equipment upgrades you wish you had from the start

[GeekBrew]

I did a bit of searching but didn't find a topic specific to my question. What upgrades to your equipment have you done, that you wish you had done from day 1 which would have saved money, headaches, and provided a much better beer? This is a very open ended question and am wondering if you wish you had gone BIAB/all grain or maybe electric from the start. Maybe getting a fermentation chamber made a huge change in the quality of your beer. Maybe it's as simple as getting a better quality burner, pot, or thermometer. Just curious to hear what you think would have been beneficial from day 1.

With that question out of the way, a little background as to why I ask. In my younger days I was into working on cars. Spent money on a supercharged car. converted it to turbo with a kit. started upgrading pieces. swapped out motors. and eventually wound up with a fully custom setup with programmable ecu. by the end, you realize you could have saved more than a few dollars having jumped right in, but maybe needed the experience of the smaller setups to get there. However along the way you realize that if you had the right tools for the jobs sooner, life would have been so much easier.

 

[bwible]

The best brew pot you can afford should be your first investment. Preferably stainless. They are not cheap. If you plan to do all grain, buy one bigger than 5 gallons or you will be buying one again later.

Buying or building a wort chiller should be #2. This is one I put off for way too long when I first started.

A hydrometer should have come with your kit. If not, buy one. It’s a must have.

A kegging system makes life SO much easier than bottling.

 

[plazola86]

Going electric for sure! Now I'm able to do single vessel BIAB and have full automation.

 

[bwible]

Going electric for sure! Now I'm able to do single vessel BIAB and have full automation.

Is that something like the Grainfather? I’ve only seen those recently and they do look super cool. The ability to program and step mash.

Not sure I could justify that price tag to SWMBO though.

 

[MaxStout]

Ditto for a sufficient-sized brew kettle. If you do extract batches, get one big enough for a full-volume boil. If AG, get one big enough for your full mash water plus grain volume, keeping in mind high-gravity brews. A good BK is not cheap, but buy once, cry once.

 

[plazola86]

Is that something like the Grainfather? I’ve only seen those recently and they do look super cool. The ability to program and step mash.

Not sure I could justify that price tag to SWMBO though.

Its a 240 volt Brew Boss system. Makes brew day a breeze, I could not be happier going this route. Luckily my wife loves beer just as much as I do and is very supportive of all my home brewing!

 

[FloppyKnockers]

A digital scale that shows hundredths or more. This was the only thing that I did not buy myself, but don't want to tell the gift-giver that they're stupid.

 

[BeardedBrews]

My advice is to start out with a solid basic extract kit (decent 5g pot and buckets) from any brew shop, including a hydrometer, and brew at least 5 batches before you buy anything more than ingredients. At that point you'll have enough practice to understand what you want to change, and what you just needed time to learn how to do better. You will use that starter gear forever so it's not wasted money.

After those 5 batches, decide the batch size you want to upgrade into for your long-term kit. I picked 10 gallons which meant everything else I bought was big enough to do that. 15 gallon keggle, ferm chamber big enough for 2 buckets, etc.



Ferm chamber, all-grain (biab), electric brewing, kegs, bulk hops, and bulk grain with a grain mill are all upgrades that I love now that I have them and would have a hard time giving up. Which one is the best is hard to say, and I can't say that having any one of them before the other would be better.

 

[portguy]

I wish i started with a Grainfather. In fact i still keep wishing, but i'm cheap and the beer is great as is.

 

[schatzke]

Pump & Counterflow chiller

 

[seatazzz]

+1 on the right sized pot. In the course of 1.5 years of brewing, I've bought: a 3 gallon cheapie SS pot from Big lots; a 4 gallon enamel pot from wally world; got a hand-me-down 4 gallon pressure cooker from the mother; a 12 gallon aluminum from costco; and finally a 15 gallon keggle with a ball valve & thermowell. I still use the 12 gallon for first runnings and as a heat exchanger with my old IC, but the keggle was definitely the way to go once I started all-grain.

 

[leftcontact]

Temp control during fermentation is the key to consistent brewing. An old fridge with an aquarium temp controller will do fine.

 

[ggriffi]

Another +1 on kettle. Right behind that for me would be my Hydra chiller.

 

[Cyclman]

Good kettle (20G) + burner + 1/2" 50' chiller. Then, yeast propagation / oxygenation. Next, temp controlled fermentation. Then kegging / Co2 pressured beer racking. Finally, pump transfers. Someday, I want to build a lab.

Buy good thermometers, a refractometer, Ph meter.

 

[PADave]

For me it was stainless fermenters, should have got them from the get go.

 

[mj1angier]

So for me, I had some items to get started with BIAB- 20 gal pot with basket and propane burner. I was able to buy a 10 gallon EBIAB used and have gotten a 20 gallon SS pot to go with it. The 10 is fine for less that 11 lbs grain but the basket will over flow after that. I use the same basket that I had in my 20 gallon with a mesh bag.
I don't think I will every go to a 3 pot system- room is a problem vs. what I think it will improve what I make now.

And a way to control frem temps. I have a basement but even there it get too 70 in summer. Inkbird and chest freezer works for me

 

[madscientist451]

A small scale. I did without it for years, dividing 0z. hop portions by eye and I couldn't do any water chemistry. Only cost about $20, wish I had one from day one.

 

[jfolks]

Pure oxygen set up

 

[BongoYodeler]

So far for me the single best upgrade was when I moved from a cheap 4 gallon kettle to a 15 gallon ss Spike kettle.

 

[timeasterday]

Most people seem to want to go to larger systems but I wish I would’ve planned small batches from the start. I have lots of stuff for 5 gallons batches but it takes me a long time to drink that much beer. I want more variety. A couple weeks ago I did my first BIAB - a small 1.5 gallon batch (no sparge) and it was a very enjoyable process. I think I will continue down that route, probably increasing to 2-ish gallon batches now that I have a 3 gallon carboy. I still have a couple of extract kits that I will cut to half batches and then move on to BIAB, probably going electric eventually.

 

[McKnuckle]

^Right on. I followed the usual 5 gallon mantra early on. I now brew 2.5 gallon batches, all kegged in small cornies in a keezer as nice as anyone's.

- Equipment for 2.5 gallon batches
- Induction cooktop for brewing indoors, avoiding gas
- Fermentation fridge with temp control

 

[Lefou]

For me it was stainless fermenters, should have got them from the get go.

This. The stainless fermenters are great items.
I commonly find myself wishing for a nice SS Brewtech model to replace the multiple glass carboys. Great item, moderately priced for people who want more than the basics without extending themselves into more expensive automated brew systems.

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

I started out with 1 G batches and very quickly realized it wasn't enough. I then made the move to 3 G batches. Which still wasn't enough. I finally moved to a 7 G Fermonster which I'm happy with.

I still use the 1G set up for test batches.

Don't be afraid to go big with your fermenter. Bigger than you think you should. Also make sure you have a spigot for draining the fermenter. Siphoning is a major pain.

 

[Greytop]

Something simple and cheap: I started out with a 12 gal. King Kooker pot to do 5 gal. BIAB. The size was perfect, even for big stouts, but the problem was getting the wort to the fermenter. For the first year and a half I used an auto-syphon. Almost every brew session, the tube would get loose in the bucket and shoot wort at me. It was also a pain to clean. I finally bought a spigot, drilled out the kettle and elevated the burner so gravity can do all the work.

 

[jerbrew]

Wish I had at the start:

something to brew off the stove (electric, propane, a huge fire, anything but a stove)
fermentation fridge
big enough kettle
a pump (those cheap $20 ones work well for 10 gallons of beer)
Kegs (for packaging, storing, fermenting, keeping sanitizer in, etc.)

 

[mongoose33]

Probably my Hydra wort chiller. It's a beast and it saves a ton of chilling time.

What I upgraded from my initial homebrew setup:

Upgraded NB 1.2 8-gallon megapot to a Spike Brewing 10-gallon kettle.

Upgraded a 54,000btu propane burner to a 140,000btu Hellfire burner.

Upgraded a NB silver serpent immersion chiller to a Jaded Brewing Hydra immersion chiller.

Bought an RO system from Buckeye Hydro after a few times buying distilled water. That was worth it.

 

[Jtk78]

Camlock fitting instead of the wickedly overpriced quick disconnects I bought from my LHBS. I'm adding a pump and whirlpool arm in my setup and replacing them because it's cheaper than adding more QD to the system. Plus I want them to be consistent.

 

[Likebull]

Plate chiller for sure. It is not fun filling half a 55gal drum with water and ice. And the inevitable splash that makes it's way In to the wort.

 

[applescrap]

20 g kettle for fv 10 g biab
Zymatic
Grainfather

 

[Transamguy77]

To be honest this is a hard question, I feel like the purchases I made all went along with how I was growing as a brewer.

When I started I had the equipment for my extract batches and as I grew so did my equipment in the beginning I never would have thought that I would be doing AG 10 gallon batches so I wouldn’t have thought to build a 3 tier rig with keggles.

The only purchase I made over was my digital scale, you couldn’t see the weight of the bucket because the bucket covered the readout.

I totally agree on trying to buy for the future but it’s hard to when you don’t know what that will look like in 5 years.

 

[GeekBrew]

Some great info here. Seems like a big pot is the most common answer when putting all the responses together.

I'm super new to brewing, but after only a short period of time, these are my observations on choices i made thus far.
-glad I went with morebeers kit that came with an 8.5gallon pot with two welded ports and included a ball valve. Kind of wish there was a 10 gallon option though.
-love the fermonster with spigot attachment.
-really happy i started with a wort chiller from day 1, but now you have me looking at the hydra
-after my first batch, i purchased a thermometer i could put in the other port on my kettle. the thermometer that came with my kit was almost useless to me.
-for my first batch i debated a lot about how much to spend on a burner. i did end up buying a blichmann hellfire and am happy i did. While it cost more than other options, i think the ability to control the flame, and heat fast is actually something that is making me being a beginner easier. for my second batch i did purchase the extended legs and am glad i have those now.

I think at this point, my biggest variable is the temperature of fermentation. I am looking into the options for controlling fermentation temperatures and that will probably be my next investment.

Also thinking my next batch may be one of the 3 gallon BIAB northern brewer kits to try out the BIAB method and see where that takes me.

Thanks for all the great info!

 

[mongoose33]

The problem when one is starting out is that one doesn't really know for sure if one will like brewing. Do I wish I hadn't spent money on the system I bought, and directed that money toward a better system? Yeah.

But at the same time, I wonder if I learned how to brew better because I had to learn about workarounds and deal with equipment not quite as nice as that to what I later upgraded.

• No ferm chamber. Had to learn to use a swamp cooler.
  
• Slow chiller. Recognized why fast was better (usually).
  
• Smaller kettle. Now I know why bigger in this case is better.
  
• Only had a hydrometer. Now I know why a refractometer makes sense.
  
• I bottle conditioned; it helped me learn the value of kegging, and a keezer.
  
• I used my water out of the tap (if your water tastes good you can make good beer!); it helped me learn the value of an RO system.

I have, now, easily a couple grand or more in equipment--and I don't have any pumps, or electric brewing, or fancy control panel, or anything like that. If you had told me I should have all that stuff I've got at the outset, I wonder if I would have learned as much, or even been motivated to figure it out.'

Or even begun at all given the apparent high cost of beginning homebrewing.

Just a thought...

 

[bigdawg86]

I should have spent 200 on a SS Brewtech brew bucket instead of Craftabrew Catalyst.

 

[SlitheryDee]

My big one is the larger brew kettle. I bought a 5 gal, 10, gal, and now a 20 gallon. Each one has pretty much rendered the previous one useless. I could have saved some dough by jumping straight to the 20 gal, but how was I to know that I would want it in the beginning? Some things you just can't help I guess. At least I think I can probably use the 10 gallon as a HLT when I get going with an electric setup.

I wish I had gone all 6.5 gallon plastic buckets for my fermenters. I've gone through a couple of carboys at this point and I keep going back to my lone bucket every time it's not occupied by a beer because it's so much easier to deal with. I also should never have bothered with glass fermenters. Everything I have now is plastic, and it's so much less nerve wracking to move around. Of course if I had fermentation chambers from the beginning all my early beers would have been that much better as well. The wort chiller is another big one. I feel like being able to get the wort under 170F fairly quickly is a big help when it comes to turning out a consistent product.

 

[SlitheryDee]

double post

 

[Kwitty]

Self education! All of these things mentioned make a difference, & some more than others. For me a temp controlled fermentation chamber made the most drastic immediately noticeable difference as far as equipment. But for me reading everything I could and listening to good homebrew podcasts taught me so much before I got too deep. It kept me from spending needless money and wasting time. Toys are nice, but ometimes simple can produce better in the hands of someone with knowledge. And not just with beer!

 

[Kwitty]

The problem when one is starting out is that one doesn't really know for sure if one will like brewing. Do I wish I hadn't spent money on the system I bought, and directed that money toward a better system? Yeah.

But at the same time, I wonder if I learned how to brew better because I had to learn about workarounds and deal with equipment not quite as nice as that to what I later upgraded.

• No ferm chamber. Had to learn to use a swamp cooler.
  
• Slow chiller. Recognized why fast was better (usually).
  
• Smaller kettle. Now I know why bigger in this case is better.
  
• Only had a hydrometer. Now I know why a refractometer makes sense.
  
• I bottle conditioned; it helped me learn the value of kegging, and a keezer.
  
• I used my water out of the tap (if your water tastes good you can make good beer!); it helped me learn the value of an RO system.

I have, now, easily a couple grand or more in equipment--and I don't have any pumps, or electric brewing, or fancy control panel, or anything like that. If you had told me I should have all that stuff I've got at the outset, I wonder if I would have learned as much, or even been motivated to figure it out.'

Or even begun at all given the apparent high cost of beginning homebrewing.

Just a thought...

I like the way you think!

 

[processhead]

For me it was stainless fermenters, should have got them from the get go.

While a stainless fermenter is a great piece of equipment to have, I don't really think it meets the criteria spelled out by the OP.

You can ferment great beers in a wide variety of vessels, many of which are cheap, and some of which are free.

But IMHO, a good kettle with a drain is right at the top of the list of essentials, followed by a wort chiller.

 

[z-bob]

My best upgrade so far was a Hot Rod immersion heater (1650 watts) It makes all the difference in the world when I'm boiling indoors on the kitchen stove, and saves a bunch of propane when I'm boiling outside.

 

[jalc6927]

Without question

The grainfather

Used one this weekend and it was awesome