I just got into all grain, and I'm going to buy a new piece of equipment. I don't pour hundreds into my brewing hobby, so I work on a tight budget. I would love to buy a pump, but for right now its a new accessory. So, I was thinking of buying either a sight glass for my boil kettle, which will also be my hot liquor tank, a hop spider/basket for reducing hop pellet trub, or a set of quick disconnects for my kettle and mash tun. I try to keep my brew set up simple, so my question is based on all of your experience, what would make my brew day easier. Or is there another piece of equipment that would be more beneficial to me right now?
Next piece of brewing equipment
- Thread starter ziggityz
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Depends 
If you like your kettle and think you're going to keep it, a sight glass makes your volume measurements a lot easier. But if you think you're going to upgrade the kettle down the line, I'd just save the money for that (since there are other ways to handle volume measurements that aren't too tedious.)
From that list though, I'd recommend the hop spider/basket - I got one from ArborFab (you can read on them in this thread) and can attest to the quality of that product (and I know StainlessBrewing makes them as well.) Now, I do a lot of IPA & DIPAs so hop gunk is a big deal for me, you might have lighter hop schedules so it isn't as big a deal.
If you like your kettle and think you're going to keep it, a sight glass makes your volume measurements a lot easier. But if you think you're going to upgrade the kettle down the line, I'd just save the money for that (since there are other ways to handle volume measurements that aren't too tedious.)
From that list though, I'd recommend the hop spider/basket - I got one from ArborFab (you can read on them in this thread) and can attest to the quality of that product (and I know StainlessBrewing makes them as well.) Now, I do a lot of IPA & DIPAs so hop gunk is a big deal for me, you might have lighter hop schedules so it isn't as big a deal.
You got a grain mill?
Hop spider sounds convenient. I've been using paint strainer bags tied with a string hanging from the keg handle.
Sight glass is also something to think about but you can also use a calibrated dowel from Home Depot/Lowes as a dip stick if you want to save money.
Bobby M sells sight glass kits for a good price and seems to have good feedback from members.
http://www.brewhardware.com/home
My motorized Monster Mill is probably one of my most prized brewing possessions. I know it's priced up there with a pump but I would give away just about any other piece of equipment except for my grain mill, and I've got just about everything short of an O2 meter.
There's some sort of satisfaction I get from crushing my own grain the way I want it, and not what ever the HBS thinks is sufficient.
No two homebrew supply's use the same grain mill and or use the the same gap on their mill.
Hop spider sounds convenient. I've been using paint strainer bags tied with a string hanging from the keg handle.
Sight glass is also something to think about but you can also use a calibrated dowel from Home Depot/Lowes as a dip stick if you want to save money.
Bobby M sells sight glass kits for a good price and seems to have good feedback from members.
http://www.brewhardware.com/home
My motorized Monster Mill is probably one of my most prized brewing possessions. I know it's priced up there with a pump but I would give away just about any other piece of equipment except for my grain mill, and I've got just about everything short of an O2 meter.
There's some sort of satisfaction I get from crushing my own grain the way I want it, and not what ever the HBS thinks is sufficient.
No two homebrew supply's use the same grain mill and or use the the same gap on their mill.
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ziggityz
Well-Known Member
I've been following the hop spider at arbor for a while, and they look awesome, I'm probably going to be keeping my kettle for a long time, if I put a thermometer in the sight gague wll it accurately measure the hot liquor temp being so close to the flame?
Just dumped about a grand into my homebrew hardware (thanks to my income tax return) but a sightglass/thermometer combo from brewhardware.com was one of my investments. It is high quality and def will help with making great brews. Id have to vote for that or the hop spider as ur next piece since quick connects don't (just IMO) make all that much of a difference.
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