Next upgrade?

Alright brewing experts, I've got $50 to burn on brew gear. What do you feel is more important? A Water Filter, a really good scale, or a Blichmann Beer Gun (yes, I know it's more than $50), or something else?

I already have all the gear necessary to make really decent (some say good/great) beer. I keep hearing people say that it's vital to remove the chlorine, etc. from your tap water prior to brewing, but I've been brewing with tap water for nearly 6 years and have had no issues (or is my chlorine levels just too low for me to notice or i've been desensitized to that flavor?). I could use a better scale, but I know i can get by with my current one. A Beer Gun would be really handy to have, but also, I can get by with my current setup. So what would you guys get next if you were in my shoes?

Thanks!

for the record, I've already got ferm temp control, everything I need for all-grain, a mill, a pump, fermenters up the wazoo, ingredients up the wazoo, 5-keg, dual-pressure kegging system, stirplate, 2L erlenmeyer flask. What I don't have is a dedicated HLT, Beer Gun, water filter, good scale for grain, and i'm sure other stuff you guys can pinpoint.

Maybe some goals would help. Are you looking to:

1) Perfect the beer your already making
2) Branch out and try new styles
3) Make your overall process more efficient (faster, easier, or resulting in more beer)
4) Something else?

My main investment lately is very accurate thermometers! My 2Cents worth. It never ends does it?? LOL!

I wouldn’t buy a beer gun. I would use the BM beer gun that is made on this forum. I would go thermometer or scale.

Thanks for the replies. I'm interested in making my beer even better. There's always room for improvement, right?

barrooze said:

Thanks for the replies. I'm interested in making my beer even better. There's always room for improvement, right?

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Water is often one of the later, and more advanced, topics that homebrewers tackle in to help perfect their beer. Might be a little more expensive than $50 to get a decent one, but you could get a pH Meter. Also, you might learn something from spending a little money on a water report from Ward Labs.

Check out the Williams Brewing oxygenation kit. I think it's been one of the best gadgets I've picked up for brewing. Really helps fermentation.

sctocinci said:

Check out the Williams Brewing oxygenation kit. I think it's been one of the best gadgets I've picked up for brewing. Really helps fermentation.

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I second this if you don't use a stone already. This is essential for making big beers the highest quality they can be. Right around what you're looking to spend too

ja09 said:

I second this if you don't use a stone already. This is essential for making big beers the highest quality they can be. Right around what you're looking to spend too

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+1 if you like make 1.060 and up beer

I always invest in what makes beer better, if not necessarily easier. Water filter.

Water filter or oxygenation system

Thanks all. I got this scale and this thermometer. Now... a belated birthday gift just came in of another $50! Oxygen or water... hmmmmmmm.......

I would go oxygen for that price. If you want to do water right the proper ph meter and ward labs test would be more than $50. But you would notice the water way more in your beer than you would oxygen. Water would be the better investment.

thisisbeer said:

I would go oxygen for that price. If you want to do water right the proper ph meter and ward labs test would be more than $50. But you would notice the water way more in your beer than you would oxygen. Water would be the better investment.

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Agree that a decent pH meter would go well over $50. The Ward labs evaluation is pretty cheap though and is knowledge you can continually use. If you don't care to measure mash pH, you could always use your water information to estimate where it would be based on the grain bill and make adjustments accordingly.

OP - you mentioned that your water seems fine, at least little or no chlorine. Are you brewing a wide variety of styles? Sometimes water that's good for dark roast-heavy ale is not so great for a light lager.

But still an oxygenation system would be money well spent. It will help you achieve full attenuation and make it possible to brew much higher gravity beers.

Beer gun. Just because that will be my next investment!

I advise against the beer gun. Check out the diy one here on HBT and you will be fine. It is about 3 bucks in parts and works tremendously well.

Spend 5-6 bucks on an accurate gram scale for hops, 15-20 building your own carbon filter, and then the last 25 on an extra stc-1000. You can never have enough controlled fermentation space.

Thanks, all. I've buiilt the DIY "we no need no stinking beer gun" and completely prefer the Beer Gun. I may go that route, as the reason I don't bottle my beers to sharing, is it's a huge pain in the ass!

I've also got the $6 gram scale. If anyone doesn't have it, go buy it. It's an incredible value.

As for measuring my water, I have no interest in a pH meter, as keeping them calibrated is far too much of a hassle for me. My city's water doesn't change reservoirs throughout the year and my water SI have been very responsive about providing me with the mineral levels when I ask for them. A Wards test would still be pretty informative, though. I may pickup some ColorPhast papers and a Wards report at some point.

My current Ferm chamber is really only good at maintaining ale temps, so I brew any style (light/dark/clean/funky/etc) that I have time for. I have never had any issue achieving full attenuation of my beers using the shake-the-hell-out-of-the-fermenter method as I always pitch a proper amount of healthy yeast, so maybe an Oxygen setup can hold off for later.

I'm leaning towards either a water filter system or the Beer Gun. I've already got most of the "accessory" pack so that expense is not needed... Thanks again for the advice!

How about a hydrometer? I love mine. It makes taking gravity readings during sparge or post-boil really easy. The one I have compensates for temp automatically (or it just takes a couple of seconds for the 2 drops you need to cool to room temperature.) You can also take FG readings with it, but you have to convert the readings with Beer Smith or a similar program.

I have a Beer Gun as well, and it's pretty sweet. Don't waste your money on the accessory kit, there's only one fitting in there that someone with a kegging setup doesn't have already. But I would buy a couple extra tips for it, as those things can come off.

Those aside, my next minor upgrade will be an O2 system. After SWMBO recovers from the price of my next major upgrade (E-HERMS).

I think, you meant refractometer, but yes, I have one as well and love it. I do sometimes still use my hydrometer after fermentation, just to make sure those calculators are still crunching the numbers correctly.

Thanks for the advice on the tips!

You're right, I did mean refractometer. Wish I could blame that on being drunk, but not this time. Since you already have one of those, I'd go with a beer gun or O2. Depends on how bad you want to bottle your beer, I guess.