How much should I expect to invest?

[wallyLOZ]

I'm brand new to this addiction myself, so my experience is VERY limited compared to most on this forum. I started with one gallon extract batches, and see this as an inexpensive way to start. You'll quickly find out if you've been bitten by the bug. You can try different style's to see which you prefer and not have five gallons of beer you're not crazy about. After you move up to larger volumes the one gallon system can still be used to run a test batch of a new recipe. MTCW. Good luck and let us know of your progress.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Take up golf. Just as frustrating.

Just curious, what was the breakdown for 1000 dollars worth of kegging equipment.

I was like $400 for the freezer, $300 for 2 kegs and a CO2 canister. $300 for the tubes and faucets, but like I said, I was just looking stuff up on google, I’m sure to do it in real life would be different.

 

[applescrap]

Ok thanks. Here is the total other end of the spectrum. This and a fifty dollar craigslist fridge and one can begin for under 200. By a bigger tank and for under 250 pretty well set up. The webstaurant setup is cheap too.

 

[hawkbox]

I've personally put about $300 into brewing equipment and about $600 into the keezer. I have a 16gallon brew pot, a bayou burner, a $20 coleman cooler mash tun and a corona mill I modded with a 5 gallon pail. It's probably all sorts of ghetto as it were but it works and works well. It doesn't have to be a huge investment unless you choose to.

Cause I could easily spend a few thousand on this if I wanted to.

 

[beernutz]

At least try BIAB before investing in a lot of other equipment. You can probably do BIAB on your kitchen stove and then you would need a bag (~$20) and a pot (~$50). You can make an immersion cooler inexpensively or buy one for ~$50. Get a fermenting bucket and some way to control its temperature (~$70 for bucket and brewbag) and you are good to go for under $200. You'd be bottling so you need bottles, caps, and a capper and likely a bottling wand which if you are frugal might be scrounged for another $50. So $250-$300 plus the cost of ingredients for your first batch but after than you are just amortizing the cost of the equipment and buying more ingredients. Like others have

 

[AJinJacksonville]

I was sort of kidding about my golf statement earlier...haha. I think part of the fun (since brewing the beer is mostly DIY) is putting together your systems DIY. I bought the absolute necessities early on, and things I don't *need* (copper immersion chiller, chest freezer fermentation chamber, mash tun) I either sourced and built myself or found on CL for cheap (ie. two ball lock cornies for $50 that just needed a cleaning and new seals). Personally, I know I can brew decent beer with the initial brew buckets I purchased, and everything else after that is an upgrade. I'm not on a budget, but my wife has me on a beer budget (she prefers tequila). I wait for holidays, b-days, etc., for the bigger purchases (propane burner, kegging supplies, ingredients for extra brew days).

If you are patient and do your research, this hobby does not have to sink you or force you to take out a second mortgage. I have a blast and now all I basically have to buy are beer ingredients. I try not to get too envious or splurge on new toys...although the whole BIAB thing is pretty intriguing to me. Ten months till my next bday!

 

[kylevester]

All of the equipment you can buy varies in price significantly based on size, quality, name brand, new/used, etc. You could easily get the same stuff for under $500 or spend north of $3000.

For a 3-tier set-up you need the minimum (and I'm likely forgetting some things):

Equipment:
Space to store and use the equipment
Heat source(s) -- my 3 vessel system had 2 burners
Hot lauter tun
Mash tun
Boil kettle
Chiller
Fermenter
Serving vessels (kegs or bottles)

Accessories:
Hydrometer
Thermometer
Fittings
Hoses (not actually required, but very useful)
Cleaning and sanitizing chemicals
Spoon/mash paddle/huge whisk
Bottle capper
Kegs
Valves
O-rings
Brewing salts for water treatment
Table/cart to put things on during the brew day

Options:
Sparge arm
Pump(s)
RIMS or HERMS
Kegerator & all associated accessories
Grain mill

Tools needed:
Drill
Step bit
Screwdriver(s)

Nearly everything can be DIY or purchased complete.

All you need to make beer (all-grain): One pot big enough for your batch size, a nylon bag, and a heat source. And ingredients, of course. You could easily do a BIAB set-up for under $300 with all new equipment.

Having brewed for over 10 years now, I gotta say that I wish BIAB was around when I started, or even the Grainfather (or something like it). I've gone from small to big to bigger to RIMS and back down to small and simple in that time. I've spent more money than I want to think about. Keep it small, simple, and easy to use and you'll find you brew more often and enjoy it more. When you have to move things around a lot and spend nearly as much time cleaning as you do brewing, it can suck the fun out of it in a hurry. Just my two cents from an old guy whose back hurts for days after brewing on his 3 vessel system. (Which is why I just recently bought a Grainfather)

 

[jlinz]

I second the Grainfather or Robobrew recommendation. If I would have done this in the beginning, I would have saved a lot of money finally getting here. Also, you can't beat those units for an apartment. So, with one of these units, you could be up an running for a bit more than a grand, which could probably include a keg and regulator, and a couple fermenters.

 

[mikeschmidt69]

I restarted the hobby after +20 year break. From my past experience I wanted to improve.
* Mash temperature control
* Fermentation temperature control
* Kegging rather than bottles

I went with a 20L Braumeister, fermentation fridge+connical and keg setup.

For kegging, I bought a basic single head regulator and shortly after decided to upgrade to a dual-head regulator so I could force carbonate and serve beer with different pressures at the same. time. On Braumeister forum I see people upgrading from 20L to 50L system.

My point is... you never know what your going to want.

 

[Toejam792]

I recommend a 10 gallon pot from the start. Also I think propane costs way more in the long run, propane is expensive and getting tanks filled is an inconvenience. You can go electric for not that much more than a burner and have great temperature control. I brewed for 6 months and decided i wanted to control my temperatures easier than sitting around a pot and checking the temperature every ten minutes, now my burners just sit rusting.

 

[Calder]

Take up golf. Just as frustrating.

I spend more on golf, and continue to struggle with it. I like to try and brew 'cost-effective', and make dam good beer!

My advice to the OP would be to do some initial brews and see how they turn out. Extract with specialty grains on the kitchen stove in a 5 gallon pot. Investing in a great system up-front can save a lot of money in the long-term, but if you decide you don't want to brew (as a lot of people have found) it ends up being a waste of money. The cost of a 5 gallon pot and a straining bag is nothing compared to what he plans to spend. The 5 gallon pot can be used for crabs legs if he wants to go bigger. 5 gallon pot (4 gallons of liquid) is probably the max for a stove.

Do you want t go BIAB, 3-Tier, Electric? Just get started and then you will have a 'little' more experience to decide which way you want to go.

Bottle the first brews. That way you will be able to have a reason to keg.

 

[PADave]

My advice, start slow and figure out what you want and what works for you. I started out doing 1 gallon brews. Try BIAB, low equipment cost. Works for me, and I have no intentions of changing. But probably $2k+ in equipment, and another $1k+ in kegging equipment, I still have a want list that will cost several hundred more to buy. It's a dark hole, once you fall in.