Homebrew MUST Haves

[grampamark]

A long-suffering and understanding significant other

Or a significant other that gets excited by what you're currently brewing for her.

Or a spouse who has a hobby that makes the cost of homebrewing look like a rounding error in the typical household budget (my wife is a quilter).

 

[seatazzz]

It would seem to me that if your boil off rate was right for the timing, it would be easier to use a timer for the addition of hops than to guess at the timing based on the level of the wort in a sight glass. Beersmith has a timer that beeps when it is time to add something. No hovering over a sight glass looking to guess if it is at the right level for an addition. But, as always - it is whatever works...

I do agree with you, to a point; my issue has always been overthinking, and further to that, thinking that I should increase the boil time to get my volume where I need it. And for a few brews, that meant having less in the fermenter than I intended. Now that I have done the boiloff test, and the math, it makes more sense to add the hops based on the volume rather than the boil time. I still keep an eye on the timer, but my main goal is to have the right volume at the end of boil. If the sight glass says done, but the timer says 15 more minutes, I'm going to agree with the sight glass. If my gravity winds up a few points off my target, I'll mark it down to experience and work more on my starting volume. Either way, I'm making beer; a few ABV percentage points doesn't bother me a bit. Currently sipping on a truly delicious light (4.6%) lager that was done with paying attention to the volume rather than a hard and set timer, which wound up at just the right volume & SG based on my math. Of course, to each his/her own, but this worked for me.

 

[balrog]

Or a significant other that gets excited by what you're currently brewing for her.

And if wishes were horses then beggars would ride.
My better half detests beer. The smell, the taste, the aroma of the boil, and even the heavenly luxury that is the mashing of the malt.

Sigh.

 

[Soulshine2]

A few sacks of base malt, a variety of crystal/specialty malts, flaked goods and bulk hops (in freezer) on hand. Plus a good assortment of yeast strains in the fridge.

I can brew anytime I want.

^this

 

[Soulshine2]

Or a significant other that gets excited by what you're currently brewing for her.

as the old saying goes and stands true...If mama aint happy, nobodys happy.
Happy Wife ,Happy Life.

I keep a hef around just for my wife. But she does enjoy my hobby and likes my other brews .

 

[kh54s10]

I do agree with you, to a point; my issue has always been overthinking, and further to that, thinking that I should increase the boil time to get my volume where I need it. And for a few brews, that meant having less in the fermenter than I intended. Now that I have done the boiloff test, and the math, it makes more sense to add the hops based on the volume rather than the boil time. I still keep an eye on the timer, but my main goal is to have the right volume at the end of boil. If the sight glass says done, but the timer says 15 more minutes, I'm going to agree with the sight glass. If my gravity winds up a few points off my target, I'll mark it down to experience and work more on my starting volume. Either way, I'm making beer; a few ABV percentage points doesn't bother me a bit. Currently sipping on a truly delicious light (4.6%) lager that was done with paying attention to the volume rather than a hard and set timer, which wound up at just the right volume & SG based on my math. Of course, to each his/her own, but this worked for me.

I don't really understand the need for this. I figured out my boil off 7 years ago. I use Beersmith to make my recipes. I use the strike water volume, batch sparge to the volume I know that I need for preboil. The difference made by ambient temperature and humidity only vary the volume going into the fermenter by about a tenth of a gallon one way or another. This from 30 degrees ambient to 90+ and high humidity. The final volume doesn't change much at all.

 

[McKnuckle]

"Patience" is the best answer. There are many good answers, but as far as gear goes, I vote for Cornelius kegs (and the various accessories required to utilize them).

I think the importance of hot side equipment is over-stated. Too many new brewers are obsessed with huge, shiny kettles with many ports, pumps, etc. - but are somehow not ready to invest in kegging yet.

The brew day is over in a few hours, and wort is actually easy to make if you understand the principles. I could make wort with cheap ass equipment if I had to.

Even fermenting, which is a critical process for sure, is easy to do as long as you manage yeast, control temperature, and keep out oxygen. Many different types of vessel can be used if you are a bit crafty. The vessel itself isn't the most important part.

But serving? This is where the beer will remain for the longest time in its life - in the package. It needs to be kept fresh, cold, sealed, carbonated, dark, and sanitary for weeks to months.

There are not that many practical options for serving. Bottles are a pain in many ways - cleaning them, physically filling them, getting the right amount of sugar in them, keeping out oxygen, not tipping them over, carbonating them correctly, storing them properly...

Kegs are amazing packages. They are very easy to use and perfectly designed for what they do. And you can ferment in them, too!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Or a significant other that gets excited by what you're currently brewing for her.

Or even better, one that hangs out during brew day and helps.

 

[Immocles]

Or a spouse who has a hobby that makes the cost of homebrewing look like a rounding error in the typical household budget (my wife is a quilter).

Ha! Yep. My wife doesn’t quilt, but she has knitting projects all over the house. It amazed me how much a ball of yarn can cost. It’s in another league in comparison to the cost of most of my supplies. It’s nutsssssss.

 

[tsholl]

A spray bottle with Star San, and lots of paper towels.

 

[NewJersey]

temperature controlled fermentation and whatever equipment/method for o2 free transfers

 

[deadwolfbones]

A spray bottle with Star San, and lots of paper towels.

Yeah, I was going to say paper towels.

 

[hezagenius]

Anything that can shorten my brew day.
A decent scale to measure hops
A vacuum sealer to be able to store brew day hops by addition times, and to store opened bulk hops for later
Plastic storage bins to keep by fittings organized by size
A container to keep my salts and other dry additions in
Lots of buckets to keep cleaning solution and sanitizing solution
Some sort of CIP setup to clean kegs and fermenters

 

[Immocles]

+1 on the vacuum sealer. Almost a requirement for me with 1-2.5g brews.
I found tons of uses for a couple simple 4(?) gallon dish tubs, especially bottling days.

 

[Jayjay1976]

My trusty cereal killer grain mill set to the smallest gap, and of course my @wilserbrewer BIAB bag.
Oh and my brew logbook, I got it from 33books.com and it is indispensible.

 

[Saunassa]

Or a spouse who has a hobby that makes the cost of homebrewing look like a rounding error in the typical household budget (my wife is a quilter).

Mine is a quilter and supplies and tools add up fast for her.

 

[Edward's Beer Cellar]

Or a spouse who has a hobby that makes the cost of homebrewing look like a rounding error in the typical household budget (my wife is a quilter).

I could build a pretty nice brew house with what I've invested in quilting equipment, rooms and supplies.

 

[Brettomomyces]

a sharpie