage with your first propane burner.

Soon you are making so much beer you don't have time to bottle it. Naturally kegs and CO2 are in order.

Then 5 gallon batches aren't large enough. Magically, keggles appear in your garage...

Next up is a kegerator. Multiple beers on tap, all the time. Then a full on brewstand.

I don't know what happens after that because I am not there yet... I keep having visions of SS conical fermentor, but maybe I need to have another homebrew and think about that.

Holy crap batman, are you hiding at my house?
Well actually, I had the kegerator and kegs before going AG.

Average cost of a pack of smokes................$6
pack a day for a week...............................$42
1 Doz mega swill a week.............................$23


Gave up smoking and gave up buying mega swill.
I'm in the black and I ain't going back, jack.
 
Since I started in August, 2005:

6 gal SS pot $50
High pressure burner/stand $30
Propane tank $30
Misc. brewing bits (hoses, siphon, air locks, spoon, brushes, etc.) $75
(2) 6 gal carboys $50
(2) 5 gal carboys $40
Oxygenation kit $30
80 used flippy bottles and 4 plastic cases from Germany (LHBS is next to an Air Force base - they get 'em from the flyboys) $40
Heavy duty metal rack to hold it all $80

Kegerator
1 free fridge (actually cost me a sixer of homebrew)
5 cornies $80
10lb alum CO2 tank, double-regulator valve setup, tubes, and two low-end shanks and standard faucets $190
4 SS shanks plus Perlick faucets (to upgrade the system) $200
2 inline gas splitters, extra gas and beer lines and fittings for more control on serving pressures $75
Beer Gun $80 (was a b-day present, but I woulda bought it anyway)

And 3 half-barrel kegs for a buck a pound at the local scrap yard before SS hit the roof (I subscribe to Brewpastor's thoughts on scrap yards) $95

Total: $1145

If we weren't trying to scrape money together to put our four-year-old in private school, I'd have blown another $500 on metal, pumps, and plumbing for an AG stand by now, too.
 
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