How much did you spend on gear before you made a "great" brew?

I've only got a few batches under my belt, so I'm still a total n00b, so I assume that where I am now is not very indicative of where I can be once I've gained more experience. That said...

It seems like a lot of people have had one or more acquisitions to their equipment that have really improved their beer. Whether it was the 10 gal kettle, IC, grain mill, or whatever, everyone seems to be convinced that they are definitely making better beer with said equipment than they were or even could make before. From the beginner's perspective, this is pretty daunting. I'm glad it's a life-long hobby, so there will always be something new to look forward to, but I, and surely many others, am anxious to make the best thing I can right now!

So... about how much did you invest in your hobby before you made that first truly great beer? It would probably also be encouraging to us beginners if you included how many years it took to reach that point as well -- you know, to keep us grounded.

Going from coopers kits to BIAB (3 gallon), after about 2 years:
$17 pot
about $7 for a curtain, stitched together with fishing line (do I have to count that as a cost?)
$0 for 50' of 1/4" copper for a IC

So $24
Edit: So I forgot to include my basic kit - $100
So $124 all up

I don't know about others, but my very first batch was awesome. It was a brewers best extract IPA. I only purchased a beginners equipment kit from my lhbs, the beer kit and did a diy IC. Total of about $200. I'm doing all grain now, mainly because I love the process, and yes to do it you have to spend a bit more money, but my extract batches tasted great. Stick to the basics like sanitation, fermentation temps, and sanitation and you should have great beer as well.

Technically I made EdWorts Apfelwein before I made my first beer. It was $6 for the plastic carboy and the ingredients were a gift to me for my birthday, I think less than $20 total.

The equipment kit my swmbo got me for a gift was $55 off craigslist which had everything except a pot (I already had one). It came with an extract kit "American Ale" and came out fantastically.

great compared to what I was drinking before? First brew, great compared what I expect other homebrewers make? Unknown since I'm only 5 brews in due to cash flow problems.

Basic equipment is all you need to make good beer.

"A poor workman blames his tools."

Now, when doing all-grain you want decent equipment, but you don't need anything specialty.

I would say about $75-$100 for equipment (cheaper if you buy used), after that it is just buying kits or ingredients. Making good beer is not the equipment but the process. Good sanitation? No burning/caramelizing of sugars? Fermentation temperatures in check? Aging/conditioning the right amount of time? Then you have good beer.

I hope this reinforces for you that you can make great beer without having to pay a ton on equipment. Learn how to brew good beer, take time and pay attention to your procedure. There you go.

First great beer was when I went to full boil outdoors from partial boil indoors. So with the larger pot, burner, associated equip + all the other stuff I'd acquired for general brewing purposes, I'd guess I was in for about $300 by that time. Could have done it for less though if I'd have started with that plan out of the gate.

Spend the money on the equipment to make starters, aerate your wort really well and do your best to control fermentation temps. Most of that doesn't cost more than brainwork and time.

Tall_Yotie said:

"A poor workman blames his tools."

...

Learn how to brew good beer, take time and pay attention to your procedure. There you go.

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Good advice. I didn't mean to suggest that I'm dissatisfied with my brewing thus far. I'm still getting the method down, and what I've done has been pretty enjoyable.

I do find it pretty discouraging, however, when I think I'll need to acquire an entire fridge just to make a decent lager though. It's little things like that. They really seem to add up. I definitely envy a lot of you for being able to rig up just about anything you need yourselves.

BarberSurgeon said:

Good advice. I didn't mean to suggest that I'm dissatisfied with my brewing thus far. I'm still getting the method down, and what I've done has been pretty enjoyable.

I do find it pretty discouraging, however, when I think I'll need to acquire an entire fridge just to make a decent lager though. It's little things like that. They really seem to add up. I definitely envy a lot of you for being able to rig up just about anything you need yourselves.

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Ah, and my mistake, that was not a saying aimed at you, but just a general statement for those curious if they need fancy equipment to make good beer.

And yes, Lagers are the ones that need a fridge, and is thus why I will never be making that style in the foreseeable future (also, not much of a lager person). If you want the lager taste without the refrigeration try a Kolsch. Tastes very much like a lager but is an ale.

BarberSurgeon said:

I do find it pretty discouraging, however, when I think I'll need to acquire an entire fridge just to make a decent lager though. It's little things like that. They really seem to add up. I definitely envy a lot of you for being able to rig up just about anything you need yourselves.

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Do you have a college nearby? I have a couple within a few miles of myself and see fridges on craigslist pretty often. Start/end of school year you can get them dirt cheap or probably dive for them easily. I found 4 last year I turned around for $50 a pop because they all worked. People just left them on the street after college let out.

The other day I missed out on a $50 ready whip cooler that you see in the gas station. I slacked and forgot to call the guy back. But I bet if you check often enough you could find something soon for a good deal. Hopefully that gives you some hope.

Like you, the fridge thing was the one kick in the jimmy I hadn't forseen. It's not that big of a deal though, you can absolutely forego the fridge and make "lageresque" beers. And as mentioned, the dorm fridge option is always on the table no matter how much space you have. I'm actually in the process of buying a full size fridge for the basement for bottle and primary storage both but I didn't have one right away and I'm sure some people never end up getting one and they still make great beer and have fun while they're at it.

drathbone said:

Do you have a college nearby? I have a couple within a few miles of myself and see fridges on craigslist pretty often. Start/end of school year you can get them dirt cheap or probably dive for them easily. I found 4 last year I turned around for $50 a pop because they all worked. People just left them on the street after college let out.

The other day I missed out on a $50 ready whip cooler that you see in the gas station. I slacked and forgot to call the guy back. But I bet if you check often enough you could find something soon for a good deal. Hopefully that gives you some hope.

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That is brilliant! I don't have anything near me at the moment, but since I plan on attending grad school soon, this is definitely a possibility!

There is likely a strong correlation between the amount a person spends on equipment and the quality of their beer.

But any such relationship would be largely due to the fact that as brewers become more experienced, they tend to buy more equipment (not true of every brewer, but true in general), rather than more equipment causing brewers to produce better beer.

Having said that, the luxury of some specialty items can help the quality of beer. Strictly speaking, you can get away without chilling beer but many would argue an immersion chiller will reduce haze and result in "better" beer. A stir plate may produce better starters and lead to better beer. A fermentation chamber with dedicated temperature control may lead to better beer. Etc. Etc. Etc.

So in general I would second what others have said, i.e. you don't need to spend that much on equipment to make a "great" brew. But equipment, (along with patience and experience) can help improve your brews. There are brewers out there with $5K setups who probably will never make a "great" brew, and there are brewers out there with $200 setups who probably win medal after medal in competition.

My very first beer was all grain and turned out very well. I didn't spend much of anything on it, the cooler I had, the keg I had, it was just a matter of doing a little work getting everything ready.
I have never spent too much on equipment, I'm not one that gets too hung up on appearances, but the beer is tasty.
Much of the equipment shown in the DIY part of the forum is because people like to tinker and improve their systems, its by no means necessary.

So the biggest increase in my brewing came from going to all grain. I had collected a lot of stuff before then though and I had some good money then and bought:

42qt stainless steel pot (this lasts for ever and a 10g pot means I can boil 8g of liquid, very helpful)
immersion chiller (also lasts forever and means I can bring down the temp of 5.5g of boiling liquid to below 80 quickly)
Mash tun (converted water 10 cooler with conversion kit)

The biggest boom that I saw was very recently, I got a very nice roller mill, condition my grain, and crush it very fine and now extract a crazy amount of sugar from the grain.

All of that equipment was about 500 with about 200 for the pot alone and about 150 for the mill. I got a great kit for about 200$ initial so basically about 700$. You can find aluminum pots on sale for about 50 or 60$, you don't need a grain mill, and you really have no use for a mash tun unless you are doing all grain. I have heard of setups for less then 300$. Think about getting into a completely new hobby, even running you have to get good shoes, a shirt, water bottle, shorts, etc. 300$ is fairly light for a totally new hobby IMO.

I also think that the 4 buckets, 3 carboys 5g, a 1 6.5g carboy were also expensive. The thing with equipment is you don't really go out and say, I am going to have 25g of beer going right now. With me it just sort of happened. It's a trickle, eventually you want to start crushing your own grain and you get a grain mill. You hate bottling with bleach and get some star-san, you hate bottling and get kegs. You want more temp control and you get a fridge.

Things that will make your beer better guaranteed is to make a starter (get a 64oz growler and make the starter 3 days before you brew), if doing extract do a full boil, switch to all grain, and eventually learn about water salts and ph in the brew.

Basically, you will spend money to get equipment, and the more you spend, the better the quality. Alternatively you make your own stuff. There are things to get a certain stages in your brewing, if you are very happy with partial mash and don't bother with all grain, so be it. That also means you don't need a mash tun, ph meter, etc. This hobby is very much about how munch you want to put into it. You can go crazy with this and make great beer, and go less crazy with this and make very good beer.

Also books, READ BOOKS, there are dozens out there. I would read (in this order) the joy of home brewing, how to brew, designing great beers, stop and brew for a while (not a book), and then getting into books like brewing better beer, radical brewing, etc. Most importantly, have fun. If you are looking to just make drinkable beers right now, continue down that path, eventually you might want to explore a bit more and there are lots of resources which will teach you.

BarberSurgeon said:

Good advice. I didn't mean to suggest that I'm dissatisfied with my brewing thus far. I'm still getting the method down, and what I've done has been pretty enjoyable.

I do find it pretty discouraging, however, when I think I'll need to acquire an entire fridge just to make a decent lager though. It's little things like that. They really seem to add up. I definitely envy a lot of you for being able to rig up just about anything you need yourselves.

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My wife and I have been homebrewers for almost 10 years now. We didn't make a lager until this year. We don't have a basement. We have a crawl space that stays 65-68 degrees year round, so we've made strictly ales up to this point. After 10 years I finally got a chest freezer and use it for lagering and carbing up kegs. It comes with time.

My 1st brew was a kit... I screwed with the recipe and did it my way, and it was lousy. Decided to learn and go all grain. Went to Amazon bought 3 pots 12 Qt, 15 Qt 20 Qt on sale for $25.00 had the pluming parts in my basement workshop. Bought a fermenter and grains and yeast and made a great beer on batch 2. Including fermenter bottler caper and caps less than $100.00 to make 3 gallons of great beer.
Pics of my setup (3 gallon for now in the kitchen on the stove).
The manifold in pieces

The Mash Tun

In action

You can make a great beer with a bucket and some siphon tubing. The equipment really has nothing to do with the taste of the beer.

I made good beers right from the start, but they got much better when I did two things:

1. Temperature control! Just keeping the fermenting beer under 70 degrees made such a huge difference. That came naturally, as I live in a cool climate and it was easier to make great beer in the fall than it was in the summer.

2. Yeast. Good quality yeast (liquid or dry) with the appropriate amount added to the fermenter. Stressed yeast creates most of the "homebrew" flavors I've had that I haven't liked.

The other thing that I did right from the start was buy quality ingredients. I didn't really know at the time what was a "good kit" and what was a "bad kit" so I had lucked out on that one. I would say to always buy a good quality ingredient kit from one of the big online stores (austinhomebrew.com, northernbrewer.com, midwestsupplies.com, etc) because they are superfresh because of fast turnover.

With a good quality kit, fermentation temperature control, and good quality yeast, I can make excellent beer in a bucket. If I can do it, anybody can!

Now, don't get me wrong- I have over $2000 invested in my cool HERMS. But it doesn't make the beer better, it just makes my brewing more fun and convenient!

Big money makes big batches... if you want to do 10 gal. batches, it's gonna cost you. There's a reason Mr. Beer is only 2 gallons...

An electric set-up is going to cost you in equipment, but it costs less per batch to brew. There's a reason that so many intermediate-level homebrewers use turkey-fryers (cheap initial expense compared to electric brewing), and why the people who've been doing this for years drool over each other's HERMS/RIMS setups. The gear makes it easier for them to make better beer, and programmed settings make repeatability and consistency easier, but you don't absolutely *need* those systems to make good beer.

The two biggest factors in good quality homebrew are sanitation and mid-60's fermentation temperatures in that first week. The best investment starting out is a good no-rinse cleanser like Star-san, and using it liberally. The second best way to improve your beer is a bucket big enough to put your bucket in, then put frozen water bottles in the water bath to keep the temp down during fermentation. A big bucket costs less than $15 if you shop around, and it will make most beers (wheats and saisons being the notable exceptions) immensely better.

After those two, the next tip to make most ales better is LOTS OF TIME UNDER REFRIGERATION. Once the bottles carb up, store them cold for as long as possible. Time heals most homebrew wounds, and cold-storage-time heals them better. If you already have a fridge to hold your homebrew, great, but if you don't have one it is an excellent investment, and might even (at a later date) be suitable for conversion to a kegerator!

(The exception to long storage at cool temps is any ale featuring hop aroma -- drink those quickly, but store them cold until you do drink them.)

Q:

BarberSurgeon said:

How much did you spend on gear before you made a "great" brew?

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A: $250.
$100 for a basic brewing kit (fermenters, racking cane etc), $60 for a Bayou Aluminum Turkey Fryer set 30qt, $50 for an Immersion Chiller, $40 for a cooler MLT.

Before going All Grain I was brewing semi-good beers with extracts, but it wasn't till I went AG I started making really GREAT beers.

While all grain may give you more control over the hot side, I think that great beers are made on the cold side: proper fermentation temps and yeast pitching. Work on getting the cold side down first.

I kind of don't want to answer this question, seeing as I don't like thinking about how much I've spent so far, but here goes:

Starter kit: $90
8 gal SS kettle: $100
SS stirring spoon: $8
Wine thief: $8
Thermometer: $6
Star San: $18
2000mL flask: $22
MLT: $80
Barley Crusher: $130
Extra fermenter: $15
Bayou Classic SP10: $50

So about $525, give or take.

And I have made one batch so far that I can actually say is really good. I do have another conditioning and 3 others ready to bottle, so hopefully that number bumps up to 5 in a few weeks.

I've spent a fair amount on equipment, and I will likely spend a faiir amount more in the future. But, all of my spends on equipment were purely for making this hobby easier or more enjoyable. The majority of my quality improvements have come from improvements in my processes or ingredients. I could make a great beer now from the first starter kit I bought for about $75 simply because I know more about the process and what to look for when purchasing ingredients.

Justibone said:

Big money makes big batches... if you want to do 10 gal. batches, it's gonna cost you. There's a reason Mr. Beer is only 2 gallons...

An electric set-up is going to cost you in equipment, but it costs less per batch to brew. There's a reason that so many intermediate-level homebrewers use turkey-fryers (cheap initial expense compared to electric brewing), and why the people who've been doing this for years drool over each other's HERMS/RIMS setups. The gear makes it easier for them to make better beer, and programmed settings make repeatability and consistency easier, but you don't absolutely *need* those systems to make good beer.

The two biggest factors in good quality homebrew are sanitation and mid-60's fermentation temperatures in that first week. The best investment starting out is a good no-rinse cleanser like Star-san, and using it liberally. The second best way to improve your beer is a bucket big enough to put your bucket in, then put frozen water bottles in the water bath to keep the temp down during fermentation. A big bucket costs less than $15 if you shop around, and it will make most beers (wheats and saisons being the notable exceptions) immensely better.

After those two, the next tip to make most ales better is LOTS OF TIME UNDER REFRIGERATION. Once the bottles carb up, store them cold for as long as possible. Time heals most homebrew wounds, and cold-storage-time heals them better. If you already have a fridge to hold your homebrew, great, but if you don't have one it is an excellent investment, and might even (at a later date) be suitable for conversion to a kegerator!

(The exception to long storage at cool temps is any ale featuring hop aroma -- drink those quickly, but store them cold until you do drink them.)

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The cold storage is an interesting point. I have several batches that are carbed up, and I have been storing them at mid to high 70s in the basement. I thought that they would condition better at those temps, but with the summer heat coming in now, am I better off refrigerating them? They have been bottled for about two months, and are average gravity. Will they continue to condition under refrigeration?

BarberSurgeon said:

So... about how much did you invest in your hobby before you made that first truly great beer? It would probably also be encouraging to us beginners if you included how many years it took to reach that point as well -- you know, to keep us grounded.

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$64 - for a Midwest Supplies Starter Kit + Recipe Kit Groupon last December. So have been brewing for 7 months.

And I would say about 7 out of 9 batches were great. Award winning great? Not sure, but everyone who has tried them raves about them. And I love every bottle. Tastes good, man!

If I were to spend any extra money to improve my homebrew it would be on

1. Wort chiller to get it down quicker than an ice bath

2. some sort of fermentation temperature control. Right now, getting by on a swamp cooler and sometimes I am brewing beers with yeast that don't mind fermenting in the mid to upper seventies. I think a temp controlled freezer or fridge for controlling ferm temps would be the best investment. Keeping the swamp cooler at 60 in mid summer is pretty hard.

Yooper said:

Now, don't get me wrong- I have over $2000 invested in my cool HERMS. But it doesn't make the beer better, it just makes my brewing more fun and convenient!

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Great, now you have me thinking about a HERMS.

I'm starting to think I will need to drop some serious cash on aeration, temperature control for fermentation, or at least an immersion chiller before I approach a great batch

I'll also throw in that you can make great beer with even the most basic equipment if you're following sound practices. But if I had to pick something I guess I would pick the temperature control system we have for fermentation. A proper fermentation is so important to producing the best beer possible.

unionrdr said:

I def need a temp control system,this heat is murdering my brewing schedule. They have heating/cooling temp controlled blanket things for conicals. But why not for pales/cylinder shapes? They'd make a ton of money making them to fit more shapes of FV's. Not to mention,it would fit in the brew spaces we have already.

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I agree. It's in the 90's this week in NY. Time to brew saisons I guess.

Just to agree with everyone else...

I spent $150-200 for my initial set-up and made great beer after a few lousy batches with no further expense. But the first great batch also came during the winter and cooler temps.

Since then, investing in a Johnson controller ($80) and a small frig ($50, used) enables me to get great beer almost every time all year long.

Farm house ales do not. Make a 5% farm house ale. Beautiful beer.

While all grain may give you more control over the hot side, I think that great beers are made on the cold side: proper fermentation temps and yeast pitching. Work on getting the cold side down first.

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I don't typically do this, but I can not disagree more. "Yeast make beer, humans make wort." It's a quote from Brewing better beer. Yeast temps do matter, having a lager ferment at 80 will give you a really terrible beer, however everything that is used by the yeast will be provided in the mash. The mash is what truly defines what your beer will be. As long as you keep your temps down, the yeast should have little to no impact on the beer itself, at least in an undetermined way. It takes the ability to make the input to the yeast to get a great and consistent output.

If you make a really terrible mash and use a great yeast strain, you will get a really bad beer. If you use a really bad yeast strain, you will generally get something drinkable if the mash was great. Both are very important, but I truly do believe that the wort is the biggest way people can improve in the short term. After that temp control of yeast strains, but that requires quite a lot of equipment, mostly refrigerators. Basically, you have very little control over what the yeast will do given the mash and a constant temp. You are totally free to act on what the mash will be.

Eventually when I buy a house, I will actually have a series of fridges that I can very accurately set the temps to and worry about yeast, until then, I will have to do the best I can and make the best wort possible.

I think both wort and yeast are important and both are necessary for great beer.

The yeast component is determined by many things including yeast strain, temperature of fermentation, oxygenation and yeast stress (including pitching rate). You can (and I have) made suboptimal beer as a result of yeast conditions beyond temperature control. You do have more leeway with yeast health if you use dry yeast but you still need to be conscious of several yeast fermentation conditions.

Check out the book "Yeast" if you are interested.

I could easily spend $200,000 on a bigger house with more space! And a bigger kitchen...
All that aside after the initial purchase its not so bad. I think a propane burner is invaluable and am building a fermentation chamber this week (I live in Florida and need it).
Just want (need) a few more fermenters.
OP: I figured that it costs about $1.10-ish/beer doing extract & about $1.02-ish/beer doing BIAB (from my LHBS). It works out pretty nice looking at it that way.

Temp control is more or less important based on your house. I ferment in a basement bathroom. Summers down there are mid-60s (though in August maybe up to high 60s, requiring some sort of swamp cooler - I'll see soon). Winters hold steady around 52, so I'd like to try a Lager then (otherwise I use a brew belt for the 10-15 degree jump).

I can't say I've made "great" beers yet, but all have been very good using basic equipment so far (all carried-over from wine, with a few extra beer necessities). Recently I've made my biggest "purchase" of a 9 gallon SS pot, outdoor burner, and ugly DIY wort chiller. I only really paid for the chiller parts - the rest were all birthday presents (in the form of gift cards aimed at specific types of items for me to pick out).

I haven't tallied it all up, but I think I'm under $300 (out of pocket) in equipment. Maybe $5-600 total. Even the wine stuff was cheap -- spent about $100 (got 2 free carboys from my father who attempted wine once and decided it wasn't for him).