Help me construct my Christmas List!!

People have already started asking my what I want for Christmas so I thought I would add stuff to my home brew equipment since I just started brewing several months ago. Right now I am an extract brewer but I plan to start switching to AG in a couple more batches.

This is what I have currently:
1 Bucket
2 glass 5 gallon carboy
A Racking Cane
A Bottle Brush
Sanitation stuff
Bottling bucket with siphon
Funnel with screen
Bottle capper (Wing style)
Turkey fryer with 7.5 Gallon pot (Borrowed from brother)

This is already on my wishlist:
50 feet of cooper 3/8 copper to make a wort chiller
Another bucket
A carboy brush
Turkey Fryer with 7.5 Gallon pot (To replace the one I am borrowing)
Bottling tree - May opt to use dishwasher instead - Bottling trees are expensive and the DIY ones are ugly
More staran
A mash paddle
Gift certs to AHS/NB/BMW etc....
10 Gallon Cooler for MLT conversion

Am I missing anything obvious

I would get a bigger pot. webstaurantstore.com has decent prices on 10 and 15 gallon stock pots.

+1 bigger pot for full boils and late extract addition

would also suggest though its weird for being on the christmas list, some fermentation temperature control equipment and perhaps some supplies to make yourself a stirplate. those three things will give you huge payoffs in the end even for being an extract brewer.

Oh, how about putting brewing software onto your list like a copy of brewsmith or promash if you don't have them already or a subscription to some brewing/beer magazines.

If you have any or all of the stuff already, i appologize, it didn't say it earlier but just adding ideas.

Personaly Find a 15.5 keg. Cut the top out and ask for a propane burner.
10 gal batch ready.

Only other thing ya might want to consider, If you have a relative that loves your beer tell them you need to get into kegging before your can satisfy there thirst

Just a thought.....

Good luck man, I asked my swmbo when i could start placing her...errr My x-mas gifts at northern brewer....Got a reply of, If i get a scale or hops for my b-day or xmas your toast...


Guess that xbox game i got her...Errr me last year for HER b-day held a memory

Kegging equipment.

Added this: Bigger pot

I may have a 1/2 barrel keg coming to me soon.. If I can swing it I'll take this pot off and add the spigot instead.

I don't have the room right now to move to kegging although I'd like to.

Striplate is a good idea but I may just buy the parts and build it myself.

Thanks for the ideas... Keep them coming!

When you say bottling bucket and siphon, is that an auto-siphon? If not, I would strongly recommend one and think most others would as well. Only about $10 and make racking so much easier.

HossTheGreat said:

When you say bottling bucket and siphon, is that an auto-siphon? If not, I would strongly recommend one and think most others would as well. Only about $10 and make racking so much easier.

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It has a black button on it... When I put the wand into the bottle and push the button down beer fills the bottle... Not sure if this is an auto-siphon or not.. It seems to work fairly well. If there is an easier way I would be interested

I would also recommend the 15.5 gallon keg and a propane burner instead of the turkey fryer and new pot. Bigger batches and if you plan to move into all grain you can easily add it into all grain brewing kit.

Other items I would recommend.. instead of glass 5 gallon corboy I would get two 5 gallon better bottle corboy (cheaper and less likely to break).

And then you always add something on the list that you don't expect; but if you get it you of course win.... so ask for a kegging system

MStudinski said:

It has a black button on it... When I put the wand into the bottle and push the button down beer fills the bottle... Not sure if this is an auto-siphon or not.. It seems to work fairly well. If there is an easier way I would be interested

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It sounds like you're describing a bottling wand. The auto-siphon helps automatically start the siphon from your fermenter to your bottling bucket. 1 or 2 pumps is all that it takes.

HossTheGreat said:

It sounds like you're describing a bottling wand. The auto-siphon helps automatically start the siphon from your fermenter to your bottling bucket. 1 or 2 pumps is all that it takes.

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Oh, yeah.. I have that

I would still get a bigger pot like this if you do not do the keg... almost the same price for almost twice the volume... 60 quarts.

And +1 on the auto siphon. It is $12 well spent. I used to putz around with filling the tube with water etc... now it is super easy to siphon.

It is like the bottle tree with the little pump on top that you just push your bottles on to sanitize with star san.. the vinator? It makes sanitizing bottles a joy!

What's the main reason I would want to go with the thicker pot? Will the thinner pot not hold up to the heat on the propane?

thicker is less prone to scorching as the density distributes the heat more evenly (or some such physics phenominom) .

I would orobably be willing to go with a thinner pot to get to at least 40 quarts if it was a money thing. I think volume is more important than thickness. It all depends on how careful you are though, I guess. The thinner the metal (or softer) the more gentle you need to be with it for longevity.

For all grain brewing, you sure need a bigger pot, a hop scale, a grain scale and heck...throw a barley/grain mill/crusher in the mix.

You can get 50 pound sacks of unmilled base malts for 30-40 bucks..crush it yourself and you have some fresh brew.

yup yup, AG is on average 10-15 dollars cheaper per batch than a similar extract recipe...

MStudinski said:

Striplate is a good idea but I may just buy the parts and build it myself.

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science surplus

Picked everything for a stirplate for under $10.00+ shipping.

I would add the malt mill/barley crusher to my list. Best money I spent recently.
Or a new/better burner.
Or storage gear. I am constantly needing another container for grain or equipment.

Let me ask you guys this:

I am a brewer and I learned from my girlfriend's father. He has been all-grain for some time and pretty much has all the gadgets you can think of (and then usually multiples of them) I wanted to get him something "beer" or "brewery/winery" related but not a gift certificate to the LHBS or beer glasses.

What can I get him? I made him a t-shirt for his brewery last year - he thought it was the greatest thing ever - I need to match or top that.

I'm not sure how those carboys have been working out for you, but I would also consider a 6 or 6.5 gallon carboy or better bottle to do your primary fermentation in. The 5 gallon ones leave you no room for the fermentation when the krausen comes up. If you are doing 5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon carboy you are gonna get a lot of blowoffs, which means a lot of lost beer. The bigger carboys may still blow off on an active fermentation, but give you some breathing room, and less lost beer.

kunstler said:

Let me ask you guys this:

I am a brewer and I learned from my girlfriend's father. He has been all-grain for some time and pretty much has all the gadgets you can think of (and then usually multiples of them) I wanted to get him something "beer" or "brewery/winery" related but not a gift certificate to the LHBS or beer glasses.

What can I get him? I made him a t-shirt for his brewery last year - he thought it was the greatest thing ever - I need to match or top that.

Click to expand...

Please start your own thread.

Zen_Brew said:

I'm not sure how those carboys have been working out for you, but I would also consider a 6 or 6.5 gallon carboy or better bottle to do your primary fermentation in. The 5 gallon ones leave you no room for the fermentation when the krausen comes up. If you are doing 5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon carboy you are gonna get a lot of blowoffs, which means a lot of lost beer. The bigger carboys may still blow off on an active fermentation, but give you some breathing room, and less lost beer.

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Hindsight is always 20/20... The 5 gallon glass so far have only been useful for apfelwein.. I loved watching it ferment.. I use the bucket now and am cool with it.

MStudinski said:

Hindsight is always 20/20... The 5 gallon glass so far have only been useful for apfelwein.. I loved watching it ferment.. I use the bucket now and am cool with it.

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I saw you had the bucket. Just sayin...christmas and all, adding an additional primary fermentor helps you get the pipeline full quicker and have a greater variety of beer available with the ability to go with 2 batches in primary simultaneously.

I have (2) 6 gallon better bottles, and (3) 5 gallon secondary fermentors. I know many don't use secondaries, but it is how I initially set up my purchases, and it allows me to move out of my primaries at about day 7-10, and move those into secondary, which frees the primary up for another batch.