So how do you guys convince the swmbo into letting you spend thousands on brew equipment? I have a pretty modest setup but I want more obviously. This forum is addicting and dangerous. Every Day I see something and am like I need that! I just can't being myself to tell my wife I want to spend thousands on building a bad ass brew rig.
Convincing the swmbo
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makomachine
Well-Known Member
Is she a beer drinker? If so your work is half done. (brew some things she likes). My SWMBO doesn't like beer but loves wine. I took up crafting her some wines and she's become more open to the beer brewing.
JetSmooth
Well-Known Member
Personally, I've got an "allowance", mutually agreed upon between my wife and myself. It keeps us on budget. I do occasionally go over and then I stop buying stuff for a while.
When I FIRST got into AG brewing, I did run myself into the neg by about $900. I stopped brewing for about eight months to whittle that red ink down.
It also helps to chart out and plan a build. My rig is modest (still need to fully photo document it for the forum and my blog), and I (thought I) knew what I needed going into it. But there are always several hundred dollars in last-minute trips to the hw store, like any DIY project.
If you do your build slowly, you can ease the pain of the total cost and spread it out over time.
At least that's been my experience.
When I FIRST got into AG brewing, I did run myself into the neg by about $900. I stopped brewing for about eight months to whittle that red ink down.
It also helps to chart out and plan a build. My rig is modest (still need to fully photo document it for the forum and my blog), and I (thought I) knew what I needed going into it. But there are always several hundred dollars in last-minute trips to the hw store, like any DIY project.
If you do your build slowly, you can ease the pain of the total cost and spread it out over time.
At least that's been my experience.
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Give her a choice... Tell her you are thinking of getting more into brewing OR taking up gambling and hookers.
Germelli1
Well-Known Member
Not sure how you SWMBO is so I don't want you to be offended if this is not the case with her. But if she gives you crap for it, open a shoe closet or monitor her shopping trips
Germelli1 said:Not sure how you SWMBO is so I don't want you to be offended if this is not the case with her. But if she gives you crap for it, open a shoe closet or monitor her shopping trips
Well I'm not offended she actually is pretty good about spending. Also my brewing equipment is just a little more than shoes. But u guess some of those shoes get expensive
makomachine
Well-Known Member
If space is a concern, and you plan on staying in the town home, look into an all electric BIAB type setup. They can be built a little at a time and have a more compact form factor. I'm waiting on my Speidel Braumeister that the SWMBO agreed to let me purchase - so have faith, just don't drop it all on her at once.
makomachine said:
Yea I have only been doing this for year so i guess I got plenty of time. Yea I do want to do electric. I actually do hvac so I have a really good background in refrigeration and controls. I'm excited to be able to do all that in the future and actually know what I'm doing somewhat
JetSmooth
Well-Known Member
I can feel your pain with a townhouse. ALL of my brewing stuff (except my brewladder, which is in the laundry room, and boxes of empty bottles, which are stacked in the basement/TV room) have to fit in the cubby under the stairs. Finishing my kegerator and cutting down on empty bottles should help that.
You can do a lot with a compact setup. I really need to document how my setup works and how it breaks down and stores away for small-space brewing like townhouses.
I'm in Harford County, which is just North of Baltimore. Laurel isn't too far from me. Maybe we need a "small house, stingy SWMBO" support group. Haha.
Germelli1
Well-Known Member
The other option is to find a drink you can make that she enjoys, even if it pains you to make it (like a blue moon clone, hard lemonade, etc) and try and win her over that way.
JetSmooth
Well-Known Member
Right on. I have a couple guys here I'm teaching how to brew, but nobody who brews already. When I have the new setup tuned in, I'll give you a heads up and see if we can get together.
Don't get carried away with equipment. If you have a modest setup that makes good beer then keep on keepin' on. Spend your time improving your knowledge of chemistry and brewing techniques instead of pining for brew-bling that won't make you a better brewer.
Germelli1
Well-Known Member
Great advice. My All grain set up is a 7 gallon cooler for a mash tun, bottling bucket for HLT and a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer for a kettle. Then some milkcrates/step ladders/overturned buckets/whatever is on hand for elevation to allow gravity to feed everything. Not pretty but makes some damn good beers. If I ever wany to brew a big beer that is out of the capacity of my little tun, I either turn it into a partial mash adding extract to the kettle or run a second BIAB mash and combine them/boil off with a fan for volume.
JetSmooth
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You have to stop drooling over other people's rigs. I currently have some major brew rig envy going on.
I just spent a couple hundred bucks on equipment to shorten my brew day (a new burner, and false bottoms). I haven't even used them yet and I'm thinking of a new mash tun, etc.
I have to stop looking, and spend some years on my new set up. I could go broke!!
I just spent a couple hundred bucks on equipment to shorten my brew day (a new burner, and false bottoms). I haven't even used them yet and I'm thinking of a new mash tun, etc.
I have to stop looking, and spend some years on my new set up. I could go broke!!
Vance71975
Well-Known Member
Diamonds lots and lots of Diamonds! I didnt have to convince mine, she bought it for me, but then again she brews with me. yes i know i am a lucky man!
Replying for the subscribe. I bought in stages. Had a mashtun for almost a year before I brewed an ag batch. Skimped out on a chiller for three batches. Hard to justify some of this stuff. Just bought a digital scale. Make an excel spreadsheeet, put everything you want and make categories with what you want first in maybe different colors?
I have every component listed for when I go to keg. It is designed to be purchased in three phases. It will work in phase 1, it just gets better in phase 2 and 3. I learned after not being able to use my mash tun at first.
I have every component listed for when I go to keg. It is designed to be purchased in three phases. It will work in phase 1, it just gets better in phase 2 and 3. I learned after not being able to use my mash tun at first.
JetSmooth
Well-Known Member
Also, making a mess in the kitchen while bottling never hurts toward a little "kegerator justification".
My wife doesn't really get upset, she knows I work a lot of extra hours and side jobs, she also knows that I will only buy stuff for my hobbies when it is on sale or used. For example with archery I have several longbows worth $800 new that I got half off and my compound is worth $1600 new and I paid a fraction of that.
rico567
Well-Known Member
Not sure how you SWMBO is so I don't want you to be offended if this is not the case with her. But if she gives you crap for it, open a shoe closet or monitor her shopping trips
Overheard on a TV show:
Person A: "The main belief of our religion is that it is always better to be agreeable than right."
Person B: "That's not a religion, that's marriage."
...and although I didn't say this, I'm not saying I disagree with it, either. And I'll be married 42 years next month.
Yankeehillbrewer
Well-Known Member
No real convincing needed here. My Wife is a Horse Person and has two Thoroughbreds. If you know anything about Horses then you know they are expensive as hell. So she doesn't really have a leg to stand on. With that said, I have been drooling over brew rigs as of late also, and i will just have to piecemeal mine together a little at a time. It would just be unreasonable to go out and drop all that coin at once on a brewstand. But until I get my shop up it's all just a wet dream anyway.
cheers
cheers
Here is the deal... You can spend as much or as little as you want on this hobby. For me the DIY side has just as much appeal as the brewing and drinking of the beer. There is damn near nothing that you can not build yourself for the same as or less than what you can buy new. I might have a grand total of 1K dropped into my brewery and I have: A 2 tap-3 line (gotta force carb the next batch before the 1st one is gone!) keggerator, grain mill, brew stand, 3 keggles, 2 cooler MLTs, march pump, fermentation rack, 2 sanke 1/2bbl fermenters, 3 sanke 1/4bbl fermenters and 2-6+ gallon glass carboys, water filtration and yeast ranch, not to mention more swing top bottles than one person should legally own... Ya, and it is all 100% weldless!
Granted my stuff is not pretty and may look like it was all DIY but I am happy with that! and so far I have had no complaints as to the quality of my brews...(Huge shout here to all the HBT gurus and folks that have posted up the seemingly never ending pool of knowledge, I do not need to call names because you know who you are!)
I am 1000% sure that you can spend HUGE dollars on this hobby and still make piss beer! HBT and the knowledge gained here, has saved me tons of cash and made me a decent AG brewer in less than a year. If I can do this anyone can.
PS. If SWMBO has issues with your hobby, I point out the total cost of hunting or fishing in comparison, I have sqat invested in this hobby in comparison...not to mention SWMBO has a soft spot for beer that are "Brewed just for her."
Granted my stuff is not pretty and may look like it was all DIY but I am happy with that! and so far I have had no complaints as to the quality of my brews...(Huge shout here to all the HBT gurus and folks that have posted up the seemingly never ending pool of knowledge, I do not need to call names because you know who you are!)
I am 1000% sure that you can spend HUGE dollars on this hobby and still make piss beer! HBT and the knowledge gained here, has saved me tons of cash and made me a decent AG brewer in less than a year. If I can do this anyone can.
PS. If SWMBO has issues with your hobby, I point out the total cost of hunting or fishing in comparison, I have sqat invested in this hobby in comparison...not to mention SWMBO has a soft spot for beer that are "Brewed just for her."
slowly add
In our (and by "our" I mean MY) case, I'm convincing HIM!!!
Shopaholic chef (who doesn't work in the summer) + homebrew + internet access = big spending!!!
Factor in brew rig envy and I could be in big trouble.
boo boo
Well-Known Member
In order for me to get a few `` big box items `` I had to give up something that I spend money on regurlarly. I managed to buy a kegerator, conicals and a good mill that way.
Agreed!!
I'm happy that my "other" half (would that be HWMO???) likes beer. And we brew together, which is the best part.
Vance71975
Well-Known Member
Hmmm well i dont really know what to say in your case then lol.
