It seems like there are a lot of cheap, improvised options out there for brewing equipment. You just never see them in one place. It would be nice to put it all in one thread so the cheapasses like myself who want to get into brewing without a huge investment have a one stop thread for brewing equipment ideas. If you've got some piece of kit that's come in handy over the years that's available everywhere and is cheap then I encourage you to mention it here. I'll start with some of the no brainer stuff.
Turkey fryer - You get a stand, a propane burner, a pot that's big enough to boil a 5 gallon batch and a thermometer all in one package. This is probably the biggest no brainer piece of cheap kit that I can think of. I tell anyone who's interested in brewing that this should be the first thing that they pick up. Buy at the right time of year and you can find them really cheap.
Mash tun - If you want to get into all grain then you need a mash tun. Get a cheap 10 gallon cooler, a gutted water supply line with stainless braid, a ball valve and a couple of small pieces of plumbing and you've got one for around $50 if you buy everything new. is probably the most common conversion. [url=https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/rate-my-mash-tun-175718/]Here's the one that I use. You can even go really cheap and whip up a bulkhead for a cooler like this.
Grain/hops straining bags - Nylon paint strainers from your local hardware store are perfect for this. Instead of paying $5+ each at your LHBS you can get them for a couple of bucks for a package of them. They come in sizes from a gallon to 5 gallons. These are perfect for hops straining, partial mash brewing and brew in a bag all grain setups. You can also use them to press fruit for wine making.
Grain mills - Once you start getting big into all grain then you'll probably want a grain mill. Most of the options will end up running you $100 and up. You can go really cheap if you want to, though. Corona mills can be had for around $20 if you can find one locally. They're big and heavy so expect to pay a lot if you want to have one shipped to your door. You can easily convert them to run off of a drill. You can also make a functional mill out of a manual pasta maker.
Wort chillers - You'll need to figure out some way to get your wort chilled as quickly as possible. I use about 25 feet of 1/4 inch copper tubing. It's the kind you can get for $20-$30 at the hardware store that's used for automatic ice makers on refrigerators. Get some vinyl tubing, clamps and a hookup for a sink or spigot and you've got that base covered. It takes me about 10-15 minutes to cool down 5 gallons if I stir continuously while it's circulating. Rather than running cold water through your chiller you can also put the chiller in a bucket of ice water and run your wort through it into your fermenter. Use bigger, half inch tubing if you want to speed things up a little.
Buckets - These are one of the most indispensable tools for a homebrewer. They can be used for everything from holding a grain bill to transferring wort to sanitizing to fermenting. You can even drill holes in the bottom of one, put it inside of another one and use it for a mash tun. The uses are endless.
So what improvised equipment do you use to get from grain to glass? Post it up. I would have posted this up in DIY but it seems like it would be more useful here.
Turkey fryer - You get a stand, a propane burner, a pot that's big enough to boil a 5 gallon batch and a thermometer all in one package. This is probably the biggest no brainer piece of cheap kit that I can think of. I tell anyone who's interested in brewing that this should be the first thing that they pick up. Buy at the right time of year and you can find them really cheap.
Mash tun - If you want to get into all grain then you need a mash tun. Get a cheap 10 gallon cooler, a gutted water supply line with stainless braid, a ball valve and a couple of small pieces of plumbing and you've got one for around $50 if you buy everything new. is probably the most common conversion. [url=https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/rate-my-mash-tun-175718/]Here's the one that I use. You can even go really cheap and whip up a bulkhead for a cooler like this.
Grain/hops straining bags - Nylon paint strainers from your local hardware store are perfect for this. Instead of paying $5+ each at your LHBS you can get them for a couple of bucks for a package of them. They come in sizes from a gallon to 5 gallons. These are perfect for hops straining, partial mash brewing and brew in a bag all grain setups. You can also use them to press fruit for wine making.
Grain mills - Once you start getting big into all grain then you'll probably want a grain mill. Most of the options will end up running you $100 and up. You can go really cheap if you want to, though. Corona mills can be had for around $20 if you can find one locally. They're big and heavy so expect to pay a lot if you want to have one shipped to your door. You can easily convert them to run off of a drill. You can also make a functional mill out of a manual pasta maker.
Wort chillers - You'll need to figure out some way to get your wort chilled as quickly as possible. I use about 25 feet of 1/4 inch copper tubing. It's the kind you can get for $20-$30 at the hardware store that's used for automatic ice makers on refrigerators. Get some vinyl tubing, clamps and a hookup for a sink or spigot and you've got that base covered. It takes me about 10-15 minutes to cool down 5 gallons if I stir continuously while it's circulating. Rather than running cold water through your chiller you can also put the chiller in a bucket of ice water and run your wort through it into your fermenter. Use bigger, half inch tubing if you want to speed things up a little.
Buckets - These are one of the most indispensable tools for a homebrewer. They can be used for everything from holding a grain bill to transferring wort to sanitizing to fermenting. You can even drill holes in the bottom of one, put it inside of another one and use it for a mash tun. The uses are endless.
So what improvised equipment do you use to get from grain to glass? Post it up. I would have posted this up in DIY but it seems like it would be more useful here.
