I am thinking about giving up.

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Stay_Trill

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I haven't even started. I just feel like I have spent so much money just on buying some kegs and turning them into into a boil kettle, mash tun, and HLT. I dont even have hoses pumps or burners or anything just the keggles. I feel like I should sell them and just have the extra money, I feel like I am gonna need hundreds and hundreds still more just to get started. What should I do?!
 
I would suggest simplifying your set up and shopping around for good prices. I don't think my setup cost more than $300 for 5 gallon batches.
 
Put the kegs in a safe place for future use.

Do a couple batches on the stove-top or borrow a turkey fryer.

Use 5 gallon HDPE buckets from Home depot as fermentors. Show yourself it can be done.

After you have a couple batches under your belt, go back and finish your keg/boiler project. I think it is a great aspiration.
 
As with most hobbies, there are people who feel they need to acquire all the gear before they can start and those that jump right in and get the stuff as they go along. A brewing system doesn't need to cost $1000 or even $300. Like a lot of people, I started out homebrewing with nothing. A few home depot buckets, a turkey frier, and a crappy water cooler. And guess what, it made great beer and I'm still using parts of it. If you really want to make beer, just start brewing with what ya got.
 
Simplify! No need to start w/pumps and multiple burners. I have 1 $70 turkey fryer that doubles as a boil kettle and HLT, 1 converted cooler for mashing, and a bucket. I started even simpler, on the stovetop, doing smaller batches.
 
I haven't even started. I just feel like I have spent so much money just on buying some kegs and turning them into into a boil kettle, mash tun, and HLT. I dont even have hoses pumps or burners or anything just the keggles. I feel like I should sell them and just have the extra money, I feel like I am gonna need hundreds and hundreds still more just to get started. What should I do?!
There's easier way's to do it. I got set up with a homemade cooler MLT, wort chiller and other equipment for less than $100.00. And; I make good beer :)
 
Don't give up man! I'm some what in the same shoes. Like many, I found out trying to start at the top with all nice equipment would cost more than I wanted to spend. I realized I should start smaller after researching equipment and costs.I found a nice used kit of craigslist for a decent price. Came with 2 glass carboys and gear, bottling bucket and gear, 48 12 oz. bottles and caps, hydrometer, floating thermometer, 5g ss pot and 2 recipes. Mind you everything is going to be cleaned very thoroughly.

Edit: I spent $120 on the kit. Picking up on Friday.
 
HANG IN THERE!!!!! Any hobby cost money, three nice things you will experience doing this that other hobbyist such as golfers, model builders, collectors and so on comprise of; once you buy the initial supplies you are set, you will not need more space as your collection or hobby grows and collects dust, and you not only get to drink yours but the first time you make a brew, cider, wine or whatever you will be very proud of what you did. The variety and the fact that no two batches come out exactly the same gives the entire new experience.

FYI YouTube as some great videos on doing it cheap!!!!
 
As already said, Simplify! I started with Northern Brewers Deluxe starter kit ~ $150. A 5 gallon aluminum stock pot that I already had and an Irish Red Ale kit. I bought some bottles, but you can use saved craft beer bottles. Total start up no more than $200. I then worked on obtaining my all grain equipment over a period of about 6 months. I am still upgrading slowly 1 year 4 months later and see continuing to get better/more equipment slowly for the rest of my brewing "career".
 
Well like everyone said, start simple.
It sounds like you have the same problem as lots of guys I know. If you are going to do it, you want to do it right and go all the way.

I started off with an extract kit that I think I got from Northern Brewer. Next I added a wort chiller.
Eventually I got a 10 gallon stainless pot from Amazon.com.

By the time I was ready for all grain all I needed was a mash tun made from a 10 gallon igloo cooler and a propane burner.
By starting off simple and adding to it you can get good components without busting the bank.
In time you get a refractometer, grain mill, kegs and so on.

With any new hobby you are better off getting your feet wet cheap to see if the hobby sticks.
I didn't know how well I would like my beer, if I would be able to afford to do what I wanted, or most important.... As a single dad working full time I didn't know if I would have the time.

Turns out it's a great hobby and I worked through the logistics and have an all grain setup and brew mostly at night when my daughter is in bed. I do the final clean up the next night when she's in bed again.
Added bonus.... When my buddies want to have a couple beers they come here for fresh draft beer. They get to catch a ride or keep the drinking in check.

I've thought about getting a couple kegs to step it up and make a bigger batch but the added effort of mashing over the flame instead of in a cooler seems like a lot of effort at 10:00 at night.
 
I decided to start simply. I've got about $140 into the combo of Brewer's Best 2-bucket kit (with hydrometer and everything else needed), two kit recipes and extra DME for each of them. I brewed my first batch yesterday, and it's bubbling away next to me in my office as I type this. It was easy. I got 75 Grolsch and Fischer bottles for free off our local Freecycle (there are Freecycle e-mail nets in most cities now). I was able to pick up a turkey deep-fry pot that holds about 7 gallons for a couple bucks at a garage sale. While I'm using Muntons hopped malt liquid kits in a can right now, which don't call for doing a full boil, I'll eventually graduate to using actual grains and hops and full boils, but I don't need much of anything more than I have right now to do that.

There may come a day when I go with kegs and all the expensive temp controls and wort chillers and such, but if that day never arrives, that'll be OK too. I anticipate making great pilsners and ales for a long time (these are my favorites anyway) with what I have.

Yup, like the others said, start simply and decide where to go from there. And that DIY forum here is awesome. Some folks are into that and some aren't. If you are a bit handy, want to save money, and get satisfaction from doing it well and more cheaply than buying equipment retail, I highly recommend DIY. :)
 
Wait, you live in the United States where homebrewing supplies are in plenty,
you haven't even made a malt extract brew for starters, and you're already giving up?
I think you're worrying too much.

I live in Japan, a land where homebrewing supplies are supposedly obtainable online,
but for some reason always always out of stock. And they aren't cheap either... so I improvised.

(Hell no way I was going to pay $56.50 for a plastic fermenter bucket, or $48 for a wort chiller.)

This is what I used to make my first brew:

11.5 Litre polyethylene water tank @ $10
Spigot for the water tank @ $5
50cm of plastic tubing @ $0.60
Rubber bung @ $4.80
Airlock @ $2.30

And everything else, I got from the kitchen (pots, funnel, bleach and stuff). In total, It doesn't even cost $23 dollars.
I used a bathtub full of cold water to chill my wort, and our thermometer was for frying so it wouldn't read below 25C.
I don't have a hydrometer, racking cane, no-rinse sanitizer and all those other wonderful items to make your life easier.
But it was enough equipment to make a 3 gallon batch of Weizenbier and hey, it tastes decent and good enough for my first attempt.

I suggest putting your All-grain mashing setup project aside, and make a couple of partial mash brews which,
as far as i know only requires a pot, colander, thermometer and a grain bag.
I heard you can even do an all-grain mash in a cooler box, so you could do that too.

Anyways, RDWHAHB and good luck on your brewing!
 
I haven't even started. I just feel like I have spent so much money just on buying some kegs and turning them into into a boil kettle, mash tun, and HLT. I dont even have hoses pumps or burners or anything just the keggles. I feel like I should sell them and just have the extra money, I feel like I am gonna need hundreds and hundreds still more just to get started. What should I do?!

Yeah, you should find a different hobby. You're too wound up for this.

I suggest skydiving or bungee jumping.
 
Anecdotal comparison:
Once upon a time I played golf. I started with craptastic wooden hand-me-down clubs. They were perfect because those are actually harder to hit than the fancy new fangled clubs and they only cost $25 at a yard sale. Once I thought I was good enough to up my game, I started replacing my set piece by piece. By the time I had a new set, I was playing in the low to mid 80's. That old set I started with made me a better player, because I already knew how to adjust/compensate for more precise contact since those old clubs were hard as all get-out to hit straight (about half of the surface area as the new clubs).

My point is to start with what you can afford. Get familiar and comfortable with that equipment and then slowly start replacing it piece by piece with newer more specialized equipment. I'm a fan of Alton Brown's mentality that unitasker utensils are a no-go. If I can't use a piece of equipment for more than one task, I won't buy it. That right there has saved me a bunch of money. I've been brewing for a while now and I still don't own a wort chiller. It only does one job. My swamp cooler can convert into a large storage container when I'm not using it (which is pretty much never) and a bag of ice and 2 frozen soda bottles can cool a 5gal batch of wort almost as fast as an IC. It's not the equipment that makes a good brewer.
 
Like everyone else said, just jump in. You don't need pumps or multiple burners, or controllers.

You need fire, a bag and a kettle. Or just fire and a kettle (if you are doing extract). You can grow over time. I started with a 5 gallon kettle and a couple of buckets. Now I have a cooler mash tun, a 15 gallon kettle, and some better bottles.
 
Reading your other posts, it sounds like you're making the jump to all-grain without a command of the process. The basic equipment you really need to make beer are a pot that can boil 2-3 gallons of water, a plastic bucket/lid/airlock, some tubing and bottles. Don't even worry about the other stuff until you have a grasp on the essentials. I would recommend starting with a partial boil extract for your first beer. After a few tries at this you can decide if brewing is the right hobby for you.
 
If a hurricane came through and destroyed every last bit of my brewing equipment I would restart by paying for everything I wanted up front. But, I would know exactly what I wanted because of my brewing experience.

I don't think jumping in head first is a bad thing, but since you're feeling down about how much it's costing I think you should follow the general advice and just get a few batches under your belt with a simple and inexpensive set-up before you spend more money on upper end equipment.

And for me the goal in my early brewing days was to produce something with alcohol in it that I could drink without spitting it back up. For my first three brews or so that's pretty much what I got and not a whole lot more. If you're expecting to hit homeruns with your first few batches you might be in for some disappointment.
 
Sounds to me like you're buying a Corvette before learning to drive. Try learning on the Corolla first. Cheap, economical, and easy to learn. I started with an $80 beginners kit on my stove, now I'm doing all-grain, and I've still invested less than $300 over two years. That includes a small freezer and temp controller for fermentation, a keg and propane burner for boiling, and a Home Depot cooler with false bottom for mashing.
 
You would have been so much better of purchasing a beginners kit at Northernbrewer and seeing if you liked the hobby before you started dropping serious money on a high end all-grain system. All that shiny bling will not make you a good brewer - understanding temperature control, pitching rates, and the general brewing process will.
 
LandoLincoln said:
I suggest skydiving or bungee jumping.

I have about ten grand worth of skydiving gear. Getting the license costs about 3k now. I did it one jump at a time and borrowed gear, didn't pay people to pack for me, and bought most equipment used. A lot of people say they'd like to learn, but the time and money commitment is too much.

Making beer is the same thing. I got most of my initial gear at a garage sale and then acquired almost everything else from Craigslist. I did the same with windsurfing gear.

My point is to take it one step at a time and soon you'll have everything you need.
 
You seem like the kind of person who gets frustrated with a process like this easily - nothing wrong with that at all, I'm just making an observation in order to help advise you better. Having said that, it would suit you very well to start much slower and simpler. Try extract brewing on a stovetop with some really simple equipment - a 5 gallon kettle and a 2 bucket starter kit will cost you less than $125. A stainless steel spoon, a thermometer, and some starsan, and you're good to go. You can control ferm temps with a cheap swamp cooler and then, as you make and drink great beer, upgrade your setup slowly. If you are like most of us and you are buying quality craft brews when you aren't drinking your own, you'll be saving tons of money by brewing this way. Dump the savings into new and better equipment slowly. Think about it, if your initial investment is $150, and you spend roughly $40-50 on kits or ingredients, by your tenth batch, you'll have spent around $700 and made 500 or so beers. Even if you saved .35 a beer, that's $175. This is our crazy rationale. ;)
 
Even if you saved .35 a beer, that's $175. This is our crazy rationale. ;)

Which works unless you're married. Tried it over the years on two different wives. No luck, despite the flawless rationale and rock-solid mathematics!
 
Dude, I started with a 5 gallon pot and a wort chiller. You just add stuff as you go. Each time I brew I try to add a new technique. I went from partial boils to full boils, so I bought a turkey frier and an 11 gallon pot. Then I went from extract to all grain, so I converted a rubbermaid cooler into a MLT. Then I started doing yeast starters and got the equipment for that. Then I got a chest freezer and temp controller to better control my fermentation. Then I got a water filter so I could get my water from the garden hose and not have to run back and forth from the garage to the kitchen. Next I'm going to get into kegging. Some day I'll have the full scale automated brew rig. But I'm in no rush and enjoying good beer while I get there.

No need to start huge. Learn the techniques first so when you are ready to go big you know exactly what you want. :mug:
 
Super simple BIB all gain setup get yourself a pot, grain bag, thermometer and bucket with air lock. Really brewing can be extremely simple when it comes to equipment and process. Have fun with it!
 
Bail now before its too late! This hobby is a money pit so sell your crap off and get out before it's too late. Too bad for me I'm hooked :(
 
Simplify. Here's where I re-started from:

DSCN0590-a.jpg


Big pot, propane burner, late-addition extract brewing. I made some really good beer this way.
 
You can do all grain small batch also.Stovetop Brew in a bag.Pretty minimal equipement. I was very minimal at first. Got a two gallon bucket at HOme depot turned it into a bottle/fermenting bucket. Free paint strainer from work.Yeah I was that cheap not even two $3-4 dollar buckets just one for bottleing and primary in. Spend a few more dollars and get an auto-siphon or not,just use a racking cane and hose. All the little stuff is reasonable like hydrometers. Grain is cheaper than extract if you learn how to mash. If you buy grains crushed you wont need a mill until you start buying bulk.You can start out relativly cheap,I did it,as do others and for some people its free with some knowhow,or maybe knowwho,or knowwhere.
 
The trick here is that this is a hobby. As a hobby it takes time to become good at it. The only way that you become good is to practive the craft. It would behoove you to start simple and improve your technique first, then add a high dollar system later on. I started with a Mr Beer kit and over time I have built a three tier tower with a lot of "Nice" additions. It isn't absolutely necessary for you to have an all stainless top of the line brew rig to make great beer. Patience and attention to detail will yeild many benefits and go a long way toward the satisfaction you are looking for. Consider your favorite beer and maybe do a clone of it until you get it exactly to your liking. Just don't give up too soon.
Wheelchair Bob
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stay_Trill
I haven't even started. I just feel like I have spent so much money just on buying some kegs and turning them into into a boil kettle, mash tun, and HLT. I dont even have hoses pumps or burners or anything just the keggles. I feel like I should sell them and just have the extra money, I feel like I am gonna need hundreds and hundreds still more just to get started. What should I do?!


Yeah, you should find a different hobby. You're too wound up for this.

I suggest skydiving or bungee jumping.

/\ /\ /\ /\
This made me laugh:fro:

Always wiser to learn to walk before you try to run a full marathon. Save yourself a lot of pain/money as it's not really advantageous to have all the gear and no idea.
 
Try BIAB if your trying to do a cheap/easy/simple all grain setup. Less than 100 dollars if you use an aluminum pot.

This +1,000,000.

I'm doing all-grain BIAB and making great beer for a start-up cost of less than $100. All you need is a turkey fryer, $2 paint strainer bags, a few cheap accessories (capper, autosiphon, etc.) and ingredients.

There's nothing wrong with going hardware crazy, goodness knows I love the man-toy aspect of this hobby, but it is absolutely NOT necessary to break the bank with hundreds of dollars in equipment in order to make great beer.
 
KISS, KISS, KISS

As others have said go to BIAB for an easy AG setup. Spend the $$ and get a good brew pot. I have a 10 gallon Blichman.
Me, that pot, some plastic fermentors make some damn good beer to work on my old 1950 GMC and old tractors.
Swing top bottles take the chore out of bottling and as time & $$ permit consider kegging so you have more free time.
Remember, it is a hobby - do this to have fun and enjoy fruits of your labors with others.
 
Quit while you are ahead. You WILL spend more money than you can guess. And it will never stop until you quit. Having said that, don't worry and drink beer. I do that and I turned out fine.
 
I see that the OP has not responded to any of the replies. I guess he has given up as he jumped in with both feet before finding out how deep the water was!
 
Im close by and just about done building my eherms bcs system. im sure i have some old stuff i could pass along to help you get started, if your interested shoot me a pm
 
The OP states in his introductory thread that he doesn't even drink. He wants to brew for his friends and family, and for the process. Read some of his previous posts. He is either a troll or jumped in WAYYYYYY over his head
 

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