I know plenty of folks have far more elaborate setups and a lot more stuff than I, but a year or so ago I felt rather proud of my low budget minimalist diy biab setup. A repurposed turkey fryer, a cooler, a diy immersion chiller, a garage sale find of a carboy, and not a whole lot more. Well, maybe there was, since I grow most of my hops and culture yeast. But, in my mind, it didn't seem like much more than that. I was happy with my relatively low budget minimalist diy approach and bottling. It got the job done and I liked what I brewed.
Then, toddler and the associated time constraints, along with being annoyed at how much propane I was using, caused me to decide to go induction so I could brew in the basement. Then, I started taking a look at my process, with an eye towards making each step less time-consuming. Some of the things were simple and easy, like upgrading 3/8" tubing and connectors to larger diameter. But, a sale here, a garage sale there, a craigslist find or five and somehow I now have a 3500w induction burner, multiple induction ready kettles, several fermenters, a circulating pump, a dedicated stand, a hoist for the bag of grain (still doing a form of biab), keg, several CO2 cylinders and regulators, and the list goes on and on. This week's craigslist find was a kegerator that just needs a wee bit of TLC and some fittings swapped out (but will become more of a project as I modify it for additional kegs and taps).
I think it was this last bit that made me look around and realize that somehow I've fallen down the rabbit hole. It's comfy here. I regret nothing. I'll brew better beer, more often. But, I may need to get rid of some of the things that are redundant and/or that I've outgrown.
Then, toddler and the associated time constraints, along with being annoyed at how much propane I was using, caused me to decide to go induction so I could brew in the basement. Then, I started taking a look at my process, with an eye towards making each step less time-consuming. Some of the things were simple and easy, like upgrading 3/8" tubing and connectors to larger diameter. But, a sale here, a garage sale there, a craigslist find or five and somehow I now have a 3500w induction burner, multiple induction ready kettles, several fermenters, a circulating pump, a dedicated stand, a hoist for the bag of grain (still doing a form of biab), keg, several CO2 cylinders and regulators, and the list goes on and on. This week's craigslist find was a kegerator that just needs a wee bit of TLC and some fittings swapped out (but will become more of a project as I modify it for additional kegs and taps).
I think it was this last bit that made me look around and realize that somehow I've fallen down the rabbit hole. It's comfy here. I regret nothing. I'll brew better beer, more often. But, I may need to get rid of some of the things that are redundant and/or that I've outgrown.