Best and worst buys/builds

[rcrabb22]

I have wasted money buying equipment I thought I needed but didn't need but I have also made a good buy here and there.

My worst buy -
Filter assembly and pads - impulse buy 8 months ago - I have NEVER used it

My best buy -
1/2" auto-siphon - upgraded from 3/8" version. 1/2 inch transfer from carboy to keg is **MUCH** faster

Most versatile buy -
March Pump - used for mashing, chilling and transfer to carboys

Best Build -
1/2" CFC - Haven't used it yet , but is the most professional looking build I have done to date

 

[Yooper]

My best buy was a Portuguese floor corker. I actually bought several cheaper corkers first- a basic cheap hand corker, and then a "Gilda" corker. I paid about $15 for the first, and about $25 for the second. Both worked ok for small batches, but were a HUGE PITA for more than a couple of gallons of wine. So I still ended up buying the floor corker for $55.

My next best buy was a CFC. I love that thing!

A barley crusher ranks up there as a best buy for me, too. I live in the middle of nowhere, and buying bulk grain saved me a fortune. The crusher has already "earned" me back my investment, and then some!

 

[Yooper]

I really don't have a worst buy- thank goodness! The only thing that would come close are tons of 5 gallon carboys, from back when I thought secondaries were crucial. But since they are almost always full of wine, even those get used.

 

[iparks81]

Best Buy: 2 Keg setup (co2 botle and lines) and fridge conversion from keg connection on there black friday sale last year, 160 bux if i remember correctly

Worst Build: 3/8 counterflow chiller...took 35 minutes to gravity flow 5 gal through it and it wasted a TON of water I had no way to recirculate ..(but it was at perfect temp when it came through)

best build: Immersion chiller with cooler and pond pump to recirculate ice water.

Worst Buy: ...cant think of anything major....sealing wax?...bought it and never used it

 

[Catt22]

1st Best Buy: Little Giant Pump
2nd Best Buy: Polarware Kettle w/FB
3rd Best Buy: Bayou Classic SQ-14
4th Best Buy: Chest Freezer w/collar and 4 Ventmatic taps & lots of kegs etc of course
5th Best Buy: Auto Siphon 3/8ths size
6th Best Buy: DIY Stir Plate and Flasks
7th Best Buy: 12" dia. x 1/8" solid copper heat diffuser for under MT on gas burner
8th Best Buy: 1/2" ID Hard Copper Pipe DIY Counter Flow Chiller

1st Worst Buy: Plate Filter (used once)
2nd Worst Buy: 3/8" OD counter flow chiller (way slow flow rate)

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Best Buy: 20cf chest freezer for $70 on craigslist. Got me into kegging, gives me a place to cold crash, and when I was out of beer was a great place to control fermentation temps. Enough to make me keep looking for another one just for fermenting.

Best build: Cooler mash-tun. 7 or 8 all grain batches in and not looking back.

No bad buys/builds as of yet. Though I'm getting ready to start a rig and that could always end in disaster ;-)

 

[surreal_trip]

Best Buy: 5-6 gallon glass fermentors 4-5 gallon glass fermentors and countless 1 gallons for $80 bucks at a vacant posession auction.

Worst buy: ordering 5 yards of material for BIAB and getting 6 boxes of weeding veils...

 

[Whut]

Best buy: Three way tie between my March pump, Refractometer, and my chest freezers.
Worst Buy: Filter system to clear beer. Never used and was returned.

Best build: My current 2-tier brew stand.
Worst Build: My first 3-tier brew stand (it's the one in My Gallery that looks like a trophy award stand).

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Best buy: Refractometer

This is on my list of "next buys".

 

[schweaty]

Best Buy - Johnson 419 Temp Controller. Made my beers 100% better.
Worst Buy - Brew Belt (Warms Up Carboy). Had it for nearly 1 year, never used it once.

 

[DeafSmith]

Worst buy: ordering 5 yards of material for BIAB and getting 6 boxes of weeding veils...

Is that something the Muslim women wear while working in the garden?

 

[matthewkbridges]

Best buy: Freezer/temperature control. Set it, forget it, and I've never had a bad batch since. Here in Georgia, temperature is a real problem (my very first batch went bad thanks to July heat and a broken A/C. The moral: take the most extreme part of your environment (temperature if you're in GA, maybe water quality if you're on a well, etc.) and take control of it *before* it ruins a batch or two of beer.
Worst buy: pre made mash screen. Waaay overpriced, stuck the first time I used it, barely got any flow in subsequent mashes. When I ditched it for a cheap-a$$ CPVC manifold I had the best mash experience yet. The moral: You can spend money and get a mediocre product, you can spend a lot of money and get a good product, or you can spend some time on HBT, a little bit of money, and a little bit of elbow grease, and get something even better.

Best build: Square-cooler MLT with CPVC manifold. Works great, cost less than my all-store-bought setup (10 gallon gatorade cooler with a spigot pre-drilled, LHBS mash screen). The moral: see above.

Worst build: I build an electric HLT. I put it together, decided to skip gaskets, and if it leaked I thought I could just throw silicone at the problem until the leaks stopped. I have parts for a complete replacement ready for building. The moral: build it right the first time. A bit of time and money overengineering something is better than building it twice (and overengineering it the second time anyways).

Hope this helps people avoid some of my mistakes.

 

[surreal_trip]

Is that something the Muslim women wear while working in the garden?

good catch *grumble grumble grumble* but i aint fixin it!

 

[iijakii]

My worst buy was something like $200 on a starter kit. I made one PM beer and then moved up to AG after that, hello wasted equipment.

 

[bendavanza]

Best:
1) extra fridge from craigslist for temp control and the ranco thermostat to regulate it. Biggest single difference in my beers.
2) kegging setup
3 )whirlfloc
4) 1/2" ID 3/4"OD Silicone tubing for the brew tree.
5) pile of kegs at the scrapyard

Worst:
1) jockey box (should have just used a fridge)
2) cheap faucets
3) I dunno, I've done pretty well with what I bought.

 

[Arazcamaro]

Best:
Used tall pony keg on Craig's List for $15 - makes a great boil kettle for 5 gallon AG batches
Igloo Cooler Mash Tun with CPVC manifold
50' Immersion Chiller


Worst:
Floating thermometer (broke while in a pot of wort)
Stainless Steel Braided MLT screen (or so I thought, got it home a went to cut the ends off only to find out it was plastic made to look like stainless)