How much have you spent?

SSBrew - 728
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Well, I've heard people say they've spent more thanf 4K on a brutus clone. I spent close to 2k getting just my dispensing under control.

10K doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

But don't tell my wife! :eek:
 
Sabco brew magic with bells = $6300.00
Chill Wizaad with plug-ins = $850.00
Keezer and 4 taps = $200.00
20 Cornies = $60.00
Hop Yard soil = $350.00
Rhisomes = $45.5
Grain mill = $50.0
Mill motorization = $150.00
All the bits and bobs for brewing = Bankrupt

Yeah, so I can see myself as being well over $10K too. Sad bit is, I am not either.

Still planning to plumb water in the garage and a natural gas line with umbilical. I need a secondary fermentation fridge too (gotta have one for ales and one for the lagers ya know).
 
DeathBrewer said:
lol, i hope she doesn't get pissed at other people in the office to often ;) :p
Click to expand...

Hehe, I'm not too worried about that since I'm the only one that would know the two looks are so similiar... A few swollen testicles can prove that!

Now that I can think about it, here is my short list excluding ingredients:

125 ft Copper Tubing: 45 off ebay
100 ft Hose: 25 bucks @ Kmart
Blichmann 14.5 Gallon Conical, 2x Polarware SS Pots w/ valves and Thermo's, 15 gallon Mini Brew MLT, 2 Turkey Friers: 600 off Craigslist
Meeting the seller of the gear above was priceless.
March Pump and fittings, hoses, etc: ~180
3 Kegs off CL: ~100
Sight Glass and Fitting: ~65 @ Morebeer
MLT from Igloo Cooler, SS Bulkhead, SS False Bottom: 40, 30, 40 (110 total)
The Original Beginners kit that started all of this was $220, but included 4 carboys and EVERYTHING to get started
8 Gallon SS Pot: 100 off Amazon

Next I'm buying 50 ft of 2x2" Stainless Square tubing for the rig build... That should run me about 2k when everything is done including burners, valves, controllers, etc.
 
Well, I never thought I would want to know this, but I was lucky as I inherited a lot of stuff that got me started.

6G glass carboy - free
IC chiller - free
Bucket - free
22oz bottles - free
Turkey fryer - $40
upgraded to 13G pot $40
Keg - need to convert $25
5 cornies $125
Co2, lines, fittings, regulators etc... $200
extra fridge in garage - free
6G better bottle $28
more buckets $20
aquarium heater $30
Plastic bin for water bath $20
10G round cooler with conversion $50
scales $50
grain mill $150
yeast starter equipment, including stir plate built from junk around the house $40

and probably a lot more that I am forgetting, but all worth it.

I need to do a chest freezer conversion or get a fridge for fermentation for the upcoming summer.
 
$100 for starter kit (gift from SWMBO Xmas 07, counting as part of total invested)

$60 for 30Qt turkery fryer and burner/stand

$45 for three 5gal carboys

$150 for misc. items: Auto siphons, brew belt, , hoses, copper tubing, brass fittings.

$120 for fermentation chamber and temp control. Finished in birch so cost went up.

$50 converting free 50Qt Extreme cooler mash tun conversion (brass fittings, 5' SS braid and high temp hose)

$25 making stir plate, 1000ml flask, stir bars

$350 for kegging setup and 4 kegs

$50 converting free 3.6CF fridge to kegerator for 3 kegs. Still need to do tower and perlicks so will be about another $150 to $200. Not spent so not counting at this time.

$240 for CL score of 15gal Polarware brew kettle (w/ SS ball valve, thermometer, false bottom and lid), Bayou SQ14 burner and Schirron plate chiller.

Holy **** !!!!!!!!!!:eek: $1190

Had no idea I've sank that much into this relatively new hobby. Thank God I quit tobacco. Makes up for a little bit of that.
 
Well, I am pushing $3k now. I am glad I got into this hobby to save money... I think each bottle of beer is only costing me around $27.63 right now! :D
 
I'm still in my formative stage. I've been brewing for almost a year now and have spent probably $1250 on equipment.

4 glass carboys (was 5, but my wife broke one) - $125
Starting brew kit - $50
Turkey fryer kit w/ propane tank - $100
Keezer w/ tap lines, tower and everything to dispense right into the kitchen from the basement (do not do this, it was a major PITA to set up) - $600
4 kegs - $160
Immersion wort chiller (stainless!) - $40
Misc. tubing, funnels, strainers and such - under $100 probably

and my newest addition:

Fluke 51-II thermometer off eBay - $100 (This is an amazing thermometer. I was soooo tired of paying $15 every few months as my foodservice probe thermometers crapped out. This baby will easily pay for itself in savings of subrate thermometers.)

I want to get a refractometer and a mash tun to go all-grain in the near future. I've used an old chest cooler to mash two batches in before but I got very poor results. I need to make a purpose-built tun for it.

I'm considering just buying a nice stainless brewpot with a drain and using a false bottom to mash in. It'll save on the ammount of equipment and it'll be nicer than my aluminum pot now but is it really worth it? (I'm sure everyone will say yes.)
 
I have'nt spent anything on equipment yet.

I just buy different craft beers everyweek...soak the labels off....hand them out to freinds and claim they are mine :drunk::D




In all actuallity...probably less then 1K
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100 on two turkey fryers
120 on mill
25 on scale
30 on tubs to hold grain
00 on three kegs i'm converting
50 on a mash tun that isn't big enough
60 on four 6.5 gallon fermentors
30 on a used corney keg
10 on plumbing for that
150 on co2 setup for keg
50 on various plumbing for new 3 tier setup
30 on various bags, thermo's, hydro's, and weird equipment
ton's on bottles, caps, and supplies,

probably other crap i'm forgetting. so maybe about 600?

not bad, this hobbie is fun, i can do it with buddies. And it hasn't cost me anywhere near as much as my other hobby. My grand prix has probably 5k worth of garbage on it, and i don't even drive the thing. Beer, i'll always drink that
 
Less than 300 total on equipment.

MLT is an old ice chest from my shed with PVC manifold and cheap italian spigot. It's got about 50 batches on it now and it's falling apart. The heat has warped it, the sides are blowing out, the lid doesn't fit now, and 1/2 way through the sparge it swells up and traps the arm from spinning. Probably either buy the ebay MLT/HLT 189.00 60qt kit, or do a igloo conversion as a temp stop gap while I build my RIMS setup.


The bottles I used I carted back from Germany 15 years ago, several cases of fliptops.

I bought a bare bones extract kit for 50 bucks, added a good digital thermometer, a better hydrometer (due to breakage), and a fermtech wine thief, along with various other odds and ends.

Somewhere along the way I bought a sparge arm and switched to fly sparging.

Carboys/boil pot/burner came off craigs list (thanks Chimone!). Kind of funny, because when I bought them, Chimone tried to talk me into going AG. I had done that in the past, and didn't want to mess with it again, and I was happy doing partial mash and extract w/ specialty grains. The same weekend I bought that stuff, having just told him I wasn't interested....I bought the ingredients for an AG brew, hacked together a crappy MLT, and now, just as I feared, it's turned into an obsession.


In the past 6 months I've spent over a thousand dollars on grain and ingredients.

Cheapest hobby I've got. In 2007 I spent over 30K racing offroad, and about 15K in '08, and I've never made a single thing off that. I probably average about 8K a year in guns/shooting supplies/hunting, which probably give me venison/elk at somewhere around 50 bucks a lb!

The beer hobby has turned into the best ROI hobby I've ever had in my life.
 
um, i've never thought about it, this might not be pretty

starter kit and book and ingredients for first batch--$150
turkey fryer--------------------------------------free
15 gal pot----------------------------------------free
6 gal bb------------------------------------------$25
keezer-------------------------------------------$50
tower--------------------------------------------$100
5 brass finish perlick faucets-----------------------$25(thanks to an HBT member)
misc keezer build components----------------------$150
co2 tanks, regs and line---------------------------free(family business)
random brewing needs(theif, airlocks, cleaners)----$100
all of the rum i've added when using kahuna's recipes-$100
ingredients??????????????
5 gal of apfelwein i lost to a leak------------------$25
i am sure theres more, but for now------------- $725

wow, and i just started this hobby in october
 
damn.
i have "saved" so much being cheap, i have spent twice as much as many of you, and ten as much as some.....

one of my favorite sayings" there is alot of money to be wasted by being cheap"

i could have spent alot less by being honest, and spending up front. i have repurchased things i did not need to because i did not really look long into the hobby. no idea how addictive it was....

same can be said with two other hobbies!

fox body mustangs, and vintage audio equipment.

my two biggest hobby expentatures(sp?) ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but i love my stangs. and my audio damnit!
 
Damn, $1800 so far not including ingredients and there is no end in sight. No wonder the guy at the LBHS loves me.

My wife doesn't drink much and just shrugs her shoulders at the expense. I guess she figures anything that keeps me in the basement is good. I will say she didn't much care for the smell of some 40 gallons of fermenting stuff recently and threatened to stop cleaning the cat litter to compensate.

Phase 1: Early 1990s - $100
Basic homebrew starter kit with a free glass carboy from bro-in-law.
Results: Nothing I would call drinkable. One batch got named "Old Skunk Piss".

Phase 2: Late 1990s, post divorce. - $300
Second glass carboy, mash/sparg setup (never used), assorted stuff that attracted my attention.
Results: Some drinkable partial extract IPAs and ciders.

Phase 3: Late 2008 to date, pre divorce? - $1400
Used kegerator, upgrade for kegerator (three faucet setup/perlicks), CO2 tank, regulator, 2 kegs, 3 more kegs, 6 more kegs, 3 better bottles, 2 more plastic fermenters. 1 more keg (gift).
Results: Some good partial extract ales. And who isn't making Apfelwein?

Phase 4: ??
Gonna go all grain some day so there's a turkey fryer, grain mill and who knows what else.

Phase 5: ??
Lagering.
 
This kind of reminds me of the three prices you pay for something... The price you paid,... the price you told her you paid, and the price you pay when she finds out how much you paid....

With that in mind, I paid $3.42 no really, $3.42 that was it... honest.
 
Man, I have alot of cash sunk into this hobby here

Between the blichmann kettle, chillers bits and parts and I easily at $1200-1300 bucks. Not counting the stuff that I had from early on in my brewing attempts, burners and a spare carboy or two.
 
Holy crap I’ve got more sunk in to this than I would have guessed. A conservative estimate would be around $2500. But, most of the expense came when I made the jump to 10 gallon AG batches and kegging. But, it’s been worth every penny and I haven't looked back. Fortunately, SWMBO has approved every purchase and is happy providing I keep her supplied with HB wine.
 
Thinking about it, and thanking God SWMBO got my kit for me in the first place, I'm about at $400 for equipment, counting carboys, brewpots, extra books, and piddly-but-needed stuff.

Luckily I plan everything out enough that I can mill at the LHBS a day or so before brew-day so I'm saving monies there, but I'm sure when it gets nicer out and I start to go crazy on the AG stuff it will double or triple.
 
Mine jumped from $2600 to $2606... I just built (2) sight gauges for my HLT and MLT. It never ends
 
Seabee John said:
This kind of reminds me of the three prices you pay for something... The price you paid,... the price you told her you paid, and the price you pay when she finds out how much you paid....
Click to expand...

We've all been there. :p

Let's see... I'm still on the cheap side, myself:

Got the initial homebrew kit for Christmas: Free!
Bottling bucket from a friend who got laid off: Free!
Craiglisted another carboy, hydro, grolsch bottles, etc: $50
Turkey Fryer on clearance: $45
Igloo cooler + brass parts: $50
2 HDPE 5gal jugs: $10
Misc. airlocks/stoppers/etc: $20
New thermometer x3: $20

Somewheres around $200, so far.
Now I just need kegging equipment for Christmas. :p
 
Starter kit: Free (Christmas gift 2008)
6.5 gallon carboy, Auto siphon (Craigslist): $10
propane burner (Craigslist): $25
5# CO2 tank (Craigslist): $25
Frigidaire 4.4cuft mini fridge: $150
Kegs, lines, etc (kegconnection.com): $90
10 gallon MLT: $40
Weldless bulkhead & SS braid (bargainfittings.com): $57
Other odds and ends: max $100
Total: ~$500
 
I quit counting....

I think I have about a grand in the brew rig easy.
400 bucks or so in keg equipment.
300 into a fermenting fridge.

Odds and ends here or there and I am over 2k in equipment EASY.
 
Baja_Brewer said:
Hmmm... I tried to do a total a few weeks back and didnt get to into it. Lets see.

94- Start up kit including two carboys
125- kegs from Pedalbiker
~260/2 draft system, cost split with my roommate
20 -carboys of craigslist
75 -15 gallon brewpot from Cabela's
95- 50 ft Immersion Chiller
50- odds and ends including mesh bag, hop ball, airlocks, bungs, new tubes, etc.
_____
589, round it to 600

Not to bad, IMO, plus ingredients.
Click to expand...

Time to update mine:

I've added a full mash tun, perlicks, 3 co2 tanks, many kegs, another two beer fridges (may sell on, reduced costs?), many back sealing taps which i dont use, more shanks which I dont use, a stout faucet, vacuum sealer, refractometer, misc parts...

Total is now $1,995, and I don't even get to use some of the stuff I have (Look at my threads, I scored a 3 1/2 barrel industrial kegerator for $150, doesn't quite fit my apt living lifestyle)

So--> 41, 5 gallon batches, est $20/batch= 820+2k=$2820-->41*5*128/12=2187, 12oz beers--> $1.29 per 12 oz beer.

I'm still in the realm of not being ridiculously over priced per beer. Now not everyone chooses this method, but I like it!
 
Over 2 grand probably since I start January 2008.
Bought a kit to start, bought 3 more better bottles, bought a turkey fryer, bought a better turkey fryer, built a kegerator, bought an extra co2 tank with gas lines, bought 6 cornys, bought a mash tun. Plus a number of odds and ends plus ingredients.
 
Since about 2006, I'm guessing the following:

Original AG Setup:
Polarware Kettles - ~$300
Polarware False Bottom - $60
Small Propane Burner - $50
Carboys - ~$175
Various Small Equipment - ~$200
Immersion Chiller - $50
Fermentation Chamber - ~$200
Kegerator - $300

Upgrades:
Welding & Fittings for Keggles - ~$100
3-Tier Brew Stand - ~$100
30-Plate Heat Exchanger - ~$130
Quick Connects & Other Fittings - $200
Two Blichman Burners - $300
Chest Freezer & Temp Controller - $300

Total = $2,465

Ouch... hadn't added that up before. Plus, I have about $400 of stuff I need to spend for two pumps and a few more disconnects/fittings...

But, it's a small price to pay given the amount of enjoyment and delicious beer I've gotten out of it all...

Cheers!
 

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