Help with next purchase

My birthday was yesterday, and I have some money to spend on brewing. I have a 5g MLT, 5g HLT, 30 qt kettle with ball valve, corona and counterflow chiller.

Some of that money is going towards a fermentation fridge/controller, and another portion towards a 3 tier stand build, but I'm not sure how to spend the rest.

I can brew perfectly good batches with my current setup, but I'm trying to improve my process.

Please vote in the above poll. Thanks!

Kegs?

wilserbrewer said:

Kegs?

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I might be one of a handful of people who prefer bottles

PUMP.

nothing makes a brew day smooth out like a pump. When you remove the need to constantly be lifting full kettles, pouring large amounts of liquid... it is 10x as pleasurable.

The next logical step is a mill. One more step in total control of your process.
Although water chemistry is very important, how much do you have to spend?
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wildwest450 said:

The next logical step is a mill. One more step in total control of your process.

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In the three tier I am planning to build, the cooler HLT will be roughly 6 feet above the floor. Without a pump, i'd have to remove it, fill it up with sparge water, then hoist it up to the top. I'd also use the pump to recirc hot work through the cfc to sanitize, as well as to circulate PBW/sanitizer through the system after brewing.


i already have a corona mill, but am only somewhat satisfied with the quality of the crush. I'm getting 65% efficiency, which isn't the greatest, but it's consistent.

I'm limiting myself to $175 at the moment, but I will end up with everything on the list eventually, the order is what I'm trying to determine.

So far, it's between the pump (and using the money left over for ingredients for my next batch) and the mill (using leftover money for ingredients).

Seems like the Ph meter and refractometer can wait.

o4_srt said:

Seems like the Ph meter can wait.

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If you know your water, and know you're in the proper ph range, that's fine. If not, your beer can suffer. If I had it to do over, I would have bought a ph meter before my first ag brew. I still don't have a refractometer, i'm good with a hydrometer for now.

_

I'm limiting myself to $175 at the moment

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Bump that 5-10 bucks and you can probably get a pump and a refractometer. I would get a simple ph test kit to check your water before bothering with a pH meter. Good ones can be expensive. If your water is close enough, a pH meter would be a luxury item for down the road.

A pump will benefit you now with your CFC and even more once you get your stand going. You might want to consider a 2-tier though. A pump and 3 tiers just seems needlessly tall.

Depends on where you are getting your grains crushed now and if you will be brewing while working on the new set up. I got pumps & crusher at the same time, but my LHBS is more than willing to crush the grains to any spec I give them so I got it more as a convenience. So if your crush is good I'd wait on that on go with a pump first.

Still have not bought the PH Meter as I can't make a decision on what to buy. And personally I don't bother with the refractometer very much, still like my hydro better.

I did just pick up a pH 600 meter the other day. 30 bucks. I haven't tried it in the brewery but will try to this weekend.

What am I using it for again?

What do you do to adjust the pH?

BendBrewer said:

Bump that 5-10 bucks and you can probably get a pump and a refractometer. I would get a simple ph test kit to check your water before bothering with a pH meter. Good ones can be expensive. If your water is close enough, a pH meter would be a luxury item for down the road.

A pump will benefit you now with your CFC and even more once you get your stand going. You might want to consider a 2-tier though. A pump and 3 tiers just seems needlessly tall.

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I'm going 3 tier so I can gravity feed most of it. I'm also building a few shelves into it to hold brew related supplies during brew day.

The rig is in my garage/man cave, not really concerned about height, especially with a pump and external thermometer on the hlt.

I can't say I'm happy with the crush my mill is giving me, but like I said, I'm getting consistent results, and to me, that is more important.

I've been using ph test strips and 5.2 mash stabilizer, and have been within 1 point on my calculated preboil OG,

I'm going 3 tier so I can gravity feed most of it.

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Then why buy a pump? Just to load your HLT?

A 2-tier will still allow you to gravity feed out of MLT while pumping out of HLT. If you are going to get a pump you might as well plan on using it.

BendBrewer said:

Then why buy a pump? Just to load your HLT?

A 2-tier will still allow you to gravity feed out of MLT while pumping out of HLT. If you are going to get a pump you might as well plan on using it.

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To load hlt, recirculate wort, and recirculate cleanser through the system.

I realize a 3 tier isn't necessary, but like I said, I want the extra space under that third tier. And the footprint would be the same for both a 3 and 2 tier setup, so a third tier would maximize space

Makes sense. Have fun building it. I found that to be the best part. I needed to be able to tuck my brewery away. Can't take up the whole carport. Wife has to park somewhere.

BendBrewer said:

Makes sense. Have fun building it. I found that to be the best part. I needed to be able to tuck my brewery away. Can't take up the whole carport. Wife has to park somewhere.

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My detached garage is technically a 2 car, but in reality its a car and a half. Wife parks on the street cuz it's closer to the house, and I usually park in front of the garage. So half the garage is storage, the other half is man cave.

Yeah, I lost me Man Cave to the 'Jungle.'



Keeping Oregon Green!

I'd say kegs as well if you hadn't already nixed it. I still bottle as well but don't want to for beers at home.

Get the new high volume March pump and an ebay refractometer.

I have everything on your list but a PH meter. I really find a pump handy but I do 10 gallon batches. For smaller batches I might consider the barley crusher a first choice right behind a refractometer.

A ten gallon setup?????

Bernie Brewer said:

A ten gallon setup?????

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Don't have time to drink that much beer, and it would limit my brew days

o4_srt said:

Don't have time to drink that much beer, and it would limit my brew days

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Start earlier!

BendBrewer said:

Start earlier!

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Lol wish I could. I work 40 hours a week and am a full time student. Weekends are usually spent doing homework or spending time with the swmbo. Swmbo works every other Saturday morning, so that's usually when I brew. 10 gallon batches, even twice a month, would last me years. I do 3 gallons at the moment, might drop it down to 2 if I get too big of a stockpile.

Update: picking up a march pump from the LHBS tomorrow morning, then heading to lowes for lumber for my 3 tier stand.



I'm going to get my grain pre-crushed for the next brew and see how much of a difference in efficiency it makes. If there is no difference, barley crusher will be on hold until either christmas or my next birthday. I'm expecting (and hoping, I, like any red blooded american man, that there is a difference, so I have a reason to buy a new mill) that the pre-crushed will up my efficiency, as it's at 65% now. But that could also be due to sparging at lower than 170ish.