What are your Top 3 Longterm Investments in Homebrewing equipment?

[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!

 

[jholen]

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

Blichmann does make some nice stuff!

Going to try my hand at your Apfelwein EdWort, gonna pickup the ingredients tomorrow and get it started. Looking forward to it

 

[acefaser]

1. An understanding wife
2. Fermentation temperature control
3. HBT DIY thread

 

[Jwood]

3 things you NEED to get complete control over.
1) Fermentation Temperatures
2) Amount of pitchable yeast
3) Yeast health/care

So i would get:
1) Temperature controlled fermentation chamber (Chest freezer or refrigerator w/ temp. controller - LOVE controllers really do it for me)
2) Equipment for a yeast starter (Erlenmeyer flask -2000 mL min, stirplate)
3) Oxygen setup to get proper oxygen levels in wort

These are the most important to me. In my opinion this separates great beer from average beer. So, I would rather drink a smaller amount of great beer, than a larger amount of average beer.

 

[Spintab]

I would rather drink a smaller amount of great beer, than a larger amount of average beer.

+1 Yeah, maybe it's just me but I don't really get making ten or more gallon batches. I suppose if you are consistently splitting them with someone or you live in a frat house or something, but I don't think I could drink through that much beer fast enough. I'd rather brew less but more often.

 

[chromados]

+1 Yeah, maybe it's just me but I don't really get making ten or more gallon batches. I suppose if you are consistently splitting them with someone or you live in a frat house or something, but I don't think I could drink through that much beer fast enough. I'd rather brew less but more often.

You just need to add more kegs. I have started to do almost all 10 gallons batches and will never go back. I get twice the amount of beer in the same time. I can experiment with different yeasts or other additions. Just keg them and throw them into the lager freezer, and when you need a keg just go out and grab a cold, carbonated keg from the freezer. I also have a pin cask that I use as often as possible what is a great use for 5 gallons of beer.

Chromados

 

[Spintab]

This is true. I just kegged for the first time this past batch so I'm coming to realize the advantages of them. I suppose you could probably keep them warm and hit them with pressure every once in a while too. That way they're either close to carbed or ready to go. Then you could stick them in the fridge and have them ready when they're chilled. I only have one chest freezer that's only large enough to fit a carboy and that is my lager freezer so warm is my only option for now. This is all granted one can keg in the first place. I hated bottling five gallons for two years, let alone ten gallons so maybe I should have included a keg kit in my list of best upgrades.

 

[milldoggy]

Ferm temp control
Electric kal clone
A wife who loves my homebrew

 

[pyth]

Kind of an odd one, but my mother bought a new house a few months ago, and I just learned the other day it has a genuine bonafied wine cellar. Which I have convinced her would be a wonderful place to allow me to lager things.

So 400 000$ for a lagering cave?

 

[jiggs_casey]

1. Kegerator and all the affiliated accoutrement. After a year of wading through other peoples crap on Craigslist, I have an awesome, wholly 'kickass' 9 year old side by side, donated by a friend who just bought a new one. He was actually going to let Sears haul this one away! Would've been a complete waste....

2. Grain Mill. Part of my ongoing effort to do as much DIY as I possibly can.

3. 10 gallon fermenters.

 

[jholen]

1. Kegerator and all the affiliated accoutrement. After a year of wading through other peoples crap on Craigslist, I have an awesome, wholly 'kickass' 9 year old side by side, donated by a friend who just bought a new one. He was actually going to let Sears haul this one away! Would've been a complete waste....

2. Grain Mill. Part of my ongoing effort to do as much DIY as I possibly can.

3. 10 gallon fermenters.

What 10 gallon fermenters are you using?

 

[MSP]

I'm a noob, but so far have laid down about a grand on equipment. My big ones:

1) 1800 watt induction cooktop and 8 gallon brew pot - I can bring 6 gallons to a boil in 45 minutes, in my basement!
2) Kegging gear - cornies, CO2 tanks, etc.
3) Utility sink and brew table - from tap water to kegerator the brew process takes place within about 10 feet in my basement, very efficient.

Next up:

4) A top freezer fridge, for storing hops/yeast/LME, cold crashing, and eventually lagering.

 

[Spintab]

3) Utility sink

Yeah man, a sink right there would be awesome. I brew in my garage that is attached to the house and have to go in and out a lot during brew day. To be able to get water and clean as I go within 10 feet of my brew area would be so convenient. A nice big, spider and dust proof cabinet would be nice out there too. I keep everything inside to keep it clean until I need it.

 

[Zamial]

My top 3 investments...

1. Sanke kegs - I turned 3 into keggles and ferment in and serve with the rest.
2. March pump - My spine has never been so happy.
3. Hop plants - I have 6 now and plan to expand by another 10 plants this spring.

My 4th pick would have been a tie with:
- yeast starter + frozen bank but it was really not that expensive to get into...
- Immersion Chiller

 

[jiggs_casey]

What 10 gallon fermenters are you using?

Wow. See, this is what happens when I stay up late drinking apfelwein. I apparently didn't even read the original post, just the title. I took it to mean what are going to be our next top 3 long term investments. In which case, I gave the correct answers.

However, now that it's much later in the day, the headache is gone and my head is much clearer, allow to me answer the question that was actually written. :cross:

1. 60qt stockpot I bought from Basspro last year. I can do 10 gallon batches with relative ease in it!

2. My DIY wort chiller. So much faster than an ice bath. Especially in the winter.

3. My 6.5 gallon glass carboys. As long as I can keep from breaking them, I will never have to replace them!

 

[jholen]

Haha!

I just got my ingredients for a batch of apfelwein today - should get it going in the next day or so.

Keep the responses coming!

 

[Bernie Brewer]

1. Brewstand

2. Chest freezer with temp controller

3. Kegging equipment

4. Stir plate

5. Crankandstein

6. Wort chiller

Sorry, I couldn't stop at just 3.

 

[surferdrew]

Great question!

Beyond my all grain setup (keggles, 10 gallon Rubbermaid mash tun, bayou classic burners, etc.), I'd go with:

Kegging setup (kegs and co2 system)
Counter flow wort chiller
March pump

Bonus:
Refractometer

 

[Pogopunx82]

3 Oak barrels.

 

[supe_kitchen]

1. Brutus 10 stand
2. 2-tap (maybe adding another) kegorator
3. Fridge with temp control for fermenting

I figure with these three things I will be able to make and enjoy good homebrew for years and years to come.

 

[jholen]

Well I invested in a good grain mill - Got the new Rebel Brewer Grain Mill!

Still pricing everything else out.

Anyone else? What have been your best investments in your brewing equipment?