Upgrading equipment

[baldm79]

I have a bit of a dilemma, and I figured there must be a few million other brewers who have had similar issues.

I’m in the process of switching out equipment to be able to brew 10-15 gallons. Which means I’m constantly taking things apart and trying different fittings on different pieces of equipment. I work full time and am a full time student, so much like everyone else here I can’t brew as often as I’d like. So my question is this, how do you go about upgrading things? All at once? Or slowly piece it together? And how the hell do you keep anything in the pipeline while you do it?!
Any opinions or ideas appreciated for the education of those of us who aren’t engineers or generally handy

 

[pshankstar]

Welcome to the hobby/obsession. Personally for me it was upgrading in steps. It's not as big of a hit all at once to the wallet. Look at the for sale section here or on Craigslist to see if you can get any equipment a little cheaper too. I am no longer in school, but working full time, having a family with little kids and traveling for work, it's hard to keep a pipeline full and/or brew often. Right now I have only a Coffee Stout on tap (brewed in November), the other two taps are empty. When brewing 10+ gallons, it will last a long time if you are the only one really drinking it.

Where in upstate NY are you located? Are you part of a homebrew club? That's another option where some other members are selling equipment that you could buy.

 

[baldm79]

I’m in Oneonta. I do watch for equipment, but craigslist is pretty weak by me. The savings aren’t usually worth traveling a couple of hours.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Realize that most "upgrades" are unnecessary. Did a NEIPA this weekend with my buddy with a 7g pot, a BIAB, and a bucket fermentor, a burner, and a spoon, a thermometer, and a hydrometer. That's it. Chilled in a bathtub full of cold water, so ~2 hours to pitching temperature. Not ideal, but not horrible.

Now, "unnecessary" is not the same as desirable, or beneficial, or easier. Things like pumps, fermentation temperature control, chillers, and the like may help you make better beer, and even that can be disputed. I want to upgrade to electric, and I have been planning for about eight months to a year now, but I keep thinking that it won't make my life better or easier or make my beer any better. I'd like a bigger chiller too, but my DIY 25' works well enough.

 

[baldm79]

Realize that most "upgrades" are unnecessary. Did a NEIPA this weekend with my buddy with a 7g pot, a BIAB, and a bucket fermentor, a burner, and a spoon, a thermometer, and a hydrometer. That's it. Chilled in a bathtub full of cold water, so ~2 hours to pitching temperature. Not ideal, but not horrible.

Now, "unnecessary" is not the same as desirable, or beneficial, or easier. Things like pumps, fermentation temperature control, chillers, and the like may help you make better beer, and even that can be disputed. I want to upgrade to electric, and I have been planning for about eight months to a year now, but I keep thinking that it won't make my life better or easier or make my beer any better. I'd like a bigger chiller too, but my DIY 25' works well enough.

I hear you on that. My beer has gotten significantly better, but mostly because now I’m not completely clueless.
I’m not really complaining about the cost of upgrades, more so asking if the consensus is to build your own system or buy upgrade kits, etc..

 

[Dcpcooks]

I brew on a half bbl setup and I’d rather have a 10 gallon set up just because it’s a lot of beer to manage, store and drink. At this point I own the gear and I’ll live with it.

As to build vs buy a rig it’s really about your budget and your free time. It took me a few years to source and build my set up. I saved roughly 30% buying used gear but it took time to find it all. Every brew day was a bit different than the last because I was usually trying something different. In the end it probably made me a better brewer as I needed to continually adjust my process.

Now that my system is complete I can focus on refining recipes.

It’s a tough call but you should try to figure out your batch size and your ability to manage that volume from grain to glass.

 

[baldm79]

I brew on a half bbl setup and I’d rather have a 10 gallon set up just because it’s a lot of beer to manage, store and drink. At this point I own the gear and I’ll live with it.

As to build vs buy a rig it’s really about your budget and your free time. It took me a few years to source and build my set up. I saved roughly 30% buying used gear but it took time to find it all. Every brew day was a bit different than the last because I was usually trying something different. In the end it probably made me a better brewer as I needed to continually adjust my process.

Now that my system is complete I can focus on refining recipes.

It’s a tough call but you should try to figure out your batch size and your ability to manage that volume from grain to glass.

So far I have really enjoyed piecing a system together, and I've saved myself some money. On the flip side, I have no beer ready to drink! So is the money savings really paying off if I can't brew when I want? I have learned a lot though. When I first started I didn't know anything about pipe fittings, clamps, or really any of the basics.

 

[mongoose33]

I hear you on that. My beer has gotten significantly better, but mostly because now I’m not completely clueless.
I’m not really complaining about the cost of upgrades, more so asking if the consensus is to build your own system or buy upgrade kits, etc..

That depends on the time you have available, and the degree to which you enjoy the building process.

Some people--I'm one of them to some degree--like to build their own. There's a pride of ownership involved, of being able to solve puzzles and problems and produce beer with your own equipment.

Other people--I'm also one of them to some degree--like the certainty of buying a kit that they know is designed to work together from the ground up, and there will be little time spent figuring it out. This is especially important for those with little spare time to tinker.

So in the end, you have to ask what you want from this. You get to choose what makes your day, and I think that until you answer that question, others' help may or may not be useful.

**************

Recently bought a Spike CF10 conical. I also bought the temp control kit, though I would have been able to piece something workable myself. But I didn't want to spend the time and effort to do that--I want to BREW with it!

But I also needed a way to provide chilled water to the immersion coil. I ended up drilling holes in the top of one of my ferm chambers to pass the chilling lines down into a reservoir kept cold by the freezer. I could have, I suppose, bought an aquarium chiller or some such, but this seemed to be in my wheelhouse and I was able to make it work. So I had the best of both worlds.

Here's the post showing that: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...and-best-practices.645440/page-5#post-8269295

In the end, what makes you happier? Do that.

 

[baldm79]

That depends on the time you have available, and the degree to which you enjoy the building process.

Some people--I'm one of them to some degree--like to build their own. There's a pride of ownership involved, of being able to solve puzzles and problems and produce beer with your own equipment.

Other people--I'm also one of them to some degree--like the certainty of buying a kit that they know is designed to work together from the ground up, and there will be little time spent figuring it out. This is especially important for those with little spare time to tinker.

So in the end, you have to ask what you want from this. You get to choose what makes your day, and I think that until you answer that question, others' help may or may not be useful.

**************

Recently bought a Spike CF10 conical. I also bought the temp control kit, though I would have been able to piece something workable myself. But I didn't want to spend the time and effort to do that--I want to BREW with it!

But I also needed a way to provide chilled water to the immersion coil. I ended up drilling holes in the top of one of my ferm chambers to pass the chilling lines down into a reservoir kept cold by the freezer. I could have, I suppose, bought an aquarium chiller or some such, but this seemed to be in my wheelhouse and I was able to make it work. So I had the best of both worlds.

Here's the post showing that: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...and-best-practices.645440/page-5#post-8269295

In the end, what makes you happier? Do that.

I love the building process. My only struggle is getting motivated to brew knowing that I’m only a few pieces away from finishing my upgrades. It’s so tempting to wait. Im going to quit being a baby and brew on one of my next 2 days off though