Help Spending a Little Money

I recently sold a business I owned, and will soon have a little bit of money coming my way. Part is going to the house and part will be set aside for savings. I have been given permission to spend $5,000 to $6,000 on brewing equipment. That's where I'm hoping for some help.

I'm currently doing partial boils on the kitchen stove. We're moving in a few months, and I should have the space to finally go all grain. With that said, I'm trying to see what I'll "need" (using the term very loosely to get my dream set up started.


If you had a little cash to spend, what would you buy?

I've been lusting after a B3-1550, especially after a trip to the store in Concord a few weeks ago. I think that's going to be the main part of my purchase. With shipping and the bells and whistles I'm looking for, it's going to run just under $4,000.

Likely purchases:

1. B3-1550 (http://morebeer.com/search/102323)
2. 2-3 propane cylinders for the 1550.
3. Grain mill, probably a Crankandstein

• So I can start buying grain in bulk and "save money"

4. A larger chest freezer

• I have a freezer now that can hold up to 10 gallons in two buckets/carboys but I'd like to have a separate one as well so that I can have 20 or more gallons "in process" and so that I can have two temperatures (i.e. lagers and ales)

5. Temperature controller for the new freezer
6. Miscellaneous buckets, better bottles, grain storage, etc.

If there's some extra cash...

1. FoodSaver vaccum sealer to help make those bulk hop purchases last

Is there anything different you would buy? Am I missing anything major?

It depends on if you're a DIY guy or not. You can certainly go the pre-fab sculpture route from B3 if you have the cash, or you could piece it together yourself for under half of the $4k cost that you quoted in your OP.

There are plenty of posts here to reference in doing most of the work yourself.

I'll help you spend some $$. What was your debit card number again?

I know there's plenty of B3 customers that are more than happy. I guess if you have more $$ than time, that's the way to go. I enjoy doing stuff myself, so I would never buy a pre-fab unit like that. Building your equipment is part of the fun of this hobby for me. Remember, you can still spend a lot of cash doing it yourself if you do it right. I'm quite envious of your current predicament.

Oh, do you already keg your beer? If not, you definately need to add that to your list!

Do you keg? I could spend a lot of money in that department (more kegs, faucets, a bar, etc.).

EDIT: slow typer I guess:cross:

You're not "druck" are you? I type slow when I'm druck.

If I had that much coin to spend..... hmmm....

Personally, I wouldn't buy a pre-fab system. I'd invest some $$ in building a nice system, maybe even paying someone to weld one up, but I'd rather spend the bulk of my money on other stuff. I could get a real nice system built for well under a grand. But, I like building stuff myself as best I can (which isn't always all that well!)

With that coin, I'd be able to build a real nice cold room like John Beere's and still have LOTS left over to trick out a nice bar setup. I could make that much money stretch a REAL long ways. I might splurge on a conical, too.

I'm with the do-it-yourself crowd. Spend the money on tools to build it. Buy yourself a welder, set of torches, metal lathe, etc and when it's all done it will be as good or better than the pre-fab unit and you'll have all the cool tools to keep forever.

Agreed with above; DIY stand (, or hire a local guy, <$2000), a couple conicals (<$1000), lotsa kegs + gear ($400?), cold room (~$600), and you're at $4000. That'll easily put you at the 99 percentile on the gear scale .

First, Thanks everyone for all the quick replies. I appreciate the input.

I am kegging my beer now. I've got a two tap kegerator that's doing a great job of waging war with my liver. It could be expanded to add more taps, but I'm not sure the route I'd want to go with it yet, so it might wait. I'm definitely going to pick up a few more kegs though, especially with the move from 5 to 10 gallon batches

If I was more of the technical type, I'd definitely buy a welding rig and do it myself. The main reason I'm looking at a prefab unit is that I am severely lacking in that area. I could certainly learn, but that would postpone the fun by quite a bit I would think. It's definitely something to consider through. Building something like the Brutus 10 (http://www.alenuts.com/brutus.htm) would definitely be cool.

I've also thought about the conical fermentors, but I'm not sure it's worth the money to me right now. I still like a plastic ale pail for fermenting. They're easy to clean, and cheap to replace when they get gross. I'm also hoping to work up a good counterflow chiller with a pump to recirculate the wort (ala Jamil) and ice water if conditions require it). If I can do that, I can leave most of the cold break in the pot. That would eliminate one of the major benefits of a conical for me.

Thanks again.

I've lusted after the Brew Magic setup. Unfortunately, the next chunk of money goes to a sub-compact tractor.

Anyone know the cost of Brutus Ten vs. Brew Magic setup?

cdburg said:

Am I missing anything major?

Click to expand...

You didn't mention a stainless steel conical fermenter.

I'm with david 42 on this one if I had some money to blow I think I'd get the Brew-Magic from Sabco. But the system you're looking at seems like a nice set up too.

For those who suggested the Brew-Magic, are there any particular reasons for it versus the B3 1550 or any other B3 product?

Obviously they're both great systems (and both expensive). I'm speculating here, but you may get a little better personalized service with B3. I've poked around their forums and the owners of their system only have good stuff to say about the service they got. I thought I saw something a while back where Sabco wasn't going to continue selling the Brew Magic. Not so?

Any view on the B3-1200?

if you have the space go with a brewtree.com system. i believe those are much cheaper and would leave you more money to spend other items like a conical.

edit: i guess they would only really be cheaper if get some of the parts elsewhere, but their base stands are much cheaper.

http://www.brewtree.com/catalog/item/1172775/668339.htm

Stainless steel fermentors.

Lil' Sparky said:

Obviously they're both great systems (and both expensive). I'm speculating here, but you may get a little better personalized service with B3. I've poked around their forums and the owners of their system only have good stuff to say about the service they got. I thought I saw something a while back where Sabco wasn't going to continue selling the Brew Magic. Not so?

Click to expand...

I thought I saw that too....at least go for a B3 system if you MUST have a prefab system. They're half the price of a SabCo and better designed, IMHO.

Me, I'd get the same 'basic' type of setup most of us have, modified cooler, cut keggle (or a nice pot since you got the dough), etc etc... Then i'd get a grain mill, nice chiller, and most of all a KEGGING SYSTEM! After all of that i would spend the left overs on Grains, Supplies, Hops, Yeast, Fermenters, etc etc....

Thanks everyone for your help! It's always helpful to get some different perspectives. Right now, I'm thinking of doing the following:

• I'm definitely still leaning toward the B3 sculpture. It's expensive, and totally unnecessary to make good beer, but this is also probably the only chance I'll have to buy something like it for a few years. My dream, like many others, is to open a brew pub one day. This could also be a pilot set up for a larger system, so I don't feel too bas about spending the money.
• A conical is an interesting idea, but I think I'd rather stay with the brew buckets I'm using now. They're easier to clean, and replaceable when they get too crusty.
• A grain mill is definitely going to be purchased - either a Crankandstein or a Barley Crusher.
• I've already got the kegging system going, but I'll definitely be adding a few kegs to it.
• Another chest freezer and controller will probably be in line after the B3 sculpture arrives.

Thanks again everyone for your help!