Birthday present ideas?

[homebrewdad]

My birthday is rolling up, and my wife wants gift ideas for me. Sheez, I got a huge haul for Christmas... what do I really need?

I just moved to all grain. I have all of the basics for it - nice mashtun (cooler conversion), 44 quart stainless pot, bayou classic burner, immersion chiller. I have no desire to move to larger batches anytime soon.

I have a bottling tree and vinator. I have no desire to move to kegging anytime soon.

I am living off of my standard kit-issue floating thermometer... I'm thinking that a thermapen would be nice. Any suggestions as to which one I should get? I know that a lot of folks get crappy ones that die after a couple of brews... I obviously don't want that.

Any other good ideas? Thanks for the input.


EDIT: there are a ton of results that come up when I search "thermapen". Can anyone recommend a quality model?

 

[kblankenship11]

Do you have a mill? If you dont have that, it would be my next pick. I love my thermapen, that would be a close second.

 

[homebrewdad]

Do you have a mill? If you dont have that, it would be my next pick. I love my thermapen, that would be a close second.

No mill yet. That's worth considering.

 

[the_trout]

Hows your yeast situation? A stir plate and flask would be a nice gift if you want to start making or improve your yeast starters.

 

[unionrdr]

I'd go for the mill with a 7lb hopper.

 

[homebrewdad]

Hows your yeast situation? A stir plate and flask would be a nice gift if you want to start making or improve your yeast starters.

That's another idea. I'm still in the shaken starters stage.

That being said, I like DIY projects, so I'll probably build a sitr plate.

 

[MileHiBrewingSupplies]

There are a few nice items on sale at our LHBS. Perhaps a huge flask for yeast starters, a stir plate, or a HopRocket...check us out!

And have a great birthday!

 

[tre9er]

Mill, stir-plate (can make your own, or buy) plus flasks (1, 2, 3L), how about ferm control? A cheap CL fridge and a temp controller (build a STC-1000 or buy a Johnson Controller) go a long way. What about fermenters? Can't have too many fermenters.

 

[homebrewdad]

There are a few nice items on sale at our LHBS. Perhaps a huge flask for yeast starters, a stir plate, or a HopRocket...check us out!

And have a great birthday!

Thanks. BTW, your link is broken (extra http in there).

 

[homebrewdad]

Mill, stir-plate (can make your own, or buy) plus flasks (1, 2, 3L), how about ferm control? A cheap CL fridge and a temp controller (build a STC-1000 or buy a Johnson Controller) go a long way. What about fermenters? Can't have too many fermenters.

Thanks. I built a mother of a fermentation chiller that I am very happy with right now, and I have a buddy that is giving me a mini fridge to use for lagering... I'm pretty good on ferm control.

Another secondary is on my wish list, for sure.

 

[the_trout]

New glassware might be nice. Im sure you saw the new IPA glasses from DFH/SN.

 

[tre9er]

Silicone hoses are nice. You can boil them, they don't get brittle, NO threat of leaching. I've switched.

 

[homebrewdad]

Silicone hoses are nice. You can boil them, they don't get brittle, NO threat of leaching. I've switched.

So have I. I loves them very much.

 

[tre9er]

So have I. I loves them very much.

Well you just have EVERYTHING then, eh? How about custom bottlecaps from bottlemark? They are fun.

I also recently made a pre-chiller that I put in a bucket of ice-water to further cool the water going into my IC. That has drastically dropped my chilling times and also allowed me to go lower on my "final" chilled temps (ie. for lagers or pitching ales very low, which I prefer).

How about a pound of your favorite hops? A Vaccuum sealer to preserve them? What about oxygenation of wort pre-pitching?

 

[homebrewdad]

Well you just have EVERYTHING then, eh? How about custom bottlecaps from bottlemark? They are fun.

I also recently made a pre-chiller that I put in a bucket of ice-water to further cool the water going into my IC. That has drastically dropped my chilling times and also allowed me to go lower on my "final" chilled temps (ie. for lagers or pitching ales very low, which I prefer).

How about a pound of your favorite hops? A Vaccuum sealer to preserve them? What about oxygenation of wort pre-pitching?

Sigh. Sorry, I already buy bottlemark caps for every batch. Has my "coat of arms" on them.

Oxygenation is another good one, though!

 

[tre9er]

Sigh. Sorry, I already buy bottlemark caps for every batch. Has my "coat of arms" on them.

Oxygenation is another good one, though!

I got one right, Ma!

 

[RIC0]

Wow, my birthday is in a few months and all I'm gettin is a tub full of beer I'm saving up just for the day. Better than a kick to the nuts I guess.