What beer brewing item do you hoard?

[msa8967]

I am just curious what beer brewing items (brewing equipment, ingredients, beer storage equipment) you might be hoarding just not quite ready to give them up.

For me, here is the excess items I seem to just accumulate.

Clean pry-off brown glass bottles. I have been a kegger for 4 years and I seem to save all of my craft beer bottles to give away and still have 8 cases of 12 oz bottles and 48 brown glass bombers.

I build too many mastuns. I see something "cooler like" and try to convert it into a mashtun just to say I could. A dozen mashtuns later I found I was converting a 2 gallon beverage cooler which I found at a thrift store to just see if it could be done.

I have 3 propane burners but 6 propane tanks. Just hard to pass these up for $5 at a garage sale.

How about you?

PS...I still have both of my Mr. Beer fermenters and 20 brown plastic bottles from starting this hobby 6 years ago.

 

[Natdavis777]

I, too, have more propane tanks that someone should have. And Ive always kegged, yet still retain a few cases of clean bottles in the mud room along with more (including bombers) under the island in the kitchen.

 

[bobeer]

Mine was bottles until we moved. Then I chucked all but 2 cases and now I keg most of my beer.

Right now it's hops. I got 8 free oz's for renewing my AHA membership, I already had 6 oz's in the fridge, plus 5 more ounces I bought because I thought I needed some, then another 7 or 8 open packs that I forgot about in the fridge.

 

[mb82]

Bottle caps for me. I have probably 200 on hand right now and I am planning on getting another 100 or so next time I go to the homebrew shop. Also bottles but then again I am a bottler so more bottles = better.

 

[Paulthebrewer]

I have to say that it's caps for me as well. Every time I start a new batch I buy a bag of a color that I don't already have to differentiate from my other brews. I really need to start kegging...

 

[olotti]

Bottles but I bottle right now and can have anywhere from 2-4 beers bottled at anytime and that's about 2+ cases per batch plus I always do about 6 bombers per batch so I need a lot of bottles.

 

[catdaddy66]

Hops and grains... I have about 40 ozs and 40#'s, respectively.

If you asked my wife, she would say "everything!"

 

[unionrdr]

With me it's bottles. Bottles for bottling, bottles for the collection, caps, jugs for PBW & Starsan, jugs for blow-offs, extra jugs for? I really need to find out how to take labels off the bottles I've saved for the collection without harming them & just frame those...

 

[alphaomega]

Oh... Building brewing stuff is what I like, more than actual brewing. And with those kind of glasses on, pretty much everything looks like it can be converted to something. I rarely have the time to actually finish a project, so by now the stockpile of potentially useful stuff is reaching the ceiling. Literally.

 

[m00ps]

God....just about everything. Ive got a sack of wheat, 2 row, pilsner, and maris otter open on hand with an extra sack fo each ready to go. More bottles than I ccan count since my whole neighborhood drops them off. My vegetable drawer in my fridge is entirely dedicated to 20 or so yeast strains. My hallway is lined with kegs carboys, and stacked buckets. Ive got enough starsan to fill a pool. Plus I keep enough of each type of hops and specialty grains on hand to be able to make any sort of beer I want tomorrow if I came up with an idea today. If I locked myself into my place with no contact to the outside world, I could probably crank out at least 10 batches before I'd be missing a few key ingredients to make anything interesting...based on the way things are headed, that may end up happening eventually

 

[Sailingeric]

I have a lot of caps. I try to use different colors for each beer so I can easily know which one is which. I need to get a dry erase board so I can keep a cap color key to help keep in check.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Water. I maintain a direct line from the treatment plant at all times.

 

[toolboxales]

Hops. I just got into this addiction hobby 4 months ago but have entered AG and the smell of hops is amazing. I bet I have 5 pounds and 8 different kinds. I keg too but enjoy stacks of empty bottles.... Just incase I guess!

 

[ImNoExpert]

Bombers and Green 750ml bottles. It's rare when I pass up an empty bomber and I will not pass up a 750.

 

[Carusoat]

I have probably over 1000 bottle caps from drinking commercial beers over the years. I was going to make something out of them, but they are just sitting in multiple boxes in my room currently. I also like to keep the bombers/cans/bottles of beers i really enjoyed...which has turned into a lot of bottles sitting around.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Grain and Hops. Lots and lots of both. At times I rival most nano breweries.

 

[njviking]

Grain and Hops. Lots and lots of both. At times I rival most nano breweries.

Me too. You know you got problems and you're running with the wrong crowd when the lbs brings your order out on a pallet.

 

[Firewalker11]

Pots and PIDs. I have several unused of both.

 

[MaxStout]

I don't like running low on anything, but I seem to have an abundance of 12 oz. longnecks. And a metric buttload of those 3/4" adhesive round dots from the office supply store (for cap labels).

 

[coolharry]

Growlers. I for some reason feel the need to get one from every brewery I visit. I have a nice shelf in the brewery room of my basement to display them that runs the length of the wall with four shelves. I've run out of room and had to start pulling down those useless clear ones that some breweries still insist on having.

 

[YeastMode]

I tend to hoard tubing. I have a rather large Rubbermaid just full of all sizes and lengths. I wont throw any away, even it it is 1' piece of scrap. I don't know what is wrong with me, and I am thinking about talking to a professional about it.

 

[beernbourbon]

I keep tons of tubing as well, but I do that with a lot of stuff: lumber, wire, etc. As much DIY stuff as I do, I never have run into "dam... if I only had one more X" In fact with the recent Kitchen remodel and bathroom re-remodel, I utilized a TON of said scraps of stuff

specifically to brewing.... thermometers....I have like 20 of them...all sorts of types/styles....and I cross check temps with at least 3 or 4..... freakin weird....

 

[TheHappyHopper]

New Bottle caps - I almost always pick up a new color each time I brew (to keep track of different batches).

Used bottle caps - Now that I have all of these different colors, I keep thinking that someday I will make some kicka$$ wall art or pub table tops....

 

[unionrdr]

I have Ziploc bags full of caps from all over the place. I save'em to trade for other beer swag.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

I have to say that it's caps for me as well. Every time I start a new batch I buy a bag of a color that I don't already have to differentiate from my other brews. I really need to start kegging...

Oh my god, I'm glad theres someone besides me who uses the Cap Color Organization Technique. I know which beers are which based on what color the cap is. (labeling scares the hell out of me, I never want anyone to see *ANY* artwork created by me, unless its with crayons, maybe I should just make my labels with crayons and photocopy it... genius!)

Acidulated malt would be mine. My city water has pretty high pH so any beer thats less dark than a stout I need to add a little bit of acidulated malt to adjust, I could switch to using some sort of straight acid like phosphoric or something but I can be clumsy when its really important I am not clumsy so I'd probably dissolve my hand, or one of the cats.

 

[day_trippr]

Yeast. And Mason jars.

It's all about the yeast...

Cheers!

 

[Riot]

I have a lot of caps. I try to use different colors for each beer so I can easily know which one is which. I need to get a dry erase board so I can keep a cap color key to help keep in check.

This. I have quarter bags of 10+ different cap colours. I can't be bothered to label anything but really like knowing which batch a bottle came from. Just add what colour I capped it with to the brew notes for the batch and I am set

 

[max384]

BUCKETS!

In addition to brewing, I also make wine from juice, which come in six gallon food-grade buckets. I have so many of these damn buckets. I need to post them up for sale for cheap on facebook. We have a local homebrew swap group that I've sold a few things on.

 

[nettekdl]

For me the bug three are yeast, hops and base malts. I have probably 60ish mason jars of yeast and about that many frozen slants. I also have the whole freezer of my stand up kegerator full of hops, I'm not even going to guess how much there is between pellets and back yard hops. I also have an unopened sack of 2 row, another half sack of 2 row and a pretty much full sack of munich.

 

[ghohn]

Kegs.


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[Hugh_Jass]

Kegs. Although I've sold some recently, I still have nearly 60 left. Someday I'll sell the ones that haven't been used in a while.

 

[bondra76]

kegs

I always say I will brew porters/stouts in summer and then age them until winter, but it never happens

 

[beernbourbon]

Kegs. Although I've sold some recently, I still have nearly 60 left. Someday I'll sell the ones that haven't been used in a while.

Pick me, pick me! [emoji16]

 

[chisena]

Bottles... So many bottles. I just thinned out the collection and recycled four cases.

 

[Takuie]

I don't bottle anymore but I still have over 600 brown bottles.

 

[Scriv]

I have about 600 bottle caps right now, for 84 bombers and 72 12ers.

 

[Hugh_Jass]

Pick me, pick me! [emoji16]

I had the ones I was willing to sell listed in the for sale section. I'll bump the thread when I'm going to sell some more.

 

[Calder]

For me the bug three are yeast, hops and base malts. I have probably 60ish mason jars of yeast and about that many frozen slants. I also have the whole freezer of my stand up kegerator full of hops, I'm not even going to guess how much there is between pellets and back yard hops. I also have an unopened sack of 2 row, another half sack of 2 row and a pretty much full sack of munich.

Snap

Pretty much the same, a fridge full of yeast, 30+ lbs of hops in the freezer, and enough grain to last until 2017.

 

[igotsand]

Hops.
I have a freezer dedicated to hops..
Last time I checked I had 40lbs and numerous 4oz packages..
I brew pretty much ipas so I use 3-4 lbs per batch(15gallon batches)
Yes I have a problem..I keep telling myself its cheaper to buy in bulk!

 

[hifidelity]

Thermometers...I've got 5. I guess I started looking for the "perfect" one when I started with all-grain brewing. I don't think I've found it yet, but all these extras lying around is awfully convenient.