About to take the All-Grain plunge...help me decide how!

[rudy0498]

So the unthinkable happened the other day. SWMBO told me she felt guilty about the $500 she was spending to go to NYC this summer with her mom, and told me I should spend $500 on something that I want. I briefly considered Golf Trip vs. All-Grain setup...It didn't take me long to decide. So I have $500 to get My All-Grain setup off the ground. I didn't think this was going to happen for a couple more years, and I'm not really prepared. But I've got to act before she changes her mind so I've been researching feverishly over the last 24 hours. My current setup is just a cheap turkey fryer and a ghetto immersion chiller that I rigged up with some old copper tubing my dad had lying around, which barely cools five gallons of wort in a 30 minutes during the winter.

I have 3 requirements:
1.) Spend no more than $500
2.) Be able to brew 10 gallon batches
3.) I harbor dreams of having one of those bitchin' brew sculptures I see posted here daily. I'd like as many quality parts as possible to be reusable if I ever get to that point.

I'm planning on going weldless because I really don't have any connections to welders so I don't want to pay standard labor prices. I'm basing prices for fittings and valves off of pedalbiker's ebay store. He seems to be right inline with bargainfittings.com prices and he also has a few things they don't. So here's what I've got so far:

MLT/HLT:
- 2 10 gallon rubbermaid coolers: $80
- 2 SS ball valve fittings w/bulkheads: $68
- 1 DIY SS Braid : $10-ish
- 2 DIY Thermometers (a la The Pol): $20ish
- 1 DIY Sparge arm - $10ish
Total for MLT/HLT: $188

Keggle:
- 1 15.5 gal keg - $40-ish (haven't located one yet)
- 1 SS ball valve fitting w/bulkhead: $32
- 1 Thermometer w/bulkhead: $38
- 1 Sight Glass from Bobby_M w/bulkhead: $26
Total for keggle: $136

Figure $20ish for shipping and $20ish for high-temp tubing (where can I get this and what type do I need?) and that puts me around $350.

So I have about $150 for other equipment. Is there something else I'm missing that I really need? Here is what I think my options are for the rest:
1.) CFC
2.) Couple of spare kegs and carboys
3.) Better Burner/Stand (as opposed to rigging my turkey fryer stand to do the job)
4.) March Pump (and probably nothing else since that alone would probably max me out)

I think I'm leaning towards options 1 and 2. HELP!

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Stand away from the pretty sculptures! Buy your gear with that goal in mind if you want, but the most important thing is to get the beer right.

I'm limited on time at the moment, I'll probably rear my ugly head in here again before the day is out though. :cross:

 

[JPicasso]

I'm going AG this summer too!

I think we are in same boat. Here's my plan:

I"m starting out with the Brew In A Bag method, and if I can't get decent beer from that, I'm going to finish my cooler mash tun Ala Denny Conn.

$80-100 60 Quart Pot. There was a post around here lately with insane prices, you could probably get an 80 quart pot for that.

$130 Barley Crusher

$4.00 Large polyester fine mesh bag.

$20 Turkey fryer reinforcement (mine will not hold 12 gallons + pot)

So that would leave me about $250 to spend $1 at a time while she was in NY.

I already have a 50' Immersion Chiller ala Bobby_M. That put me back about $60 all in all.

 

[rudy0498]

Buy your gear with that goal in mind if you want, but the most important thing is to get the beer right.
before the day is out though. :cross:

I guess this was more my explanation for going the more expensive w/ Stainless Steel fittings because I can reuse them. And I'd rather not spend money on another burner if it won't be reusable if I one build one of them fancy rigs. Any way I go, it will be better than my current setup!