New to homebrewing and already want to upgrade my equipment....

[TRNDRVR]

My next door neighbor and I just started doing our own homebrew.

We started with following equipment,

30 qt SS brew pot
6.5 gallon Better Bottle primary fermenter
5.0 gallon Better Bottle secondary fermenter
(we also have (2) 5 gallon glass carboys)
6.5 gallon Bottling bucket
Misc. accessories for above equipment (bottling wand, siphon, etc.)

As I said, we just started and so far have only done extract brewing.

In the future though we want to do AG brewing in probably no more than 10 gallon batches.

What I have been looking at real heavy is the conical fermenters. I've been looking at the Minibrew plastic fermenters but thinking that for a couple of hundred dollars more I can get a 14 gallon Fermenator SS fermenter.

I guess with all the above rambling, where does one start when upgrading their equipment is wanted?

I've read that the SS fermenter's are going up at the beginning of the new year, and until we go to AG brewing, we can still use this fermenter with our extract brewing.

I'm just looking for some guidance as to which direction others have gone when wanting upgraded equipment.

I thank you folks in advance and happ holidays,
Dan.

 

[the_bird]

For the cost of a SS fermenter, you could have everything that you would need to go AG; coolers, bigger brew kettles, high-BTU propane burners, grain crushers, all that stuff. Once you get the basic process down with extract, jumping up to AG isn't that big a leap.

If you have lots of money burning holes in your pockets, SS conicals are about as sexy as brew equipment gets - or you could spend that money on all the other gear to get your to your AG goal.

A SS conical won't directly help you make better beer; going AG very well could (at the very least, you'll have a lot more control over the product, which to me makes it a lot more enjoyable).

That's my take, for what it's worth.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Oh no. You have a neighbor doing it too? Let the arms race begin!!!!

Easy upgrades: Wort chillers $50-200, aeration (aquarium) pumps ($5-25), CO2 system for force cabonation ($200+), free-standing bottle capper ($75?), alcohol-measuring device (refractometer, is it?).

Then of course, there's all the kegging equipment and kegerators and whatnot...

Finally, All Grain Brewing supplies (mash tun, lauter tun, sparger, etc). As far as I know, this is the only supply that even has a chance of paying for itself over the long run.

 

[TRNDRVR]

Thanks guys!

Already do have a wort chiller, just forgot to mention it.

What nice/quality AG system is recomended? Rubbermaid coolers?

Thanks again,
Dan.

 

[the_bird]

Depends on what you want to spend. I spent $30 on a Coleman cooler. Had a keg given to me. Had to buy ball values and assorted other goodies. $70 on a Bayou Classic propane burner (210k BTUs). Built a chiller (good move to have one). I don't think my setup is all that unusual, you could probably get there for maybe a couple hundred bucks total.

Is it nice/quality? Depends on how you define it; I don't have a crapload of batches under me, but I make pretty good beer. Is it pretty? God, no.

 

[TRNDRVR]

If you have lots of money burning holes in your pockets, SS conicals are about as sexy as brew equipment gets

I like sexy!

Depends on what you want to spend.

Although money is an object in my house, (single income, stay-at-home mom, 2 small children) I'm not entirely broke either.

My problem is when I get into something, I usually don't scrimp right off the git-go. It may take me awhile, but it'll be nice eventually.

About the conicals, I've read some info on them that some people swear by them. I'm just trying to figure if I can start with the Minibrew plastic conical, learn a little more, then step into a SS Fermenator, or.........


Thanks,
Dan.

 

[the_bird]

I know some people use the plastic conicals, but honestly, there are still lots of other areas where you can spend the money and have more of a direct impact on the quality of the beer. The conical will basically save you a step; you won't have to rack to a secondary fermenter, as you can just dump the trub. Honestly, though, that's a pretty minor concern in the grand scheme of things.

I'm not going to tell you NOT to get a conical, I just don't think it's going to have a very direct impact on the quality of the beer, whereas being able to mash and/or do full wort boils will. If it means anything, I would wager that less than 5% of the people who post here have conical fermenters, while a much higher percentage have made investments in the other areas.

Your call, though.

 

[runhard]

I started out with extract, then partial mashing, then full mash with a rubbermaid cooler and two 8 gallon stainless steel kettles, one for HLT the other for boil kettle. I built a 3-tier gravit system and the beer was good. I then convinced SWMBO that I'd save $ for a year and then buy a BrewMagic Pro (wish I'd never bought it). The beer isn't any better than my $300 gravity system; it's more reproducible with spot on efficiency for the same recipe. What made the biggest jump in quality for my beer was more stringently controlled fermentation. I built a fermentation chiller and now my beers are noticeably better. Trust me the nice equipment is great but I couldn't have saved some serious money and invested it someplace else and just kept my 3-tier gravity and spent the $40 on the fermentation chiller and been better off.

 

[the_bird]

If seeing that BrewMagic Pro is causing you undue stress every brew day, we could probably make arrangements for it to find a new home...

 

[runhard]

I've actually contacted SABCO and have every intent on returning it, I'll either build my own or buy from morebeer.com and still have money left over.

 

[TRNDRVR]

Chipping away...
I (the kids got this for me for christmas) picked up one of these at Costco today.

(i know, hijacked picture)

Thanks for all the input.
Dan.

 

[Monster Mash]

I brewed extract / partial mash for 10 years before deciding to go all out and upgrade my system. I didn't want to spend the money on a prebuilt system because I could build one myself for a fraction of the cost.

I looked at conicals also but the main concern is fermentation temps, not what its fermented in. I invested in a fridge and built my own fermenter. The most important thing is to improve the beer and then buy the nice shiney toys, a conical should be the last thing on your list if you don't have a place to control your fermentation.

I didn't want to brew 25 gallon batches but the pots were free so I went that route and it ended up being better in the long run since I can have more styles on tap at once.

This cost me $800 to build with all of the pots and the fermenters cost me $150 each due to the cost of sanitary welds and chopping 3 gallon kegs.

 

[runhard]

I have some serious envy for your system Monster Mash and will definitely take notes on what you have done if SABCO will allow me to return my BrewMagic. 25 gallon batches, huh! sound very nice. Enjoyed the picts.