What's my next upgrade?

Okay, I'm still pretty new at this brewing thing, but have been learning a bunch, improving my techniques, and even brewed my own first couple of recipes (last two). Now I'm looking to see what I should do/buy/build next...

Here's the down and dirty of my first six months of brewing:
I've done 7 beers (six 5-gal and one 1-gal), 7 ciders, and 1 mead (all 1-gal for cider and mead). The beer is mainly what I'm trying to focus on (not to neglect the cider and mead, but they're more for fun in between beers!). Extract, partial volume (I have 5 gal kettle, so usually do 3.5-4 gal boils with top off) boils (some mini-mashes, which I do think I'll keep doing - I like the versatility and final product better compared to just extract), ice bath cooling, and bottling. First couple fermented in closet, next two in swamp cooler, and then I've finally been using a chest freezer/light-bulb heater with STC-1000 for ferm temp control for my last couple brews. Got a stir plate and flask for yeast starters now.

I'm going to stay extract for a while, mainly for time and equipment concerns (though I am reading about and toying with the idea of doing smaller batch - 1 and/or 3 gal - BIAB all-grain... wouldn't need much more equipment for that, just a small cooler for a MT, I think? see below), so not looking to upgrade to all-grain anytime soon. Also not going to start kegging anytime soon (though I do question that every time I clean and sanitize all my bottles on bottling day!), also for the total cost (kegs and associated equipment, and kegerator) involved.

Here's what I've been thinking for next upgrade:

-O2 bottle and aeration stone (I've been just dumping from kettle into ferm bucket, and shaking and/or using paint mixer with my cordless drill)

-7-8 gal kettle to do full volume boils... but then I'd also probably need:
-turkey fryer/propane burner (only have electric stove now), and/or:
-immersion chiller (and pre-chiller and/or pump for warm TX ground water here)

-3-gal carboy and/or 3-gal cooler (for MT) to do small-batch BIAB

Just want y'all's advice for my next step... which do you think would make the most difference in my beers?

I can get down to pitching temps with the smaller volume boil I'm doing now (3.5, usually) in around 30 min, so I don't think I really need the immersion chiller (even though I'm sure it would still be quicker) unless I up the volume to a full vol boil. This would prob be the most expensive, though, as I'd probable want to get all three (bigger kettle, burner, and IC) at the same time. Or maybe just get the IC first, but that brings me back to the first sentence in this paragraph...

Any other upgrade I've totally overlooked? Thanks for any input!

I am also new to home brewing but an immersion wort chiller is a must. I also do 1 gal brews for experimentation purposes and I can cool the wort in 5 minutes flat with my immersion wort chiller. It takes like $40 at Home Depot to make your own and it saves 25 minutes per brew on the 1 gals

www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/diy-cost-effective-immersion-wort-chiller.html
I followed this guide and use it every brew

So you are in between a wort chiller and full wort boil. This is answered in terms of practicality. Even if you are in excellent physical condition, the consequences of an accident while handling a full kettle of near boiling wort is worth serious consideration. Better to have the means to cool in place first. Safety first because a trip to the burn unit is a bad day.

you're crazy if you buy anything before a chiller

Wort chiller fo sho!

You making starters yet? A quick cheap DIY stirplate and flask is always a good investment.

DrunkleJon said:

You making starters yet? A quick cheap DIY stirplate and flask is always a good investment.

Click to expand...

FatsSchindee said:

Got a stir plate and flask for yeast starters now.

Click to expand...

RTFP

OP: Definitely wort chiller.

A good propane burner would shave a lot of time off your brew day, it takes a long time to boil 3.5gal on a stove top. Then you can move outside and avoid the inevitable messy boil over that gets you banned from brewing in the kitchen, speaking from experience!

Full boil will be the best thing you can do to improve the quality of your beer.

Immersion chiller first, homemade or off Craigslist.

And the size of it should fit your next purchase, a larger pot. Go for 8 gallons at minimum, 10 gallons maybe better, as it gives you more headroom. I have an 8 gallon and for full boils I need 7 gallons of wort. That leaves me only 1.5 inches from the top, tight but workable. I tend to keep it somewhat lower (6 gallon level) for comfort, and add boiling water during the boil to compensate for boil-off.

My electric stove has a huge 11" triple element, but I can barely keep a rolling boil if I have 6-7 gallons in that pot. The weight of it all is what scares me the most. Looking for indoor alternatives. I have an outdoor propane setup, but the mosquitoes are vicious and make it impossible being outside during the summer.

If you really like brewing, all grain is your future, and some DIY keeps cost down.

Temperature control:
To make better beer, some sort of temperature control would be most advantageous, be it a swamp cooler or a spare fridge. Fermentation at lower (and steady) temps are the single most important improvement you can make to your beer.

I'd go with chiller. MY reasoning is that if you went with a larger kettle and a burner, you will need to chill that somehow (Or do no-chill...) so no reason to get a kettle big enough for full boil and not have a way to chill it.

And just so you know, this practice of *upgrading* your equipment to make things better and more convenient?? It's a marathon, not a race. You will probably spend years upgrading your stuff and adding more stuff.

I would say your next stepshould be a Sabco BrewMatic.



JK, +1 on the chiller.

kombat said:

RTFP

OP: Definitely wort chiller.

Click to expand...

Hah. I read that post 3 times and still missed that part. I did catch the fermentation chest freezer/stc-1000 part though. Gawd I'm blind.

cooling coil, fed up of waiting for my wort to cool. I will make one to save money.

Thanks for the replies, all! Yeah, I do have the temp control and yeast starter stir plate set up, as noted... After listening to JZ over and over on Brewstrong and his other BN podcasts (and in Brewing Classic Styles), I definitely got the point to take care of your yeast to make the biggest improvement to my homebrew, so I did get those upgrades sooner than later. And I understand that it is a marathon, not a sprint, but I've got two lagers in my ferm chamber right now and into next month, so instead of spending my homebrew "budget" on ingredients this month, I figured I'd see what to add next into the arsenal...

Sounds like an immersion chiller is definitely the top answer! I think that is a good place to start, that way I will already have it when I do eventually get the bigger kettle and burner for a full volume boil. And as mentioned, I will get one big enough now, so I'll be ready then... 50' should be good for that, yeah? Is there a big diff between the time to chill for 3/8" vs. 1/2"? I'm looking at buying from these guys:
https://coppertubingsales.com/storefront/index.php?cPath=174_208&osCsid=ltcdu4p3ei5abtlo89ta2hts97
...and putting it together myself. Seems to be a pretty good deal for all the parts, and would save some time (and cost not too much more $$) from me sourcing all the pieces myself (plus delivered to my door). The 3/8" is $42, whereas the 1/2" is $56 (for compression; I've read this works better than clamp... But open to thoughts on this as well)... Not too much more if it makes a bigger difference. I know I've seen other threads discussing the various pros and cons of the diff types of chillers, so I'll read up on those as well, but just thought I'd ask on here while we're talking about it...

Cheers!

Go with the 1/2" diameter, it does make a significant difference. As far as fittings, I can't help you there, I built mine before there was much about building your own on the Internet so I managed to bugger up the coils as I didn't think to use something like a cornie keg as a jig. I also ran the tubes up and out the kettle and bent them over with hose line attached with Jose clamps. Hundreds of batches later it is still ugly and still works great. Just make sure to bend the tube ends down so if you do have a leak at the connectors it won't find it's way into the kettle.