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budbo

Beer is good
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What Am I doing wrong? Every Damn time I go to the LHBS I go in planning on spending $X, every damn time, I leave having spent at least $X*3.. I have increased my capacity to 2 primaries, 2 secondaries, I can do a starter and maintain 3 cultures, I can sanitize the whole damn city and have 8 cases of 22oz and 5 cases of 12oz bottles (I'm at just over half capacity filled) I have enough hops in the freezer for my next 5 batches (freshhops order) I got 7 different grains in stock (in my basement) I got specialty sugars, honey, scales thermometers, siphons............ And FFS I still need to upgrade to kegging equipment and buy an aerator bottle/stone..

Will The madness ever end!!!!:tank:
 
Wrong? Sounds like you're doing everything exactly like everyone should (or at least wants to)
 
You're setting unrealistically low expectations for yourself.:rolleyes:
You shouldn't be able to get out of the LHBS without spending at lease $X*5:D

-a.
 
budbo said:
What Am I doing wrong? Every Damn time I go to the LHBS I go in planning on spending $X, every damn time, I leave having spent at least $X*3.. I have increased my capacity to 2 primaries, 2 secondaries, I can do a starter and maintain 3 cultures, I can sanitize the whole damn city and have 8 cases of 22oz and 5 cases of 12oz bottles (I'm at just over half capacity filled) I have enough hops in the freezer for my next 5 batches (freshhops order) I got 7 different grains in stock (in my basement) I got specialty sugars, honey, scales thermometers, siphons............ And FFS I still need to upgrade to kegging equipment and buy an aerator bottle/stone..

Will The madness ever end!!!!:tank:
I've got the same problem and I've noticed that carboys, extra yeast, and parts and pieces I didn't need before I went to the LHBS end up in my car on the way home.
 
RichBrewer said:
I've got the same problem and I've noticed that carboys, extra yeast, and parts and pieces I didn't need before I went to the LHBS end up in my car on the way home.

Kleptomania?

-walker
 
Walker that is the most sane way of dealing with this problem I've heard yet. I don't know a single brewer (I know only four personally) that doesn't spend a lot more than they meant to eveytime they order online. Our LHBS sucks a big one. All they have is kits and dry yeast. They also sell beads and incense and a bunch of other nonsense not related to brewing. Their name is "cool stuff." Not the place to buy brew supplies, IMHO.
 
yeah, I knew what you REALLY meant, but you see.... I have this problem with being a wise-ass. I literally cannot control it. :fro:
 
If i ever leave my LHBS without spending $X*3 i feel empty inside. I end up pulling a u-turn and making up the difference, and then some. Its the only thing that lets me sleep soundly at night.
 
Walker said:
yeah, I knew what you REALLY meant, but you see.... I have this problem with being a wise-ass. I literally cannot control it. :fro:
Oh hell! Why control it? Life is too short. Besides I can use all the laughs I can get.
 
I know what you are talking about. Especially when you are starting out, you find all these things that you (think you) NEED to make good beer. But finally I have gotten to the point where I can go into my LHBS and by grains and hops and be done with it. It also helps that I'm somewhat limited on space in my garage and force myself to not get more big gear until.....

.... we are in a new house.

I experienced the same when I started rock climbing. Did you know that there is fairly essential pieces of eqipment that costs $60 a piece and you need to have 15 of those? Lucky for me that I was single back then and had all that diposable income. Now I have pretty much all I need and only need to replace tear and wear. This usually happens around Christmas ;) .

Most of the fun of home brewing is playing with toys. When we are not breweing we can always read, yeast culture, make starters, come up with recipes, build new gadgets, rack beer, sample beer and post on HBT.com. Have fun.

Kai
 
im the opposite, i always forget stuff. recently when i got there i decided to make a totally different recipe than what i originaly had in mind, i had everything written on a list, so by changing the recipe i forgot to add an extra pound of 2-row, and i didnt realize this till after i left the parking lot, at first i figured i could do with out it, but the whole way home i was thinking about how the gravity was now different, therefore the hop additions were going to be different, and so on and so on, untill by the time i got home i was convinced i had to go back....:eek:
 
King Kai said:
It also helps that I'm somewhat limited on space in my garage and force myself to not get more big gear

Kai

Yes, luck for me I'm in the middle of getting a building permit to build my brand spanking new 16 by 30 foot garage.....SWEET.........Brew central baby!!!
 
It has gotten so bad I'm in negotiation with my wife (she wants a sun room added to the deck) to include a "Brew Shed" complete with fridge, ventalation, natural gas burners. I mean hell, while they are out here it's cheaper to add the job :)
 
If you wanna take that step toward kegging:

Prebuilt Mini Kegerator

I just got mine, and it's beautiful.

My husband won't let me go to the LHBS alone anymore. We make up a fictional number and then spend far above it, and I end up trying to convince him that I really DON'T need that extra hop bag...

If you have the time, Ebay is the best place to find cheap extras. You never know what your going to find dirt cheap.
 
One of the ways I convinced SWMBO that this hobby/illness/addiction was a good thing was "It's cheaper to make the beer than buy it!" Good thing she doesn't know what I've actually spent!
 
flingdingo said:
It's cheaper to make the beer than buy it!

When I first got all of my equipment (or so I thought I had), I calculated what it would take to pay back the investment since I would now 'save money' by brewing A/G. I figure if I brew 100 gallons a year for the next 30 years, I will have made my money back and start saving!
I must admit, I have a few expensive toys which may not be 'neccessary' and I keep adding to it.
I am getting ready to alter my existing kegerator (set up for a single sanke) over to a three corny system and I have a shopping list in front of me which adds up to over $900 (don't ask!).
 
All of my hobbies have cost me far more than brewing does. I don't mind spending a bit extra per beer; I enjoy my beer more, drink less of it and have a great time when I brew. win win win.
 
It's a place where people who don't order their beer fixins over the internet get their stuff. It's usually local, and has people who know you by name. Sometimes, they even know what gear you don't have and try to sell it to you, even though you only came in for a few things. The LHBS is great !
 
i have twenty bucks cash set aside each week to buy brewing stuff... some weeks i have to skip a week of brewing if i want to make a high gravity batch, or buy a new piece of equipment.

luckily i'm pretty much just buying hops and grain and yeast now... i've alton browned alot of stuff from the old kitchen during our recent move, and can still dupe my little brother into buying stuff for our brews or chipping in more than his share on ingredients...

reuse yeast alot, and will begin saving some from the first yeast cake before a second batch gets racked atop it.
 

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