$100 Brew Money- Which would you get?

[Poindexter]

I started with three cornies. Then I went to five. Now I have eight. If I can find a decent deal on an entire pallet of 25 I am going to be on that like white on rice.

You got a system. Use it to fill up every Cornie you can find. Christmas is right around the corner.

 

[brewjunky]

well out of nesesity I'd say get a plate chiller off of ebay. Thats way to long to cool wort and you will wonder how you ever used that intercooler after you get one.

 

[IrregularPulse]

well out of nesesity I'd say get a plate chiller off of ebay. Thats way to long to cool wort and you will wonder how you ever used that intercooler after you get one.

This is of course debatable since plenty of people make great beer with the no-chill method taking more then 24 hours to chill wort.

 

[menschmaschine]

I wouldn't want this to get into the positives/negatives of various chill methods, but I do prefer a good cold break and I prefer very little of that cold break to get into my fermenter. To each their own, but the technical literature I read indicates that is ideal. Plus every other batch of mine is 90+% pilsener malt for lagers, so DMS formation is a concern and the risk reduced with a fast chill. I'm on a well, so water temperature and usage is of little concern to me. So, this is why I like ICs.

 

[chefmike]

so what are you gonna do? 2 cornies and the tubing?

 

[GuateBrewer]

One of the most handy things I have is an ebay special refractometer..I would get one of those and some cornies...

 

[BrewBeemer]

I started with three cornies. Then I went to five. Now I have eight. If I can find a decent deal on an entire pallet of 25 I am going to be on that like white on rice.

You got a system. Use it to fill up every Cornie you can find. Christmas is right around the corner.

I would go for corny's as they are getting tight, other items can be purchased anytime. Get the hard to get items now. A BCS-460 controller would be nice.

For $80 or until they run out of them by the end of June,
THE CHI COMPANY in northern California had 4 packs of cleaned and pressure
shipped corny's for $80 a 4 pack. You can buy 1,2,3,4,8,12 you name it. They are shipping 4 packs in one box and only corny's with solid rubber ends attached no loose rubber ends or dented corny's. CHI only sells clean dent free, nicks or scratched corny's not bashed up junk, Matt has high standards on his used kegs. Seals are old unless you spend more for replacement seal kits or buy your own from another supply source.
Shipping for me is $13 as I live in California.
I just ordered another 4 pack yesterday so I have 24 Corny's plus one Coke "pin-lock" odd ball that will become a Pepsi corny by trade or other means, $$$ added trade? Matt told me he has the last 3-400 Pespi corny's coming in as he purchased all of the Pepsi filling lines across the country. This will be the very last of them thru CHI I was told yesterday. I've been dealing with Matt for a couple years, my voice alone and he has my city and address. A straight person and company to deal with. So far 20 for 20 used corny's in great shape, tomorrow i'll receive the same great quality kegs again I can bet on it from the past dealings with Matt. I had one broken relief valve once and a complete lid was sent to me. Very honorable person.
No 15.5 or 7.75 kegs in stock. Ten's of thousands of corny's and kegs are shipped out of the country at the Port Of Oakland 5 miles from me. These become main food and water containers in China and the Far East. LHBS will name their prices in the future when they are all gone.
I have no direct profit or intrest in CHI just passing off the savings and dealings with them. They also have brewing equipment as well regulators on sale now also.
Type in thechicompany. Add the three w's and the dot com. Tell Matt your from the HBT by Carl's reply. he'll treat you well with the highest respect besides a great straight answer person.

 

[jamesrm]

Id go with the kegs, never have too much capacity. You can always bottle and wait longer on the chill.

 

[menschmaschine]

so what are you gonna do? 2 cornies and the tubing?

Still haven't decided, but with the recent CHI deal, I might spring for the 4 cornies if the shipping across the country isn't ridiculous. If the shipping is stupid, then I might do 2 cornies and the tubing.

Getting 4 cornies has nothing to do with cornies "running out" though. I recall a thread on here a year or so ago about CHI (I think) getting a "last batch" of cornies and how they were all gonna be gone in a few months in the whole country. Then several months later, same story... "just got 800 cornies in and this is really it... they're all gone after this." Maybe I'm mistaken and I don't feel like searching for the thread, but I recall something to that effect.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Still haven't decided, but with the recent CHI deal, I might spring for the 4 cornies if the shipping across the country isn't ridiculous. If the shipping is stupid, then I might do 2 cornies and the tubing.

Getting 4 cornies has nothing to do with cornies "running out" though. I recall a thread on here a year or so ago about CHI (I think) getting a "last batch" of cornies and how they were all gonna be gone in a few months in the whole country. Then several months later, same story... "just got 800 cornies in and this is really it... they're all gone after this." Maybe I'm mistaken and I don't feel like searching for the thread, but I recall something to that effect.

As of last thursday when I ordered another 4-pack Matt at CHI told me he had a small supply now on sale until the end of the month with another small shipment being the last batch coming in like I posted above. many have gone over seas as well Oz purchased a couple hundred in one order. LHBS purchase in volume also knowing they can make a easy profit whe the supply has run dry. Matt is waiting for the last 2-300 corny's from the last Pepsi plant they are taking apart to come in. Shipping may be a deal killer vs my 105 app mile UPS trip, damn missed out on saturday's delivery so monday they should be delivered. They keep coming in small batches until CHI has finished up taking apart all the Pepsi lines they purchased. I was told they took apart the last line not that long ago and will ship and clean the corny's in the near future from their location in northern Calif. The pisser is if someone purchases a large volume of them then they can be gone. In the past I had a order tag in my 4-pack shipped with a large order slip to a winery in Southern Calif. as they found out shipping wine to their customers in corny's was saving them money vs other containers and they were in the process of purchasing another large order.
Best to call Matt in the mornings, put up with many busy signals as you will get thru. His phone recorder was filled and could not take any more calls, email is also good as Matt checks them daily. I recall it was 36 pounds shipping with a $13 or $17 shipping bill for me.
Nothing beats having clean corny's with solid rubber ends no rejects torn off or big dented up corny's. Used yes not all bashed up from CHI like left overs. I was the one many months ago that mentioned a shipment of 800 corny's to CHI coming in, I passed off what Matt told me as many went over seas to the far east, NZ and Oz that purchased a bunch to handle the Pacific islands areas. Call me greedy as CHI is close to me, high quality as well the low price for shipping hence why 24 in my collection. I don't want to run out of them in the future as syrup in the box is useless for future bier storage.

 

[Beer_Maker]

Buy it now on ebay. 4 Corny's pressure tested for $83. Anybody have experience with this guy? It's $35 shipped to my apartment in south eastern VA. He's got a great feedback rating...


4 CORNELIUS KEGS 5 gallon homebrew beer keg soda tank - eBay (item 350214923304 end time Jun-24-09 18:38:33 PDT)

 

[BrewBeemer]

A deal killer on my part as shipping is over $62 for me besides the add states;
"which includes brands (Cornelius, Firestone & Spartanburg".

Being in California with CHI plus all Cornelius kegs not a mix of brands i'll stay with Matt on this one as well regulators and other brewing equipment they have available in the future for my needs. Will this ebay "but it now" take back and replace a keg with the top or bottom loose and flapping? Just something to think about.

At one time there was someone in North or South Carolina that was selling Corny's for $17.50 each last year. I believe this was the partner that splintered off from The CHI Company in not a friendly split.

 

[Beer_Maker]

A deal killer on my part as shipping is over $62 for me besides the add states;
"which includes brands (Cornelius, Firestone & Spartanburg".

Being in California with CHI plus all Cornelius kegs not a mix of brands i'll atay with Matt on this one as well regulators and other brewing equipment they have available. Will this ebay "but it now" take back and replace a keg with the top or bottom loose and flapping? Just something to think about.

At one time there was someone in North or South Carolina that was selling Corny's for $17.50 each last year. I believe this was the partner that splintered off from The CHI Company in not a friendly split.

I understand on the shipping thing. I think it was about $30 to get them to me. The ad does say:

"If you are unhappy with these kegs for any reason, I will fix the problem."

As for the brands, as long as they are the Pepsi ball lock style I'm OK.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Did you ask if you have a choice in color of the rubber ends of their corny's?
My friend has every color of rubber ended corny's ever made, his collection looks kind of crappy. The problem was he never asked for any one color if a choice were available just jumped on the cheapest prices with some that the rubber ends are seperating. Another problem to deal with unless you purchase the single stainless handled corny's. Some people like it this way for identifying what's in their corny's at a quick glance the different colors. I have all black ends and just use a jumbo marking pen on each corny for contents, dates and what was added if changed off the normal ingredients used or the deviation from my records or modifications to the brew.

This seller sounds like a straight person, have you checked his feedback record?
You might of found a good source of corn'y plus cheap shipping also which is half the deal.
I'm lucky dealing with a large company that is also close to me as well his corny's priced right and in top condition. The communication with the owner
Matt at CHI is first class with every order from him, I want him to have my money as the quality and price of his Corny's the past 6 orders has been great. I'm just lucky I do not live where the shipping costs a lot more than the item.

 

[Beer_Maker]

I will send him an email today and ask about the colors. As far as feedback he's sittin pretty at 100%.

I checked out the CHI site this morning, and if the deal falls through with this eBay guy I will definitely go with Matt. I think shipping for 4 kegs is just over $48 from Cali to South Eastern VA.

 

[mmb]

I'd go with the march pump and use your existing chiller. Then, get the copper for a 50' chiller and use the ends from your existing chiller. Super happy with the 3/8" 50' chiller I have now.

Then save money and get kegs at a later date. I picked up a pallet of 20 from pedalbiker for under $300, including freight. I'm stocked up with more than I'll ever need at a really good price.

 

[Yambor44]

Couldn't you just buy enough copper to convert your 25 to a 50? If you are going to make 10 gallon batches you need a 50' IC. Then get 2 kegs.

 

[Yambor44]

Or I would go with a transfer pump to make siphoning a thing of the past:

Self-Priming Diaphragm Pump for Beer Transfers | MoreBeer

That would be sweet.

I'd be worried about oxidation with that. We use those at my work place.

 

[menschmaschine]

Couldn't you just buy enough copper to convert your 25 to a 50? If you are going to make 10 gallon batches you need a 50' IC. Then get 2 kegs.

I suppose, but coppertubingsales.com's smallest size is a 50 ft role for $35.60 (1/2" OD). So for that price, I might as well just make a whole 50 ft IC.

I'd be worried about oxidation with that. We use those at my work place.

Everything I do is gravity fed. I don't own an autosiphon. All of my fermenters (6 gallons and 5 gallons) are ported with valves/racking adapters.

 

[Yambor44]

Gotcha.

Heres a link when you get ready to make one. Doesn't take much to make it a whirpool chiller and you can use that later when you get a MArch pump.

Wort-O-Matic: MyloFiore's Jamil-O-Chiller

 

[BrewBeemer]

I will send him an email today and ask about the colors. As far as feedback he's sittin pretty at 100%.

I checked out the CHI site this morning, and if the deal falls through with this eBay guy I will definitely go with Matt. I think shipping for 4 kegs is just over $48 from Cali to South Eastern VA.

When you think about it $12 a corny or $48 for four from the maximum distance of left to right coast that isn't that expensive.
The quality of CHI's corny's more than makes up for the shipping.
IMO.

 

[menschmaschine]

Just an update on this...

After cooling my last batch of 12 gallons wort with my 25 ft IC to 70°F in 30 min (in 85°F ambient air temp and with constant swirling of the IC) and realizing my fermentation/lagering chest freezer can hold 2 cornies in addition to 2 Better Bottles... I went with the cornies. I now have 8. So I can secondary/lager in cornies and keep multiple batches in my chest freezer.

And a side note... my 2nd experience with KegConnection proves that they are awesome!

 

[Evan!]

Nice deal. I have 11 cornies, I doubt I'll need more until I move somewhere else or the wife lets me turn the basement into a pub . Yeah, it's nice having extras, though...my poor 5 gallon glass carboys are so lonely, because they just never get used anymore. Sad. I should just brew 8 gallons and split it up between them or something.

Still, though...next time you get some scrilla to drop on brew stuff, I highly recommend the march pump + whirlpool IC setup. Me, I got a hundred bucks from the inlaws for my b-day recently, which they demanded I only spend on brew stuff...so I got me a beer gun. Nothing better than cash dedicated solely to brew junk...

 

[bendavanza]

2 of the new perlicks at ~$25 each and 2 cornies

 

[cjprice]

I have to say go with the cornies and stock up while you can. I have a 6 month old now and I think I have made two batches since he was born...

 

[ChshreCat]

2 of the new perlicks at ~$25 each and 2 cornies

I have to say go with the cornies and stock up while you can. I have a 6 month old now and I think I have made two batches since he was born...

Way to read the first page of a six page post!

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I would think you could upgrade your IC and get to Perlicks for close to $100. say $40 for the IC using your quote plus any additional fittings and $70 for the Perlicks. The cost for the Perlicks is just based on what I've read they cost.