Best and/or Worst Brewing Gadgets You've Ever Purchased

[Dr Malt]

Best:
Brew software
Wort chiller
Kegging system
9 gallon brew kettle w/false bottom


Worst:
fish tank aerator system
digital thermometer without adjustment on temperature

I am sure there are a few gagets I bought and pitched after they were crap but I can recall them right now.

Dr Malt

 

[Rhoobarb]

My best: AutoSiphon and now, my work-in-progress kegging system. Kegged my first beer yesterday afternoon, force carbed and had a nice pint last night right befre bed!

The worst= The siphon tip aerator...

You mean this one?

Ditto. Piece o' junk. Fortunately, it was only around a buck.

 

[Donasay]

Greatest Purchase was the pure O2 injection system from williams brewing, the long wand and airation stone add a lot of O2. I get fermentation started within 24 hours every time when I oxygenate and pitch a sizable starter.

 

[Bills Brew]

Best is the bottle sanitizer injector.

I can sanitize a batch of bottles in 10 minutes.

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

Auto-siphon. Hands down. Nothing else even comes close to being as useful.

Now. Honorable mention?

1. Kegging system
2. Mash tun
3. Turkey fryer

All have equally contributed to me being able to make better brews.

 

[Beer Snob]

the best gadget I've purchased so far has been a double bottle washer.

You know while I was reading these posts I thought about this and that. I have a bottle washer, not a double one though. Mine came with my original kit I got many years ago... bout 20 or so. As you might have guessed they have not changed all that much. But I've never used it. It's been with me all these years. I've looked at it from time to time and toss it back into the box.

 

[Beer Snob]

Three years ago I got back into brewing. I got back into brewing because I came across my box that I stored my brewing stuff into while I was on medical leave from work(yeah it had the bottle washer in it for those who read the previous reply ). For those who dont know, I had a tumor and heart operation. It all went to getting a pacemaker/defib unit. By the time that happend I had several carboys full and they needed to be bottled. I should have bottled them long before but didn't. My left arm hurt when it beared weight and I was told it would be that way for a bit. It was National Homebrew Day and I went to a local shop to see everyone doing AGs and all kinds of cool stuff. Happened to also be my birthday so the SWMBO encouraged me to go and perhaps find something (could not drive so she went with me). After telling the store guy my problem with having so much to bottle but not being able to bear the weight of the double handed capper he showed me a single handed capper. The one that you screw to a board. I loved it! Always thought these things were like ... I dont know... at least a hundred bucks or so... NOT. Works a lot better then the double one and the operation seems to work more smoothly too

 

[Kai]

The dumbest: autosiphon ... I learned how to suck on a straw when i was 3. A vodka-soaked napkin over the end of hose keeps it clean.

The best (3) a refractometer .. the end of "i missed my gravity by a few points" ... a 3gallon keg ..easy to carry, fits in fridges, and "party-friendly" ... and "better bottles" ...light, unbreakable.

Who would want to suck on a vodka-soaked napkin? Sounds like one the more vile ways to taste alcohol.

 

[Poindexter]

Best purchases:

Letting you guys talk me into buying Oxy-clean.
SS cornelius kegs for all fermentation/ clearing/ serving
**coming soon** spunding valve

worst waste of money:
You folks have kept me out of trouble for the most part.
I did waste 69 cents on bottle caps with the "oxygen eater" disc once.

 

[EinGutesBier]

Right now? Bottling wand is one of the better investments I made aside from converting a keg into a mash tun.

Worst? Not really a worst, except maybe that bag of oak chips I bought. That and the muslin steeping cloth I bought to use as a strainer for transferring wort from the kettle to the fermenter. That, of course, has been retired since I started going AG : D

I still have to get my autosiphon and hydrometer (I broke mine earlier in a move). Both of those are in my Xmas loot and I was out of town so now I have to wait until the weekend to open my gifts. : /

 

[coyotlgw]

The Arduino microcontroller board is a close second for "best" - allowing me to monitor my brewing via laptop computer.

I googled this, went to their website, and still don't get it.... how exactly are you using it? watching temp and SPGR or something?

 

[Quercus]

Great thread!

Best:
auto-siphon (duh)
generic oxy-clean (instead of PBW)
sanitizer solution injector (for bottles)
bottle tree
home-made immersion chiller
siphon-tip aerator (this thing works GREAT for me!)

Worst:
aquarium pump aeration system (out-performed by the siphon-tip aerator, no joke)
0.5-L Erlenmyer flask for starters (not big enough!)


Overall, because I bottle my beer, the bottle tree/sanitizer injector have been the biggest time- and sanity-savers.

 

[Chriso]

I'll admit, I'm an auto-siphon hater. I just don't like holding on to things. I have a bottling spigot on all of my buckets, so I just rack from there. Put a spigot on my kettle also, and problem solved.

My 6.5 gal MiniBrew is FANTASTIC for secondarying. I think my batch of 8 cornies might be rivaling for top spot though. +1 to rectangle cooler-based MLT too. I love my mash tun.

 

[GeoXP]

Best for me has to be kegging/draft system and Refractometer. So long bottling and beer thiefing/hydrometer reading!!

Worst is the fly-sparge arm I picked up at Northern Brewer. Shortly after buying it I learned about batch-sparging. To this day I've never used that arm...

 

[Soulive]

Worst = airlock

 

[Pabst Blue Robot]

Best: March pump, chest freezer.

Worst: Auto siphon, cheapo chrome taps.


I voted best based on the purchase that took the most time, strain, and danger out of the brew day, and the purchase that resulted in the most quality increase in the beer.

As for worst, the autosiphon is nearly useless for me. It's tougher to sanitize than a standard racking cane, it moves around and kicks up yeast when siphoning, and it doesn't use the same size hose as the rest of my racking equipment. It also tends to start bubbling during the last 25-30% of the transfer. Carboy caps are superior IMHO for their simplicity. You can start a siphon by positive or negative pressure depending on what sort of vessel you're transfering to/from.

As for the taps, that's self explanatory. My 3 Ventmatic Ultraflows are in the mail, 26.99/ea plus 4.50 flat rate priority mail on E-bay.

 

[cowgo]

Best
Kegging system. 2 tower tap, sanyo conversion and 7 cornies.
6.5 gallon minibrew conical fermenter
wort wizard and chillzilla combo
Colemans extreme cooler mash tun conversion
15 gallon brew pot for 10 bucks at a garage sale with extra added weldless ball valve.

Worst
used 5 gallon pickle barrel from restaurant trash for first batch fermenter 20 years ago... Turned out pretty much how you'd expect.

 

[Vels]

Best:
Auto siphon to replace my regular siphon.
My 8 cornys that i will start using next week
A former district heating plate heat exchanger that will cool 6 Gal in <10 mins
1 gallon glass jugs for experimenting.

Worst
Too many bottles, will start kegging now.

Cheers
Jakob

 

[yelloww]

Best:
My kegging system with 4 cornys + beer tower + two Perlick faucet
Refractometer
Thermostat for my fermenter box.

Worst
Cheap thermometer

 

[senorfartman]

Best: For me was purchasing a 2-way valve for my shower head. I ran a hose from the valve so I can clean my carboys in the shower. This was beneficial for two reasons. One being water can spill over and it's not an issue. Secondly, the only way I could fill my carboy with hot water was to fill up a pitcher then pour it into the carboy and repeat 30 times.

As far as worst, I don't think I've really made any bad purchases in my brief tenure home brewing. I'm sure that will change when I move to AG however

I did purchase a bilge pump and numerous other parts to move wort around but realized it would be impossible to sanitize properly and returned it.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

I just don't like holding on to things.

Don't you pee on the floor alot then?

 

[Gedvondur]

Lets see......


Two best purchases.....Auto Siphon and wort chiller.


Best purchase avoided......Carboy wedge on Northern brewer. Little plastic pieces that you can stuff under the edge of your carboy to tilt it. Stupidest accessory I have ever seen.




Gedvondur

 

[raceskier]

Best

Better Bottles!
Shirron Chiller
Homemade stirplate
Autoclave (ebay pressure cooker)
Triple beam balance (bought before I started brewing)
Super Agata Capper


Worst

TruTemp Thermometer
Bottle Washer
Bottle Sanitizer
Carboy carrier (see Better Bottle)

 

[mageac]

best but not necessarily necessary: the beer gun. it just looks cool and it has the word gun in it.


worst: phils fly sparging arm. used it once then went to batch sparging like most others. pretty much useless. btw, anyone looking to buy this from me? PM me...I sure know how to sell it!:cross:

 

[BeanPot Brewery]

Not sure what the best has been - lots of secondary fermentors, probably. But by far the worst was the mini keg, as has been mentioned already. Worked once, then somehow wasn't holdnig pressure, then rusted around the top lip. Utterly useless. Serves me right for not going corny from the start.

 

[blacklab]

Best: Better Bottles(with drain tap), Autosiphon(mine has been money-not sure what others are doing wrong)

Worst: doing OK so far...

 

[cd2448]

best:

auto-siphon
mini MLT conversion bits - now it feels like i'm really brewing beer

worst:

too many plastic fermentors. should have gotten glass or better bottles

most wanted:

i wants one of these "sanitizer solution injectors", i saw a guy using one on a youtube video, too. where can i get one?

 

[rdwj]

Best - Keggle, Hopstopper, kegging system, conical fermentor

Worst - racking cane, standard taps... I use everything else

 

[Pakawa]

Worst: the Turbotap - incredible, almost embarrassing waste of money.

Best: 15 gallon AG equipment, culminating in my homebuilt 21 gallon conical.

The Arduino microcontroller board is a close second for "best" - allowing me to monitor my brewing via laptop computer.

Also a close runner up - the steam system.

I've been wanting an arduino kit for a while, I gotta ask, what do you monitor with it?

 

[virginiawolf]

I broke one once trying to get the hose off of it
Since then I'm with you no problems I love the auto siphon
Virginia Wolf