What do you suggest

I just had my birthday and came into a little extra cash. I am debating between a few things and was hoping for everyone's insight.

I can get 2 out of the 3 of these.

Wort Aeration System
Johnson Temp Controller
Stir Plate & Starter kit

I really don't know where I'll get the most improvement in beer quality for my dollar and since all 3 deal with the fermentation side of things.

Currently I

Shake the Carboy
Use a Swamp Cooler
Use almost only Dry Yeast.

Also, a suggestion for where to get these items would be great. I dont really know where to get a good stir plate, or who has the best price on a temp controller.

Thanks for your suggestions.

In order of importance:
1) temp control
2) aeration
3) stir plate

Temp control.
Stir plate
Wort aeration. ( shaking burns calories and slows beer gut growth )

Brew Stand

OneHoppyGuy said:

Brew Stand

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lol. Making wort is easy - no bling required.

I'd also do
1. temp control
2. aeration
3. stir-plate

OneHoppyGuy said:

Brew Stand

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I BIAB, no need for a brew stand.

So my next question, Should I spend the extra money on a Pure O2 setup or just use the aquarium pump system that seems to be popular? Also, are there any suggestions on where to buy the Temp Controller and aeration system from?

I'f you're going to spend money on it, I'd get the pure O2. I purchased mine from Williams brewing - I like that the stone comes on a stainless wand instead of just dangling on a hose. http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAMS-OXYGEN-AERATION-SYSTEM-P699C106.aspx

For temp controller, I did the ebay temperature controller build that you'll find in the DIY forum. Works well for the money.

mjohnson said:

I'f you're going to spend money on it, I'd get the pure O2. I purchased mine from Williams brewing - I like that the stone comes on a stainless wand instead of just dangling on a hose. http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAMS-OXYGEN-AERATION-SYSTEM-P699C106.aspx

For temp controller, I did the ebay temperature controller build that you'll find in the DIY forum. Works well for the money.

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I'll definitely be getting the pure o2 kit from Williams. I had a an eBay controller and it malfunctioned about about 3 months so I want to get something more quality. Williams actually has a decent price on the Johnson digital controller so I'll probably just get both there.

kapbrew13 said:

Temp control.
Stir plate
Wort aeration. ( shaking burns calories and slows beer gut growth )

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I second this order. I get plenty of aeration by shaking.
Aeration is on my list but it is not that high.

If you go with a temp controller, hit up Pex Supply ... ~$56 for an unwired Johnson Controls A419 ... http://www.pexsupply.com/Johnson-Co...age-Digital-Temperature-Control-120-240v-SPDT

No need to buy pre-wired ... It's super easy to wire with an extension cord.

dutchoven said:

If you go with a temp controller, hit up Pex Supply ... ~$56 for an unwired Johnson Controls A419 ... http://www.pexsupply.com/Johnson-Co...age-Digital-Temperature-Control-120-240v-SPDT

No need to buy pre-wired ... It's super easy to wire with an extension cord.

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Thanks for the tip, if I was just buying the temp controller I think I would go this way but if I have to pay shipping twice (once for each item) it almost makes up for the cost difference if you include buying the extension cord as well.

On second thought my math sucks. That saves at least $15 even with shipping. That almost pays for a batch of my pale ale, Or a couple sixers of something from the beer shop.

Man,

I am really starting to get myself confused. I know for sure that I am going to get the Johnson Controller from Pex Supply but I really dont know whether to go with the Stir plate or the Pure 02 System. I can't seem to work out in my head which will be the best bang for my buck. I just read a thread that stated that wyeast suggest shaking the carboy is as effective as using 02 because more air can touch the surface area of the beer and since wort needs about 10ppm 02 and a room is something like 210,000ppm oxygen using pure o2 doesnt help too much. But I make mostly beers with Dry Yeast at this point so I would probably only use a stir plate every 3 or 4 brews unless I started washing my Dry yeast which seems silly since it will cost 3.49 for a packet of dry yeast and 4.99 for a lb of DME. Anyways more advice would be great. Maybe pros and cons or benefits for either.

How much is a red tank of 02 from a hardware store?

How much DME would be used to make a starter for a 1.050 beer?

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html to figure out starters. Use 10 grams of dme for every .1 liter so 1.5 liters would use 150 grams of dme
the red 02 tanks are ~$10

Why buy the controller when you can make one for under $50 that is a digital dual temp controller? Look up the DYI thread on the ebay temp controller. I built one for under $50 with no electrical knowledge by simply following the thread. It took me about an hour to put together once I had the stuff that you can buy from Lowes or Home Depot. The controller on ebay is roughly $25-$30 bucks.

Just trying to save some cash for other things!

The red tanks are ~$7-8.

Brewnoob1 said:

Why buy the controller when you can make one for under $50 that is a digital dual temp controller? Look up the DYI thread on the ebay temp controller. I built one for under $50 with no electrical knowledge by simply following the thread. It took me about an hour to put together once I had the stuff that you can buy from Lowes or Home Depot. The controller on ebay is roughly $25-$30 bucks.

Just trying to save some cash for other things!

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Thanks, but I already built one of those and the circuit board burnt put after about 4 months of use. I would prefer to buy something professionally made with a warranty.

chemman14 said:

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html to figure out starters. Use 10 grams of dme for every .1 liter so 1.5 liters would use 150 grams of dme
the red 02 tanks are ~$10

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So you can get about 4 1.5 liter starts out of a lb of dme. That's not too bad.

I am still pretty on the edge. It's either gonna be a stirstarter.com stir plate or a Williams brewing pure o2 system.

Any advice would be great.

Prymal said:

So you can get about 4 1.5 liter starts out of a lb of dme. That's not too bad.

I am still pretty on the edge. It's either gonna be a stirstarter.com stir plate or a Williams brewing pure o2 system.

Any advice would be great.

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I would go with the stirstarters.com stir plate. The shaking will be OK for now. Make the o2 system the next brewery upgrade

I'd go with the O2 over the stirplate for a couple reasons. One, you can still easily do a starter without a stir plate. Two, a stirplate is a cheap and easy DIY project if you're at all handy and can scavenge the parts. Three, I've noticed an improvement with bigger beers since I started using O2. Shaking can only oxygenate to a maximum of 8ppm, and many pro brewers suggest 9-10ppm for beers over 1.085 OG.

Prymal said:

So you can get about 4 1.5 liter starts out of a lb of dme. That's not too bad.

I am still pretty on the edge. It's either gonna be a stirstarter.com stir plate or a Williams brewing pure o2 system.

Any advice would be great.

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Both! Kidding, I bought the stir starter after doing my own DIY version, but his was much better. I really think this takes priority in the brew room over O2. Now having said that, I do have an itchy trigger finger ready to order that Williams system when I can justify it (just scored 2 kegs off of CL, need to lay low for a while ).

It's a hard choice. As many have pointed out you can accomplish both tasks (making a starter & oxygenating wort) with simpler means proper oxygenation promotes healthy fermentation of the wort while stir plates promote healthy yeast propagation before the yeast is pitched. Since I currently use mostly dry yeast I think I will see more benefit from the oxygenation system right now. Then when I get the stir plate I can delve more fully into liquid yeast and yeast washing.

Does this make sense, any counter arguments?

That sounds reasonable. You can always make a starter without a plate ... I use my O2 setup on every batch and my stirplate every 4-5 batches.