What would you buy with $100 amazon GC?

[rogerepd]

New brewer here...bottling my first batch this weekend.



After Brewing my first batch, I realized I NEED MORE EQUIPMENT



Will we ever have enough?



So I check my inbox and see that Ford sent me a $100 gift card to amazon :rockin:
Now, what to buy....

Let's start with what I have..



4 gallon aluminum stock pot (blah...ask me how my 3 gallon boil went)

Glass top stove (again...ask me how my boil went)

6.5 gal fermenter bucket

6.5 gal bottling bucket w/spigot

Auto siphon and bottling wand

two hand capper

Home made 20' 3/8 immersion chiller

---------------------

I'm leaning towards buying a bayou classic sp10 burner and a bc 30 quart aluminum pot



This should make my next brew much better



What would you buy?

 

[Vigo_Carpathian]

You should get the 40qt SS kettle if you plan on doing all grain. Then you're a igloo cooler away from being complete.

 

[sweetcell]

you definitely want a bigger pot. ideally one that will allow you to do a full boil, so 7 or 8 gallons (or more).

 

[rogerepd]

You should get the 40qt SS kettle if you plan on doing all grain. Then you're a igloo cooler away from being complete.

Thanks for the advice and good call!

I don't think i can afford SS right now...is 40 qt aluminum okay for AG?

 

[Vigo_Carpathian]

Yeah that's fine. I've just read that aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. Plenty of people use aluminum though. What the hell do scientists know anyways.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

An STC-1000 temperature controller, a heat source and a craigslist fridge/freezer for fermentation control. Before going all grain, go for the BEST beer you can make, and temp control was the best money I ever spent, even over full-volume boils and all-grain!

 

[Vigo_Carpathian]

An STC-1000 temperature controller, a heat source and a craigslist fridge/freezer for fermentation control. Before going all grain, go for the BEST beer you can make, and temp control was the best money I ever spent, even over full-volume boils and all-grain!

Oh yeah. Temp control is definitely priority number 1. After that, then go all grain. I had an old fridge hanging out at my parents place that I took home and used. The controller was like 60 bucks.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

After that, go for a stir plate, stir bar and Erlenmeyer flask. Yeast starters were the second best thing I ever did.

 

[redwing_al]

I just bought a 2-faucet kegging system which I later learned on this site is inferior... However, i was in the same boat with a gift card and I dont care to bottle as much as I enjoy to brew... oh, and i LOVE draft beer..

So anyway, I got a hokey-system apparently but I'll put it into action just the same.

Good luck!

 

[Euphist]

I would definitely go with a 40+ qt kettle and a propane burner. Aluminum is just fine as long as you don't scrub off the oxide layer. Temp control is critical, but can be accomplished cheap or free. (swamp cooler, or in my case a basement that stays between 60-65.)

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[webby45wr]

+1 to a turkey fryer and new SS pot (at least 9 gallon/36 qt). That would give you the ability to due a full boil for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[rogerepd]

I ended up getting a 40 qt aluminum and the sp10 burner.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Now I'm very interested in temperature control thanks to Black Island Brewer

Now I just need a raise...or more gift cards!

 

[peterj]

I ended up getting a 40 qt aluminum and the sp10 burner.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Now I'm very interested in temperature control thanks to Black Island Brewer

Now I just need a raise...or more gift cards!

Nice! That's exactly what I would have suggested. I did a couple "boils" on my glass top stove when I first started out and it was terrible. Never got anywhere near a rolling boil.

Temp control is very important but like someone else said you can do that very easily for very cheap. I put my fermenter in a big bucket filled with water and then add frozen ice packs or water bottles as needed to keep the temp in line. Though lately I've been having to add hot water because it's been so cold!

 

[sweetcell]

or in my case a basement that stays between 60-65.)

depending on uncontrollable ambient temps only is less than ideal. you can't cool a little as fermentation takes off and heat is produced, and you can't increase heat a bit at the end of fermentation as you're trying to squeeze out those last few points of attenuation (and the yeast stop producing heat, so the beer is actually cooling).

Though lately I've been having to add hot water because it's been so cold!

you should look into an aquarium heater for your swamp cooler (swamp heater?).

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I ended up getting a 40 qt aluminum and the sp10 burner.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Now I'm very interested in temperature control thanks to Black Island Brewer

Now I just need a raise...or more gift cards!

Awesome! Beer yeast can be very fussy, and even a 1 or 2 degree variation can change the flavor profile of a yeast. Swamp coolers, ice baths, basements, I've done them all, even Son of Fermentation Chiller (google it), and all of the are vastly inferior to a digital controller with a thermometer probe secured directly to the side of the fermentor and insulated against the ambient air temp. A dual stage controller can be had for cheap (google STC 1000) and it will control heating and cooling and allow you to dial in the EXACT fermentation temp within 1 degree without having to be tended in any way. A craigslist fridge or freezer can be had for cheap or free. I have yet to hear a single person whose done this say it didn't help improve their beer, but lots of people who have never done it will say it isn't necessary.

 

[peterj]

you should look into an aquarium heater for your swamp cooler (swamp heater?).

I've thought about that, but most of the year it's pretty warm down here in Atlanta. So it wouldn't get used very often. Might be worth looking into though.

 

[BeerLoverHere]

I'd buy lots and lots of hops! Any new variety (or rare/hard to get a hold of) that I can hoard would be nice to have. My LHBS has lots of variety, but Mosaic and El Dorado are a few that I love and can't get too often. There are some new ones too coming out that I am anxious to try. Anything that my brew store does NOT have I'd prefer to buy with the gift card. If I have to pay a few bucks more @ my LHBS for hops, yeast, kettle, wort chiller, etc., so be it. They provide an unbelievable service to me (as well as most locally owned businesses). I will always support them!

 

[mbbransc]

I'm looking for similar advice ($100 AMZN GC); what to buy?

I've only done partial mashes to this point but am going to try BIAB next. I'm currently doing 3.5 gallon batches until I get my processes dialed in. Afterwards, I'll be back to doing 5 gallon batches. Here is what I have now:

- (2) turkey fryers (7.5g & 7g aluminum pots)
- 5 gal SS pot
- chest freezer
- STC temp controller
- stir plate w/stir bar
- refractometer
- auto-siphon
- (3) 6.5 gal buckets & lids (one with spigot)
- (2) 5 gal buckets & lids

At this point, I'm going to start with paint strainer bags from HD or Lowes for BIAB. I'll start out on my cooktop with the 3.5 gal batches and move back outside for 5 gal batches.

I'm thinking a Thermopen or oxygen injection system. Any other ideas?

 

[LordUlrich]

1. "How to Brew" - I even used to keep a copy at the brewery when I worked as a pro brewer.
2. Equipment to do full boils burner and pot mostly
3. Fermentation temperature control.

From there you could go several ways, yeast starters or all grain, etc...

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[Octavius]

If you have $19 left over here is a nice thermometer. I've had one a couple years now. Appears accurate and you can use it on your barbeque:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002GE2XF8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Cheers!