AG Equipment is coming at me from all over the US

I'm taking the leap into AG!

I've got bulkhead fittings and such to finish my boil kettle coming from McMasterCarr in Atlanta, sight glass stuff (Thanks Bobby M!) coming from NJ, and AG Pale Ale ingredients coming from the midwest.

Here's what I (will) have. Maybe you can double check my list and make sure I'm headed in the right direction.

- 5 Gal. converted cooler as a MLT
- 8 Gal. boil kettle w/ 1/2" ss valve & sight glass
- Propane bayou classic burner & 30 quart pot for a HLT
- 25' CFC w/ quick disconnects on the bk side
- the other necessary brewing/fermenting/bottling accoutrements

Let me know what you think. Am I overlooking anything? As always, many thanks for your insights.

yeah you've got it
you'll never have it all though. we keep adding, tweaking, going back to basics, adding, etc. The real fun is when you get your setup close and you start tweaking your mash, fermentation, etc.
good luck !

I would personally recommend a larger cooler. That way if you step up batch size or do higher gravity beers you will be able to. I do 10gal. batches with a 54QT cooler, and that is almost pushing it(to batch sparge).
yeah, you'll never be done buying stuff. There's always something new I'm oogling over or concocting in my head that leads me to rationalize buying it. But I love brewing. If I only had more carboys, bottles, and kegs.

I also use bobby_M's sight glasses, and they are superb

I had a couple of "bachelor" days since the wife was out of town visiting her folks, so I've finished a few things in order to undertake my inaugural AG brew day.

Counterflow Chiller made with some brass fittings I already had.


Hop Sack out of pvc and paint strainers I already had.


MLT w/ false bottom: I know I could probably stand to use a bigger cooler, but I'm not interested in 10 Gal. batches. I may upgrade at some point, so I kept the original cooler spigot and can always revert it to what it was.


And the Boil Kettle: I skipped even bothering with buying bits and such to drill out my pot and had a guy at the local machine shop drill it for me. That only set me back 10 bucks. I couldn't even buy the bits for that cheap.