What are your Top 3 Longterm Investments in Homebrewing equipment?

[jholen]

What are your top 3 best longterm investings in homebrewing equipment?

I was pretty blessed this Birthday/Christmas season, and received quite a bit of money and or gift cards to invest in my new hobby; homebrewing. Because of that, I'm curious to see what you all think have been your best investments into this hobby. They don't necessarily have to be the most expensive pieces of equipment out there, but more along the lines of what you find yourself not able to live without when it comes to brewing. Maybe that awesome grain mill? Maybe your gravity fed brewing system?

Post up!

 

[Airborneguy]

For me, my grain mill, and my freezer.

The grain mill has returned its expense many times over through the bulk grain purchases I now make and my increased efficiency.

The freezer provides spot on temperature control which has vastly improved my beers and opened up the world of lagers.

 

[cosgcm5]

I'd have to say investing in yeast starting equipment was one of my best investments. Build yourself a quality stir-plate (or buy one if you're not the DIY type) and invest in a couple of nice flasks and extra stir bars.

Making big healthy starters has made my beer better. Plus, you can save money by building up yeast cultures and storing different yeasts.

 

[jholen]

For me, my grain mill, and my freezer.

The grain mill has returned its expense many times over through the bulk grain purchases I now make and my increased efficiency.

The freezer provides spot on temperature control which has vastly improved my beers and opened up the world of lagers.

I don't want to see this thread turn into a grain mill debate, but what mill have you been using?

I'm also looking at getting into fermentation temp control - my sister has a smaller compact fridge that I'm hoping I can get a 6 gal Better Bottle into, and then pickup a controller. Having listened to Jamil and John on Brew Strong, I know that is something my first two batches were lacking in.

What about everyone else? If you have more than three, I suppose you can post more! :rockin:

 

[Airborneguy]

Barley Crusher. You won't get a debate from me because I just bought the one that was on sale at the time. I really know nothing about them

 

[onthekeg]

Mine are as follows.
1. Kegs. I wouldn't be homebrewing without them.
2. Electric Boil Kettle/HLT
3. Temp Control for fermentation
4. Mill

 

[danorocks17]

the best thing I've bought so far is a turkey fryer setup. It was only 60 bucks, but it improved my beer dramatically (going from partial stove top boil to full boil). Plus it meant I had to do it outside, which made my wife happy!

My next big investment will be in kegging. as a staunch supporter of bottling for 3/12 years, I have seen the light lol

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I'd have to say investing in yeast starting equipment was one of my best investments. Build yourself a quality stir-plate (or buy one if you're not the DIY type) and invest in a couple of nice flasks and extra stir bars.

Making big healthy starters has made my beer better. Plus, you can save money by building up yeast cultures and storing different yeasts.

^this, for sure!!

my kegerator and kegs.... definitely lets me brew and store more beer and its built in an over/under fridge/freezer, so i use the freezer to store hops, which allows me to buy in bulk. the kegs can double as secondary fermenters in the rare occasion i need one, which gives me more carboys to ferment in.

grain mill. just got it yesterday for christmas, but i know it's going to be a great addition to the brewery. i can now justify buying base malt in bulk since i can grind at home.

 

[Yooper]

Definitely- my all electric HERMS. No doubt about it! Then, of course my kegs and kegging gear with my kegerator. Those are pretty high-ticket items, of course, but I think it's been worth it.

 

[runningweird]

kegging setup, temp controlled freezer, keggle

 

[beng]

Barley crusher, kegging setup(4 cornies/3 taps), and temp controller.

 

[jholen]

Seems kegging is becoming a pretty common answer - tough one for me. I can see the benefits but just lack the space to get it setup. I'm tight pressed as is to get a fridge/freezer for fermenting in/controlling my temps let alone a second for kegs.

Awesome responses! Keep them coming!

 

[RM-MN]

Extras fermenters. They aren't very expensive so you probably can do all the other goodies suggested and still afford these. When time allows I like to do several brews in short order but without a fermenter to put them in I can't.

 

[kpr121]

It is really hard to break it down into three items but I think the 3 things that would be missed the most if I didnt have them are:

1. Keg setup, including 2 tap tower, paintball co2 tank and reg, and around 12 cornies.

2. Turkey fryer and Keggle, with DIY diptube/ball valve, and sight glass and

3. 10 gallon DIY Rubbermaid MLT. I had been using a 5 gallon for a while but 10 is almost a must for some 5 gallons recipes.

 

[jholen]

It is really hard to break it down into three items but I think the 3 things that would be missed the most if I didnt have them are:

1. Keg setup, including 2 tap tower, paintball co2 tank and reg, and around 12 cornies.

2. Turkey fryer and Keggle, with DIY diptube/ball valve, and sight glass and

3. 10 gallon DIY Rubbermaid MLT. I had been using a 5 gallon for a while but 10 is almost a must for some 5 gallons recipes.

Feel free to give us a Top 5 if that'd be easier!

 

[TomRep]

no particular order here, but:
Oxygen setup
stir plate/yeast care
kegging equipment
bigger batches (more beer, same time)
haven't used it yet, but I'm sure my electric/brewroom build will high on the list

 

[stevea1210]

Kegging equipment - If I had to bottle I wouldn't still be brewing...hated it

single tier stainless rig - makes the brewday so much fun

grain mill - Paid for itself via bulk purchases in less than a year

 

[TomSD]

Three big ones so far in order of cost (cheapest to most expensive)....

1) Turkey fryer setup (burner, big alum pot) full boils and much easier/faster than on the stove.
2) Immersion chiller and pond pump (always forget this for some reason) quick cooling rocks
3) Temperature control, big difference in the quality of my beer with much better control and easier repeatability
4) Kegging setup/gear, huge time saver and I really like having beer on tap vs dealing with bottles. Can be quite the investment though unless you really shop and cut corners.

Big ones in the coming year...

1) Going BIAB (nice brew pot is all I need and that was my christmas present to myself, might get a better burner too but not really a requirement)
2) A good grain mill, if I'm going all grain I will want to start buying in bulk most likely
3) yeast harvesting/storage so I can keep a variety of yeast available and experiment more.

I think this year will really dial in my brewing. I love this hobby.

 

[wailingguitar]

33 qt enameled kettle (have had it since Christmas '94), immersion chiller, kegging equipment (cornys, CO2 bottle, etc)

 

[jholen]

Big ones in the coming year...

1) Going BIAB (nice brew pot is all I need and that was my christmas present to myself, might get a better burner too but not really a requirement)
2) A good grain mill, if I'm going all grain I will want to start buying in bulk most likely
3) yeast harvesting/storage so I can keep a variety of yeast available and experiment more.

I think this year will really dial in my brewing. I love this hobby.

3)

Nice list TomSD! I'm contemplating going from Extract to AG (BIAB) - already have a 10 gallon pot, and my wife sews so I got the bag part covered. Seems like a great way to start, plus the money that I'll save not having to buy a MT/HLT can be put towards a nice grain mill.. or that is what I'm thinking so far. I'm always changing my mind lol.. :cross:

Anyone else?

 

[Rundownhouse]

Fermentation temperature control. I'm convinced that having a way to control fermentation temps makes more of a difference than even full boils. That said...

My 20g kettle. I obtained some 1/2bbl shells with the plans to make keggles, but 15.5g really isn't big enough. If I want to make a big beer and need to start with 15+ gallons in my kettle, a keggle is just too small. Of course, that means an outdoor propane burner for most of us.

Kegging setup. For a long time, my fermentation setup was also my kegerator. I'd brew a bunch, fermenting it in a chest freezer, and then turn the temp down and drink it. Kegs are the best package for beer.

 

[chromados]

1. My single tier RIMS system and all the goodies that go along with it.
2. The lager freezer along with the fermentation chamber.
3. The mill, a barley crusher (has pad for it self probably 2 times by now already.)

Chromados

 

[gunner65]

My single vessel electric system.

 

[Spintab]

1. Chest freezer for fermentation temp control
2. Electric HLT - was a bottling bucket with heating element, recently upgraded to aluminum turkey pot when I upgraded my kettle
3. Cooler mash tun - all grain rocks
4. Starter containers - I just use gallon jugs and shake them but it's made a huge difference from not making starters
5. This a a big one that I made very early on - autosiphon

 

[Teromous]

Kegging. It's nice to pull a tap handle to get a beer, but it's even better to know that bottles are optional.

 

[wickman6]

cooler MLT with homemade copper manifold

13 gal kettle for full boils, along with homemade immersion chiller

multiple carboys, 3 each of 5 and 6 gallon. as stated before you need somewhere to put all that beer!

grain mill

propane burner

and kegging setup

I have a feeling when I do finally get or build a fermentation chamber, that will beat all. I would strongly suggest you get a much bigger kettle than you plan on using right now. I bought the 13 gal, I should have gone larger for bigger batches.

 

[sudsmcgee]

Grain mill, cooler mash run, keggle and optionally kegging equipment.

 

[jholen]

Nice lists! Keep them coming!

 

[eastoak]

blichmann top tier stand

20lb oxygen cylinder with stainless wand

two small refrigerators / temperature controller

barley crusher

(free yeast slurry from my local brewery)

 

[tagheuer]

For me, it is definitely a kegging system.

Having 4 taps ready after a hardworking day is priceless.

 

[joeybeer]

i like my keggles, and my square fermenters, and my 15g stainless fermenter. But I gotta say that #1 is temp control.

- a huge but in fairly bad condition chest freezer and DIY ebay temp controller.. way under $100, but its made a MASSIVE difference in my beer !

 

[duckmanco]

1. Fermentation fridge and controller hands down - Id rather go back to partial boils when using extract than give up my temp controlled to within a degree.

2. 10 gallon megapot for 5 gallon batches - this however requires a chiller, and I hate my IC

3. Kegging system - costed me what felt like a small fortune, but son of a b*tch it's great on so many levels.

 

[trigger]

1) Since you're asking for long term, I think that probably the one, semi-ubiquitous thing that I can say is a LARGE chest freezer. Not huge, but something in the 7 CF range. You will quickly outgrow a dorm/minifridge, I believe, and be forced to either replace or modify to make it a larger fermentation chamber. A 7 CF will comfortably fit 3 fermenters with a collar and a shelf, and if you want to it can be made into an awesome keezer that will hold enough kegs for a good sized party.

2) Build the "ebay temp controller." You won't regret it, and you'll be able to use it on your 7 cf chest freezer, or a kegerator.

3) 20 gal update pots. They're much more affordable than the other offerings an you won't reasonably outgrow them. Start with 1, a weldless valve from bargainfittings.com, and a bayou classic burner. You can do 5 gallons or 10 and not worry about boilovers. In the future when you move up to a fully automated single tier electric rig you will still be using that pot.

 

[1Mainebrew]

FUN and DISPENSING:

1) 2 Tap kegerator with temperature control

2) Kegs

FERMENTATION

1) Spare wine fridge with adjustable temp control for fermentation chamber

DA BOIL

1) Propane set-up for full volume boils.
2) Wort Chiller

AG

1) Mash Tun
2) Thermometers

Pick what is most important to you as a homebrewer and focus on that. I starter with AG stuff, then my wife got me a propane set up (Awesome investment), then most recently I upgraded to kegging which is fun, but not a necessity. The mash, fermentation temp control and ability to do full volume boils are more important to me than kegging. However, its a lot easier cleaning one keg than 55 bottles.

 

[kpr121]

The cool thing about homebrewing equipment is that it has gained so much popularity that if you end up buying something that you no longer use in a year you can usually Craigslist it for a good percentage of it original value, as long as it not total crap quality. The ability to DIY makes a huge difference in resale value, as well as your overall thriftyness

That doesnt mean you shouldn't be planning ahead, but if you are short on money just buy what you can afford and do what you can to make beer!

With that said, I would like to add to my list a few cheap items that have saved me hundreds of dollars:

-eBay temp controller has allowed me to control fermentation temps using a beatup window AC unit, a space heater some wood and panel insulation.

-harbor freight step bits and angle grinder allowed me to convert my keg to keggle.

-DIY stirplate has allowed me to make high quality real wort starters in a short period of time, usually pitchable before my no chill wort has cooled.

-DIY corona mill in a bucket system a la Revvy allowed me to buy bulk grain and crush the way I like at home.

 

[Braufessor]

1.) 3 tier brew system from Morebeer.com I bought about 12 years ago - still going strong.

2.) When we built a house about 11 years ago, my wife was ok with me putting in a "brew room" - tile floor, natural gas, floor drain, etc.

I would say those two are my best "long term" investments - probably both better than I deserve

 

[tdogg]

The OP says he is new to brewing, so i would say;
1. good kettle. plan ahead for size. i have a 10 gallon stainless with ball valve and thermometer and love it. wish it was bigger though.
2. chiller. this is a MUST if your new kettle wont fit in the sink.
3. propane burner. this allows you to brew outside, save time,brew outside, and do full boils. (and brew outside)

If the OP already has all those items;
1. kegging setup. little or no time wasted bottling.... nuff said.
2. mashtun. this is a personal choice, but i enjoy all grain.
3. temp controller. this is my next purchase, probably.

 

[MaxSpang]

Turkey Fryer set up & Wort Chiller

Kegging set up

Mash Tun


Next expensive purchases: Grain Mill and a 15 gallon brew kettle

 

[EdWort]

Brewhaus
Blingmann equipment (Kettles, Conical, BeerGun)
30 cornies & associated faucets, hoses, tanks, etc.

 

[jholen]

The OP says he is new to brewing, so i would say;
1. good kettle. plan ahead for size. i have a 10 gallon stainless with ball valve and thermometer and love it. wish it was bigger though.
2. chiller. this is a MUST if your new kettle wont fit in the sink.
3. propane burner. this allows you to brew outside, save time,brew outside, and do full boils. (and brew outside)

If the OP already has all those items;
1. kegging setup. little or no time wasted bottling.... nuff said.
2. mashtun. this is a personal choice, but i enjoy all grain.
3. temp controller. this is my next purchase, probably.

Great suggestions. I've got a 10 gallon kettle, chiller, and propane burner

What would you say have been your best longterm investments? I'm guessing from your list they'd be large kettle/kegging/MT/temp control?

Keep em coming!