equipment upgrades you wish you had from the start

[hezagenius]

Things I wished I just spent the money on upfront:
1. Bigger kettle. I use a 15g from Spike now for 5g batches. No concern about boilovers.
2. Fermentation chamber. I started with no control at all, then went to swamp cooler, and now use a kegerator fridge with an Inkbird.
3. Kegs with MFL connections and nice faucets. Man alive, it is nice to have beer on tap and not mess with cleaning and filling bottles.
4. Some type of quick disconnect system. I use camlocks on my kettle to switch between pump and drain. And I use them on my chiller to easily connect and disconnect from my water hose.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

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.

A thick book can lift up the bucket so that you can just about see the readout, but I'd agree, some scales where you don't have to do that are a good idea, either have a bigger platform or a display that is somehow visible when there's a bucket on. I've seen parcel scales that would be ideal, albeit bulky, I guess in this day and age there's no reason you couldn't have a Bluetooth transmitter to show the weight on your phone?

Most important bit of kit when brewing - pen and paper, obsess over planning and recording your brews.

Some software is very useful to that end too, even if it's something a bit clunky (but free) like Brewtarget or the online tools.

Most water utilities (certainly in the EU) have online tools to give you a water analysis for your postcode - it's a great place to start in getting your water dialed in without spending money on an analysis of what is actually coming out of your tap.

Something I don't think anyone's mentioned is heatproof silicone gloves - invaluable for handling HHHOOOTTTTTT!!!!!!! BIAB bags and also allows you to sterilise your "hands".

1-2 surplus 5gal buckets are really useful to have around, whether for keeping Starsan in, putting waste grain in whilst you do other stuff, giving you somewhere to put your wort when you discover you've just put it in a vessel with a leaky tap - and just using as somewhere to tidily store your gear, which definitely helps domestic harmony. I also have a storage box for keeping all my water adjustments and other small bits in.

Extra smaller fermentation buckets - I find myself increasingly doing split batches, I'm always playing with new hops or yeast or whatever. Lots more experience for minimal extra work.

Extractor fan for the brewspace if you're indoors.

A connector for the chiller that actually works without leaking

It''s definitely more advanced, and I've got an advantage in having wrangled yeast for work although it's not that difficult, but if you're into different yeasts then getting set up for doing slants etc is definitely worth it. Not something to worry about until you've got the basics sorted though.

 

[PADave]

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.

Sure it does. He asked which upgrades YOU wish you had from the start. I started with a Better Bottle, upgraded to a Fermonster, upgraded to a Spiedel, then upgraded to a Brewbucket. Would have saved me money by not buying the first two, and saves me headaches because the Brewbucket is much easier to clean. Yes you can ferment in all kinds of vessels, but that is what I wish I would have got from the start. I personally don't care for plastic. Most of my other equipment I bought good stuff from the get go, so haven't needed to upgrade yet.

 

[processhead]

Sure it does. He asked which upgrades YOU wish you had from the start. I started with a Better Bottle, upgraded to a Fermonster, upgraded to a Spiedel, then upgraded to a Brewbucket. Would have saved me money by not buying the first two, and saves me headaches because the Brewbucket is much easier to clean. Yes you can ferment in all kinds of vessels, but that is what I wish I would have got from the start. I personally don't care for plastic. Most of my other equipment I bought good stuff from the get go, so haven't needed to upgrade yet.

Yep, in your particular instance, maybe the fermenter was the one item.
Glad to hear your other first choices were the right ones, and you are still happy with them.

 

[Vandulus]

In no particular order here are the things I really wish I had starting off:
- A nice stainless brewing kettle
- Starsan and PBW
- Wort chiller
- Tilt hydrometer
- Fermentation chamber + temp controller
- Grain mill
- High quality digital thermometer

 

[springinloose1]

My answer doesn't depend on brewing style and won't produce "better" beer, but definitely makes brewing more fun: 3 tap kegerator. I started with a large chest freezer that doubled as a fermentation chamber. Due to size constraints, after I moved into kegging I couldn't use the chest freezer as a fermentation chamber anymore so I bought a kegerator, which is super awesome, and I get to lager again. Bottle day is tedious so moving to kegs was a godsend.

 

[mongoose33]

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.

As an FYI for those looking for a scale where the readout isn't covered, I have this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FSWB9K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

The front panel is removeable and connected to the rest of the scale by a cord, so you can put larger objects on it and still see the readout. It runs on batteries or you can buy a transformer, but I've had mine for several years and I'm still on the first set of batteries.

I'd buy this scale over again in a second. It's one of those items I *don't* wish I'd done over.

 

[IslandLizard]

As an FYI for those looking for a scale where the readout isn't covered, I have this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FSWB9K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

The front panel is removeable and connected to the rest of the scale by a cord, so you can put larger objects on it and still see the readout. It runs on batteries or you can buy a transformer, but I've had mine for several years and I'm still on the first set of batteries.

I'd buy this scale over again in a second. It's one of those items I *don't* wish I'd done over.

I would be looking for a scale that can be used when filling (corny) kegs, so it needs to be at least 50-55 lbs capacity.

Your scale will probably do that, with a 1 ft square piece of plywood on top. The detachable readout is a nice touch!

 

[mongoose33]

I would be looking for a scale that can be used when filling (corny) kegs, so it needs to be at least 50-55 lbs capacity.

Your scale will probably do that, with a 1 ft square piece of plywood on top. The detachable readout is a nice touch!

It'll do that. I also use it for weighing alloy for casting bullets.

I haven't really thought about using it while filling kegs....I should probably try that. Usually I'm filling kegs with cold-crashed beer so I just follow the condensation line on the outside of the keg.

 

[eric19312]

I was all ready to put up fermentation fridge but then reading the thread saw kegging. Yes I wish I hadn't taken 50 batches to pull the trigger on kegging haha.

 

[portguy]

I was all ready to put up fermentation fridge but then reading the thread saw kegging. Yes I wish I hadn't taken 50 batches to pull the trigger on kegging haha.

I just got permission from the wife to use a 12 yo freezer as a fermentation chamber! YAY... Too bad it is a vertical one with a monster middle shelf with coils built in. I can't unbend it because it will clear not enough space.

Just bought some 2x20 liter plastic boxes that fit between the shelves and allow 30 liter batches to ferment.

So: i stand with you. I wish i had some mini kegs now !

 

[ddibbern5]

This a great topic! Many have said that they wish they purchased the best they could afford from day one...
This seems like a good spot for this newb question-

What should I purchase? (& more importantly why)
Hellfire burner $150 (& stand)
Amcyl 15 gallon brew kettle w/ weldless thermometer & ball valve $190 (or other kettle?)
Total $340
Or
Bayou classic burner ~$60
10 gallon ss pot ~$60
Total $120
I’m new to home brewing & want to move to all grain.
Ultimately I will want the ability to produce 10 gallon batches but have no need to do that today.
The cheap solution will be my next step but the better option will probably be my final kettle & burner..?
Worst case if I never get the hang of brewing all grain & only brew a few batches I should be able to sell the good stuff for $250? Right?
Where the cheap stuff will probably get $20 maybe $40? So the loss of $’s will be comparable...?
Any advise & guidance for this newb would much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[paulshe]

By nature a mizer so take this for what it's worth. I brewed a long time ago and then restarted about 4 years ago. My restart was conditioned on a couple things:
1. all grain
2. Keg (no bottling)
But I don't think you can get there without some slow trial and error and deciding if you are in for the long term. But my short list of what I'd buy if I had known....
1. Kegging and decide on ball vs. pinlock and go to the used market (i chose pinlock cuz i can get 4 for about $120) but I do have some ball lock because I did not do my homework before. I hated bottling.
2. Big pot, 10 gallon if you are doing 5 gal. Don't need any of the bling. I chose aluminum and still use it.
3. Good burner. I was lucky i had one
4. Fermentation control. Ok this is a bit advanced but this is the ONE big thing that improved my process. I also bought spiedels but know that I could just as easily stuck with plastic buckets. Don't worry so much about the fermentation vessel.
5. Good chiller, I use IC that I homemade. Looking back should have bought the nice jaded hydra.

One more thing, to really answer you need to decide if you are a tinkerer and get pleasure from the DIY building aspect of the hobby. That is a big part of what you might prioritize.

ddibbern, if it was me do the bayou option. Although I'm getting seduced by the other kettles as I look for a 15 gallon pot and have a little more money then I should to spend on this.

 

[ddibbern5]

Thanks for the feedback paulshe!
I’m working towards all grain not quite there yet... but I do have a 4 keg keezer plus a fermentation chamber “under construction” (I picked up the craigslist chamber freezer yesterday.)I am a tinkerer for sure with an electronics & automation background.
I was planning on picking up a 100’ of copper tubing for a diy chiller. Is that not the best plan?

 

[mongoose33]

This a great topic! Many have said that they wish they purchased the best they could afford from day one...
This seems like a good spot for this newb question-

What should I purchase? (& more importantly why)
Hellfire burner $150 (& stand)
Amcyl 15 gallon brew kettle w/ weldless thermometer & ball valve $190 (or other kettle?)
Total $340
Or
Bayou classic burner ~$60
10 gallon ss pot ~$60
Total $120
I’m new to home brewing & want to move to all grain.
Ultimately I will want the ability to produce 10 gallon batches but have no need to do that today.
The cheap solution will be my next step but the better option will probably be my final kettle & burner..?
Worst case if I never get the hang of brewing all grain & only brew a few batches I should be able to sell the good stuff for $250? Right?
Where the cheap stuff will probably get $20 maybe $40? So the loss of $’s will be comparable...?
Any advise & guidance for this newb would much appreciated. Thanks!

Part of the issue is sitting there 6 mos from now having "invested" $120 in equipment that now no longer meets your needs or wants, and having to set it aside or sell it at a great discount.

I would suggest that you consider a kettle with welded fittings and ditch anything that has "weldless" fittings. While some report success with the "weldless" fittings, I had a kettle with them and they never seemed to want to seal quite right. It's not as robust an approach for tapping into a kettle. Welded fittings does = pricier.

Also, it might be helpful to think of the cost as $220. You've already decided to do something, so you're already willing to spend $120. The difference is $220, not the $340 you note for the more expensive setup.

I have a Hellfire, bought the leg extensions, so I know that burner very well. It's pricey, yes, but it helps do something I've been working on, to wit:

Shorten my brew day!

I do Brew-in-a-Bag and I have to heat 7.25 gallons of strike water and then do a boil of 6.5 gallons or a bit more. It takes time to heat that up! I'm sure the Hellfire (140,000 BTU) saves me 30 minutes every brew day in speed, compared to my old 54,000 BTU burner. The thing is a beast.

As far as the height, unless you want be bending down to work w/ your kettle, you'll want the leg extensions. They're about $40 or $45 or something (can't recall exactly).

But no way would I want this thing on the ground w/o the leg extensions. I can rack/drain right from my kettle into a fermenter w/ the kettle on the Hellfire w/ leg extensions. I'd have to lift that kettle to a bench or table. No way.

Now, maybe you can build a small table or some such out of 2x4s or similar, put a fireproof material on the top (ceramic tile?) and that would work to hold the Hellfire. I considered that but again, the cost wasn't $45 for the leg extensions, it was what the cost of the table would be versus the leg extensions, since I was going to do *something* to elevate that burner.

In the end, it makes the burner plus leg extensions almost $200. That's hard to swallow at the beginning (believe me, I know). I used Christmas money plus cash raised by selling my old setup to get it and the Spike 10-gallon kettle I have now.

***********

If you wanted to sell these items, I'm going to guess you might get 60-70 percent of the kettle costs (I wouldn't be a potential customer because of the "weldless" fittings), and maybe 70-75 percent for the hellfire, depending on condition. Bayou Classic burner? $30-35.

***********

This is the burner I sold to upgrade to the Hellfire: https://www.walmart.com/ip/King-Kooker-CS14-25-Portable-Propane-Outdoor-Camp-Stove-CS14/10661038

The nice thing is it already has legs and it will allow one to drain from the kettle. It is 54000 BTU. The BayouClassic is only...what...55,000 BTU? If that's wrong and it has higher BTUs, then probably the BayouClassic is a better deal.

***********

Anyway, some thoughts on this. I'm sure it just complicates things for you but those are some other considerations.

 

[Miraculix]

A bench capper.

 

[jekeane]

I am a firm believer in buy once cry once. That being said unless you know its a hobby for you its hard to say you should just dump $4,000 and be done with it.

That being said I believe you will be more apt to love the hobby if you make good beer right away and I think that starts with a chest freezer and temperature control.

Lots of new brewers here i Florida jump into the hobby without considering the need to deal with the heat here and they aren't brewing for very long because their beers suffer from lack of fermentation temperature control.

 

[Rairdog]

I started with a gifted 8 gal turkey fryer...upgraded to 15 gal Spike and Hellfire. Saved time/propane and much quieter.

My first batch was kegged. Used pin locks gave me headaches due to the posts were dinged up and leaked liquid inconsistently. I would go with ball locks.

A cheap used mini fridge, plywood/foam box extension fermentor was definitely a big improvement in flavor.

I still use a cheap 25 ft chiller but have cool well water so a Hydra isn't a high priority.

I haven't checked my gravity in a year. I make all my own recipes with 10-12 lbs of grain. I don't need to hit a target OG and the smell test of fermentor always lets me know it's doing it's thing....but thats just me being lazy and cocky.

I still use plastic buckets but am considering the Anvil SS buckets cause I know they will last forever and I don't care for siphoning.

A good thermometer made a difference...I was off 10 deg on my mash temps but the boil temp was always on so I figured it was accurate.

I didn't notice much difference with better scales but they're not expensive.

A brew/wash station was a big timesaver and lot less work with hoses, storage and lifting. It made the day go much easier and more enjoyable. I finally quit researching the ultimate rig and went with the workspace first using recycled material. The Hellfire sits on concrete blocks which will soon be tiled.

 

[ancientmariner52]

A big utility sink. Mine has two bowls, holds about thirty gallons each side. I can wash my 6.5 gal. Big Mouth Bubblers on one side while soaking 60 bottles on the other.

The thing is made of some kind of grey plastic, seems to hold up well. Came with legs, utility faucet and spray hose, about $100 at local farm supply. Wish I good go SS, but "Poor folks got poor ways".

 

[mj1angier]

A big utility sink. Mine has two bowls, holds about thirty gallons each side. I can wash my 6.5 gal. Big Mouth Bubblers on one side while soaking 60 bottles on the other.

The thing is made of some kind of grey plastic, seems to hold up well. Came with legs, utility faucet and spray hose, about $100 at local farm supply. Wish I good go SS, but "Poor folks got poor ways".

Of if like me, you don't have room/ hook up for a sink, get one of these:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tuff-stuff-products-tuff-round-tub-25-gal

I just run my first chiller water into it- nice and hot/ warm and add some PBW. As the wort is chilling, I am cleaning EBIAB basket and other stuff

 

[ancientmariner52]

That will work too. However you do it, indoor or out, rig a big-a$$ sink at a comfortable working height. Your back and beer will be better for it.

 

[mongoose33]

I'm subscribed to this thread because I posted in it, and it keeps showing up--and it keeps bothering me.

Why? Because every upgrade I've made I wish I'd had from the beginning. That's why I upgraded in every case--it was better than what I started with.

Upgrades since the beginning:

Spike 10-gallon kettle for 8-gallon Megapot
Thermapen Mark IV for a cheap electronic thermometer.
Jaded Hydra chiller for a Silver Serpent chiller
Refractometer for a hydrometer
Hellfire Burner for a King Kooker burner
Ferm Chamber for a swamp cooler
Second Mini-Fridge Ferm Chamber...because.
Upgraded utility sink in garage so I could clean out there
pH meter from Milwaukee (MW102)
RO system instead of tap water or buying RO water
Keg system instead of bottling
Keezer instead of using Picnic Taps to serve
Secondary regulators in keezer instead of a manifold
O2 Tank and regulator instead of shaking fermenter
Stir Plate and Flask for starters instead of using dry yeast
BIAB for mash tun (still have the mash tun)

And the newest one is on the way, a Monster Mill 3-roller mill to replace my Barley Crusher.

In fact, about the only thing I haven't upgraded is my long-handled spoon.

 

[Griffin495]

I'd say the equipment upgrades I wish I had from the start are:

fermentation chamber (I use a small dorm fridge and an inkbird to control it)
Wilser BIAB bag

 

[Morrey]

The upgrade issue, as I see it, is that very few of us really know where we will end up with our brewing style which means we don't know what our equipment should look like from the start.

Take DCPCooks for example. He and I exchange from time to time, and he just moved into a new home giving him a wide open basement (blank canvas) to build into a brewery. He is adding high amp electrical service, vented hoods, water lines and cutting drains into the concrete floor. Can he imagine he would be doing this some years ago when he was boiling 3G of water on his kitchen stove for an extract kit?

Many novices go to a LHBS and get sold on a kit that has most of the starter sized items....say a small boil kettle for extract, perhaps. With some experience, that brewer may now do AG and that small extract sized kettle is sitting there. But unless he/she is clairvoyant, their brewing future is generally a huge question mark at the beginning.

Any number of folks have mentioned to me they want to try home brewing. I always suggest they come over to join me for a brew day or to find a local brew club to join. Most of the guesswork or unknown is removed by observation and that person can avoid purchasing items that have little value in a brew or two down the road.

 

[cubalz]

Fermentation Chamber.

 

[MaxStout]

A hose bib on the back wall of my attached garage. In autumn, I shut off the two outside hose bibs, because, well, it's Minnesota. And those bibs weren't very close to the garage, anyway. So, no outside running water between October and April. Since my utility room is just behind the garage back wall, it was a cinch to run 1/2" copper to a freezeless hose bib through the wall.

And in summer, I have a closer water source for washing cars in the driveway.

 

[zebradeltaone]

a cooler and and an aquarium pump to chill my wort. Just used it for the first time this past weekend and man it dramatically reduced my cooling time (by 2/3s!) and I used a fraction of the water I normally used with my wort chiller.

 

[ancientmariner52]

The upgrade issue, as I see it, is that very few of us really know where we will end up with our brewing style which means we don't know what our equipment should look like from the start.

Take DCPCooks for example. He and I exchange from time to time, and he just moved into a new home giving him a wide open basement (blank canvas) to build into a brewery. He is adding high amp electrical service, vented hoods, water lines and cutting drains into the concrete floor. Can he imagine he would be doing this some years ago when he was boiling 3G of water on his kitchen stove for an extract kit?

Many novices go to a LHBS and get sold on a kit that has most of the starter sized items....say a small boil kettle for extract, perhaps. With some experience, that brewer may now do AG and that small extract sized kettle is sitting there. But unless he/she is clairvoyant, their brewing future is generally a huge question mark at the beginning.

Any number of folks have mentioned to me they want to try home brewing. I always suggest they come over to join me for a brew day or to find a local brew club to join. Most of the guesswork or unknown is removed by observation and that person can avoid purchasing items that have little value in a brew or two down the road.

This. Until you are aware of a lack, or need for improvement, how/why would you upgrade?

 

[JDXX1971]

the only thing I haven't upgraded is my long-handled spoon.

Lame old spoon.

 

[mongoose33]

the only thing I haven't upgraded is my long-handled spoon.

Lame old spoon.

Yeah, it's bothering me. There must be a better version, perhaps one with a hinge in the middle for easier storage, or some sort of automatic stirring function....

....wait a sec....automatic stirring function....isn't that what upgrading to a whirlpooling setup would accomplish?

Anybody want to buy a spoon?

 

[JDXX1971]

Yeah, it's bothering me. There must be a better version, perhaps one with a hinge in the middle for easier storage, or some sort of automatic stirring function....

....wait a sec...

.automatic stirring function....isn't that what upgrading to a whirlpooling setup would accomplish?

Nah, you need an automated drone droid for that.

Anybody want to buy a spoon?

I will start the bidding at $.25, well as long as it includes free shipping.

 

[ancientmariner52]

I don't know if this counts as an upgrade, since I can't imagine keeping house without one. An air compressor.

Get ALL the grain dust out of your mill. Dry the insides of your chiller. Blow the last hull bits off your mash tun manifold. Push a piece of yarn through five feet of beer tube to really scrub the inside.

I've spent my life in machine shops and engine rooms, and not having compressed air is like not having electricity or indoor plumbing. But it might not be so obvious if you don't come from a mechanical background.

 

[JDXX1971]

I don't know if this counts as an upgrade, since I can't imagine keeping house without one. An air compressor.

Get ALL the grain dust out of your mill.

Dry the insides of your chiller. Blow the last hull bits off your mash tun manifold. Push a piece of yarn through five feet of beer tube to really scrub the inside.

I've spent my life in machine shops and engine rooms, and not having compressed air is like not having electricity or indoor plumbing. But it might not be so obvious if you don't come from a mechanical background.

I was lazy and used my leaf blower to clean out my mill. Worked great, definitely an upgrade I wished I had from the start.

 

[Horseflesh]

Here are a few things that have really paid off.

Ss brew bucket. The bottom valve and rotating arm on the inside make kegging really easy. I regret every batch made with a bucket and siphon.

Flip top bottles over capped bottles, but kegging over bottles. Keg and don't look back!

Precision hydrometer set. So easy to read.

Going electric with a PID. I really enjoy punching in a temperature and it just happens.

As everyone said, a good kettle is a winner. Later I upgraded to an e-BIAB system and that was even better. Fancy gear does not make good beer, but it hopefully makes making good beer easier and more fun.

A pressure canner, so I can make shelf-stable quart jars of wort for starters. Big time saver.

As was mentioned earlier, a giant utility sink is FANTASTIC.

Fermentation temperature control is not on my upgrade list because I decided to implement it on day 1.

I have yet to buy a Jaded chiller but I know I will love it when I do!

 

[ESBrewer]

Now that I've made my first batch I would say refractometer. My hydrometer is quite big and I'm brewing micro (5-10 liters) batches so I lose quite a bit of worth when doing the measurements.

The other thing is a decent malt mill. For my first batch I used pre-milled base malts (milled in a local store a week ago) and just crushed the small amount of special malts by hand.

The good thing is that my self-made equipment (mash/lauter tun and fermentation temp ctrl water bath) worked fine. The second batch will be much easier when I know how the equipment exactly behaves (amount of worth lost/water evaporated during the boil/amount of cooling needed).

 

[basementbrewer35]

I only read a few of the comments but I definitely agree with a proper kettle. Whether you build it by drilling holes into a large size kettle and adding your own accessories or buy a brew specific kettle. I have both, I bought a brew specific kettle initially and I built my second one, they are both interchangeable with the same hardware and approximately the same size so they can act as the HLT or the brew kettle. Also make sure they have volume indicators on the pot, makes it so much easier, one of my pots doesn't have this and it gets frustrating sometimes. I also recommend thermometer on the kettles.

I also think a good fermenter like a fast ferment conical, it saves so much time and makes the brewing process much simpler. It also isn't a crazy expense like a stainless steel conical. I disliked all the transferring when I was using the bucket/carboy system.

Also I agree with some others saying that this is easy to say in hindsight but who knows at the beginning if this is a hobby that one would want to invest in or do on a regular basis. As much as I say having the good stuff at the beginning is something that makes life easier, if someone decides not to continue with brewing then you spent a lot of money on stuff that takes up a fair amount of space.

 

[jalc6927]

If you go workout a conical fermentation system get one with a spigot to eliminate the siphoning

 

[Kharnynb]

While my favourite upgrade is my bulldog brewer(electric all in one kettle), the one thing I wished I had right from the start would have been the auto-siphon and bottling wand...such a mess at first bottling...

 

[parrothead64]

I think the biggest thing is temperature controlled Fermentation. Your basement may be 68 but the fermentation is going to happen in the high 70’s and you can taste the difference

 

[Jako]

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.

hmm i think i might want to try something like this. 5 gallons is a lot of beer for me so if i want something hoppy or very fresh by the end it changes a lot. plus i would love to have lots of different beer at all times.

i really like this thread everyone can learn from this. for me a bigger pot i have a 8 gallon and i am stuck to around 7% beers in a BIAB set up. my wife bought me a burner for Christmas and a natural gas converter so i can run off the house gas so that is checked off my list.

1. bigger pot.
2. mash tun ( just because i want to learn)
3. key system. i don't mind bottling i would like more control over my carbonation.
4. items to help with low oxygen brewing i don't know much but plan to learn i feel like this would in the long term of my beer.

5. BOOKS!!!!! recipe books and just over all information books on brewing. i have the how to brew book but my mind thirst for more.