What treasures have you thrown away prior to reading this subforum?

Items thrown away, given away, passed on that are in retrospect useful for DIY homebrew projects. I could name many things but the one that really breaks my heart is this:

I am a contractor for the EPA. Recent project in Syracuse entailed cleaning out an abandoned facility which manufactured aperature masks for RGB TV screens using a photochemical etching process. They had a stock room with literally asile upon aisle of stainless steel food grade piping, fittings, valves, pumps, kettles, etc. There were also aisles of copper, titanium, brass, PVC, electrical equipment, temperature controllers, heating/refrigeration equipment. There were workshops full of angle iron and tubular steel. Labratory areas full of stir plates, erlemeyer flasks, etc. Water treatment equipment. Electrical enclosures with peltier cooling/heating. CO2 tanks of every size (up to 200 lbs), regulators galore, refrigerators, burners. A cafeteria area replete with Corny kegs. The list goes on.

Wish I had discovered homebrewing before that project. Granted, the EPA techincally owned all of the contents of the facility. We scrapped or sold pretty much anything we could as part of a cost recovery effort for the EPA, but I could have, had I known, gotten plenty of freebies or items at scrap prices

Could have built multiple HERMS/RIMS systems with the items there. There were even welding machines. Not to mention full kegging setups, items for fermentation temp control, the list goes on. Looking at the pictures in this forum breaks my heart as I have seen all of those materials before....there for my taking, if only I had known.

Just felt like venting. And to serve as a reminder to myself to read this forum often and be vigilant on future projects for such items

About a month before I started homebrewing, I saw a keg tower sticking out at the local dump. It had a few taps with the handles and everything.

Never even gave it a thought. Boy, I still kick myself over that one.

when i was just getting out of high school my dad and i where at a auction at an old dairy kinda like the OP.. rows of stainless everthing tri clovers galore and at least 30 10 gallon cornies if i remember the cornies went as a lot for 50 bucks my dad picked one up after the auction for ten bucks and it sat for a long time in the shop and the tri clovers went for a song as well. the real kicker is that i went home about a month ago to visit and i saw the corny cut in half used for a pig feeder

An old roommate of mine offered me a free kegerator. Granted, I was getting ready to move cross country, and didn't have room in the truck, but... I should have left my wife behind and let the fridge ride with me!!