Ok folks I finally have money to spend on equipment and I need some advice

[erick0619]

I currently have exactly 225 usd to spend on equipment. I have a list of things I want to build and was hoping you fellow brewers could tell me what would be the best things to buy I already have the basic essentials to brew here's what I "need" wort chiller I can get 50 feet of 3/8OD flexible copper for just under 40 i also want to build a ferm chamber I already have the fridge I just need the stc controller and the heating element I also want to build a stir plate capable of holding a 5000ml flask you know future proofing... And I also want to build a mash tun. So yeah I hope someone out there can sift through this mess of a post and give me some advice thank you all

 

[erick0619]

I forgot to mention that I have a soar computer I can pull the hard drive out and the fans to use for the stir plate

 

[northcal]

I'd get into all grain first to save some $. Temp controlled fermentation and kegging next.


Good luck to you,

Where did you get the extra $ ?

 

[erick0619]

Yeah I kinda was leaning towards that it's just my apartment gets somewhat hot during the day and I would loveee to not have to worry about temp swings as for the money finally got my finances in order and this is what was left over for my "hobby"

 

[gr8shandini]

I think you're on the right track. Keeping fermentation temps under control would be my number 1 priority. Wort chiller would be next. If you go the STC route, I'm guessing you'd have roughly $150 left to spend.

Honestly, I'd forgo the stir plate for a while. You can make an adequate starter without one and if you use dry yeast, you don't need a starter at all. Rather, I'd opt for a grain mill. I got a Barley Crusher a few years back for $70 or so. If you brew more than a couple times a year, buying your base malts in bulk will make that money back in no time.

Since you didn't say anything about kettles and burners, I assume you're all set there. So with your last 80 bucks, I'd get a vacuum sealer and plenty of bags. It helps keep both grains and hops fresh and reduces waste. And once again, buying in bulk saves money in the long run. If you tailor most of your beers to use the same bittering hops, buying by the pound saves quite a bit over an ounce at a time.

 

[rlmiller10]

Well if you are going all grain you can either do BIAB or you will need the mash tun. So there you have an option so temp control seems the most important. STC-1000 controller and all you need to make a control unit is about $50. Next is the wort chiller which you said was $40. Now the mast tun to go past BIAB and $85 will build a nice 10 gal unit. So you still have $50. Since you have a fan, the box, magnets and potentiometer will be about $35 more and you now have a stir plate. Take the remaining $15 and get a nice craft beer.

 

[StodBrewing]

You can easily get temperature controllers off ebay for around $20. They are from china and use Celsius temperature settings, tons of conversion charts out there as well. Providing you have a fridge to hook your temp controller in to, you are set. Controlling your fermentation temps is the next step I would take. Then for a mashton, get a water cooler from Home Depot or some other box store for around $30-45. There are a lot of really neat do it yourself vids on YouTube to show you how to make your false bottom/strainer.

Just my opinion, but after all that, I would move into kegging.

 

[erick0619]

Thank you all for your advice I've decided to make the big purchase now and worry about the smaller purchases later yeah it's going to delay my brewing but that ok i will be buying a new kettle and burner so I can stop using my moms kettle and stop dealing with slow boil times due to using my stove top and I will also be building a mashtun