How much have you spent on equipment?

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

I do not even want to think about how much I've spent, even though it is not really that much compared to many on the site. I know that I want to shorten the time it takes me to brew, so I am picking up a plate chiller, March pump, a new burner, and a larger brew pot this week. Those alone is more than I want to think about.

 

[np0x]

Are people being honest or simply confessing their sins to an audience that will reserve judgement here?

I'm impressed either way for a multitude of reasons...

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

If I'm honest, I have no clue what I have spent on equipment. I just put that imaginary figure down to simply having a hobby. ALL hobbies have a cash outlay, and most have no return on the investment.

When I add up what my beer is costing me I only include ingredients and propane etc. The equipment is a done deal and remains out of the equation as far as I'm concerned.

This is the only way that I can justify my hobby by telling wifey that I can brew a truly enjoyable pint that I love cheaper than a barrel full of donkey piss from the drive-thru.

I find that works for me!

 

[np0x]

When I add up what my beer is costing me I only include ingredients and propane etc. The equipment is a done deal and remains out of the equation as far as I'm concerned.

I do the same math, the equipment falls into some weird budget category, that doesn't really count, it's hobby. Now the beer, that I calculate, very carefully ignoring any equipment costs.

In my experience making too much of a business out of a hobby it looses something...somehow caring about how much i spend on the hobby has the same ring. I think it can be fun to do things cheaply, or to lavishly, but in the end it's all entertainment and personal improvement. I generally think of my beers in the garage as my billions of little yeast children and I am proud of how big they have all grown up to be. I see that I am in good company.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I think it can be fun to do things cheaply, or to lavishly, but in the end it's all entertainment and personal improvement.

Well, I'm not cheap, I don't really care what i spend on equipment within reason. Having said that, I do enjoy keeping a tight budget on the actual brewing process as a part of the hobby. I do get a weird kind of enjoyment out of making the beer as good as i can, but as cheap as i can.

That attitude has led me to planting hops, roasting malt, washing yeast.....It just makes more work/increased fun for me!

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I'm not even going to bother adding mine up. It doesn't matter how much I've spent, all that matters is how much more I *want* to spend.

 

[Beerdrop]

I'm wondering where some of you get those deals like $20 cornies, low cost 15.5 MLT, HLT, etc.

Let's see
10 gal brewpot w/themometer & 1/2 ball valve, and bazooka screen $320
Plate Chiller $80
2 carboys $40
1 better beer bottle with accessories $60
Kegging setup with 5lb tank, 2 hoses, dual gage and 4 cornies $210
Original beer kit with bottlecapper, priming bucket, fermenting bucketc, etc. $75 (been so long have no idea)
Extra primary bucket $15
Assorted hoses, flip bottles, etc $150
total $950

Depressing as I can barely do all grain and can only handle 5 gal batches.
Forget the fact i'd love a 10 gal keg style all grain system with a 14 gal stainless fermentor

This is the only way that I can justify my hobby by telling wifey that I can brew a truly enjoyable pint that I love cheaper than a barrel full of donkey piss from the drive-thru.

My SWMBO and her Mother (MOSWMBO) are both Italian. They'll spend all day making pasta sauce (gravy in their venacular). Frying the meating, blending the tomatoes, cooking it for like 8 hours, etc (and I'll typically clean up the 2 pot mess!). So when they asked why I brew beer, I replied, "why don't you just buy your sauce at the supermarket?" No comeback from them....

 

[MSUConrad]

Automated 30 gallon brew stand with two pumps and all stainless pots/fittings, two chest freezers, "on deck" fridge, 3 tap stainless kegorater, seperate kitchen installed in garage, every gadget and gizmo I can get my hands on....

That paired with my lingering feeling that my wife internet stalks me...

i'd say I spent about $200 total.

 

[Beerdrop]

I do not even want to think about how much I've spent, even though it is not really that much compared to many on the site. I know that I want to shorten the time it takes me to brew, so I am picking up a plate chiller, March pump, a new burner, and a larger brew pot this week. Those alone is more than I want to think about.

But smile knowing you can save 10% OFF your order with discount code BYOAD. 10% OFF sale ends on April 7th.

Sorry couldn't resist

 

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

But smile knowing you can save 10% OFF your order with discount code BYOAD. 10% OFF sale ends on April 7th.

Sorry couldn't resist

That is funny, no need to be sorry. The 10% Off sale is how I am going to tell the SWMBO it was a good deal that I could not pass up. Of course I am getting it all while she is out of town.

Ed

 

[HomebrewJeff]

I'm wondering where some of you get those deals like $20 cornies, low cost 15.5 MLT, HLT, etc.

I have some cornies that I paid $12 for! I actually had 4-5 stored in my garage for over a year while I was bottling. I knew it was a good price, so I went for it.

As for the 15.5 kegs, I went to a store, asked if they had any I could buy and they charged me $10/each. That's all I'm saying. There are still good legal deals to be had such as Half Barrel Brew Kettle for $139.

Also, make everything that you can. Lot's of money to be saved that way!

 

[koldk]

I don't want to add it up. I can't lie to the SWMBO if I myself don't know the truth

 

[jbolte1976]

My wife doesn't visit this forum , 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.

It adds up but I like to tell myself it's saving me money on the $10 six packs at the liquor store .

 

[np0x]

I just bought a glass secondary

As a recent better bottle convert, check them out before you get too many glass carboy's, they are light, and having broken my fair share of carboys(without getting hurt), i am basically done with those glass carboys as much as possible...

 

[EdWort]

Oh... a couple hundred I guess.

 

[Cape Brewing]

An amount that would get me instantly divorced.

 

[springer]

An amount that would get me instantly divorced.

one of the reasons I haven't said how much and in the event that I do get divorced I don't want that number out there for the lawyer to see... but its way to much

 

[Cape Brewing]

one of the reasons I haven't said how much and in the event that I do get divorced I don't want that number out there for the lawyer to see... but its way to much

The really big swing for me is whether or not you count my pub as "equipment".

Strictly "beer equip" is still a lot... 20 gallon single teir system... DIY walk in cooler... three ferm. fridges... all sorts of misc stuff.. all my kegging equip.... all of that stuff has got to be well over $5k... and then if you add the pub, all said and done, it jumps to $55-$60k

 

[JPicasso]

Lets see, I'm in for about $1200. That includes stuff for AG, even though I'm still doing extract batches. Kegging setup w/ 14cuFt freezer, Large pot and Barley Crusher.

Although, soon it will be much more, as we finish our basement and include a bar/ brewing area.

 

[bob1852]

I don't want to add it up. I can't lie to the SWMBO if I myself don't know the truth

what's that old saying? I'm afraid when I die SWMBO will sell all my homebrew supplies for what I told her I paid for it!

 

[carnevoodoo]

Most of my stuff has come from craigslist. 5 carboys @ 20 each. 2 5 gallons @ 10 each. Original starter kit was around 120. Kegerator - 100, new tower and used perlicks, 150, 14 kegs - about 200 dollars (I got some good deals!), 42 qt. mash tun - 10 bucks, cpvc manifold - another 10, weldless fittings- around 100, 42 qt. stainless pot - 35 dollars, second fridge - 10 bucks, fermentation freezer (14.8 cu. ft.) - 120 bucks, various other things - 200+ I'm sure.

A little over a grand sounds about right for everything I have. It also has been over two years, so it isn't so bad.

 

[jbolte1976]

I don't feel so bad about my initial investment anymore. I spend way more on the ingredients than I ever did on my equipment (now that I've been doing this a while). I guess I'm saving money because I'm not buying so much beer and wine at the sore

JB

 

[BadKarma]

I think I got more in my brewing library than I have in equipment. I built most everything I use, but I still haven't ponied up to a kegging system yet and thats next.

But now that I think about it, I still only brew 2.5 gal and the occasional 5 gal batches.

 

[springer]

Just added some more this week.. still I will keep the amount to myself

 

[oceanselv]

$300 Initial extract set up including kettle, bottling bucket, 2 cases of bottles, bottle caper, 2 carboys and other miscellaneous gear.
$135 Barley crusher
$80 Turkey fryer
$300 Brewing rig, hoses and cooler parts
$150 Stainless 40 QT kettle
$50 Temperature controller
$50 Storage bins for grains and equipment
$28 Grain scale
$42 Stir plate
$50 Chiller
$100 Other miscellaneous items such as 2000 ml Erlenmeyer flask, tubing and hose clamps

$1285 as of now. I figure within the next 2 years I will probably add kegging equipement, another carboy or two, either a Blichman or Polarware kettle and MLT along with a new brew rig, and if I am ever confronted by SWIMBO it will be easier to ask forgiveness at that point than permission when I am spending the money.

 

[sillyburt]

I'm at about $850 right not and I'd consider myself a n00b. that number includes almost everything I've spent so far though. I mean everything I could think of including the scentless dish soap, alum foil, grolsch bottles, ingredients so far, bottle sprayer, HD buckets, etc. I haven't accounted for heat energy cost and I quit tallying water cost after I found out 4 gallons cost me $ .01

I bought my first equipment from craig's, then some more equip from craig's, an order from hops direct and a bulk buy of (2) 55# of grain. so if you wanted to take ingredients off my list it would knock off about $270. I've made 11 batches and pry have enough ingredients to make another 9-10 batches less specialty grains.

edit: I can do all grain batches on my stove of about 5-5.5 gallons. future purchases/wish list include a better immersion chiller ( I have 20' 1/4" OD), ferm control & another kettle

 

[uechikid]

I've probably spent $1000 building my set up and buying all the stuff that I couldn't make my self. Maybe a little more if you want to count the broken carboys I've had to replace. But it's really hard to say exactly. I've been brewing since 1993-1994. You can accumulate a lot of stuff in that amount of time.

 

[Irrenarzt]

Waiting to see ClaudiusB answer this one.

Very curious.

Why is that? Does he buy a lot of fittings from you?

 

[willynilly]

Over $4500 into the rig
Over $700 into the kegging/milling equipment


Plenty...

 

[copster88]

Well just new to this AG business, I started by buying 3 used kegs...$150 for the three of them, then put in an order at Midwest for $130, by that point I figured I was committed, bought parts from Weldless, Bargain and AHS. Decided to pull the pin on 10 tip burners from Shopperchoice and a few Ebay purchases. Let just say that once you are committed, that's it. I figure I need to spend another ~$500 or so in the next few weeks. This should bring it to over $1200 for a full setup brew rig. Told SWIMBO that I would work a lot of OT in the nest few months. Damn!