Had my extract equipment given to me as gifts. (bottling bucket, autosiphon, plastic paddle, 5-gallon stock pot, 2x-wing and 1x-bench capper, 6.5 gal bucket and 6 gallon carboy, hydrometer, floating thermometer, 2 airlocks, 1 bung, bottle brush, carboy brush -- and an immersion chiller from my sister for my birthday back when copper was still cheap)
A few years later, bought some additional stuff, maybe about $50 invested in a 6.5gal carboy, some grain bags, some bottle caps, carboy dryer etc.
Stopped brewing for about 4 years.
Last year SWMBO asks when I can teach her to make beer. We do an extract kit and I remembered why I loved brewing so much. So I decided to go all grain.
First, need 4 new airlocks: $5
Some bungs and whatnot: $10
1 5-gallon cooler: Christmas present
1 turkey fryer with 32qt pot: free
So far, doing great at keeping the cost down! So then....
1 10-gallon cooler: $40 @ home depot
hardware for both to become MLT: $50
3 hydrometers from breaking them one after another: $18
three true brew thermometers because I was having temp issues: $18
A thermapen, since the thermometers all sucked: $120
A barley crusher since I didn't like the LHBS crush: $120
Broke a plastic paddle, need a stainless spoon: $8
Bent the stainless spoon, need a grout mixer: $18
2 more bucket fermenters: $30
Hundreds of bottles for all this beer: $40
Wow, I have a lot of crap, need a way to store it:
2 wire-rack shelves from Lowes: $100
1 plastic table from BJs: $40
Then I'll start "saving" money by freezing some yeasties:
Homemade Stir plate: $40
Flasks for stir plate: $40
Assorted Stir bars: $10
Vials for freezing yeast: $12
This bottling thing sucks, so I'm gonna keg:
5-lb CO2 tank with regulator: Free
hydro testing on CO2 tank: $17
10 corny kegs: $200
O-rings for kegs: $30
10-lb CO2 tank because I "need" two tanks: $78
Regulator for 2nd CO2 tank: $50
QDs and tubing to run four kegs: $100
Oops, found some leaky poppets: $40
Mini fridge for one keg: $30
Wanna make some apfelwein, don't wanna use my beer fermenters:
2 Homer buckets: $6
2 more airlocks: $4
2 grommets for airlocks: $1.02
Need more tubing, all this old stuff sucks: $30
Starsan, propane, electricity, natural gas, beer ingredients, paper towels, water usage, want a keezer, want more propane burners, want some pumps, want some keggles, want want want....
From what I count that makes it $1,305 for just equipment in the past 8 months. I could have bought 8 bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue label for that... wow, first time I laid this all out.
That's all I'm saying. There are still good legal deals to be had such as Half Barrel Brew Kettle for $139.
, but honestly I've only got a few hundred bucks into this so far, but I'm real basic yet. Got a complete 5 gallon kit, I just bought a glass secondary a few weeks ago. My next purchase is probably going to be a good size pot, probably a set of 32 oz swing bottles, etc.
