What equipment to buy? Need 2nd opinion

[TicoBeer]

I have been brewing for about a year already, using a very simple setup, kettle with Biab process, no mash tun or sparging. Of course with the rest of the other equipment from a Startup kit, including carboy. Believe it or not, the beers have come very good, but could be better.

Now, I would like to take this to the next level with a budget of $2,000 approx.

I was thinking on a Brew Easy setup from Blinchmann, especially because of its scalability without expending more than I can, and planning to continue growing it in the future with their different upgrades.

Any tips on other possible options I could consider?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RichPetersen]

Have you given any thought to the GrainFather system? I got mine a few weeks ago and from all the posts I've seen on the system it's one I would recommend. I stated it that way because even though I got mine a few weeks ago a work related injury has put my brewing on hold for a while (hard to get anything done with a severed tendon) so all I can do is look at my new setup, the accident happened 1 week before my Grainfather was delivered, but I digress. It's less than half of your stated budget so you would have some extra to play with.

 

[55x11]

I have been brewing for about a year already, using a very simple setup, kettle with Biab process, no mash tun or sparging. Of course with the rest of the other equipment from a Startup kit, including carboy. Believe it or not, the beers have come very good, but could be better.

Now, I would like to take this to the next level with a budget of $2,000 approx.

I was thinking on a Brew Easy setup from Blinchmann, especially because of its scalability without expending more than I can, and planning to continue growing it in the future with their different upgrades.

Any tips on other possible options I could consider?

Thanks in advance!

$2,000 is a sizable amount. More than I spent on all my equipment.
And I have a 9-keg capacity keggerator (6 taps) and a separate fermentation chamber, too many kegs and too many fermenters to name.

I am not sold on Brew Easy benefit/cost wise. It costs a lot more than the trouble it saves you.

Large mashtun could be good for brewing large ABV beers (like RIS).

It depends on your approach - for me the brewday with kettle and burner and mashtun goes just as well as with Brew Easy system - the bottleneck for me is with fermenters and serving. In other words, I can brew beer faster than I can ferment it or drink/serve it.

Hence fermentation chamber and keggerator.

To me the hot side - brewing - including mashtun, a kettle, a burner, an immersion chiller - is incredibly cheap and only used very briefly. So to me it makes sense to increase capacity of fermenting/serving.

 

[Jimbodaman]

It really depends on the type of person you are. Do you wanna DIY and have a totally custom miniature pro brewery, or are you like me and don't mind lifting, hauling and shaking your equipment.
Here's some things that IMO will never go to waste.
Keggles, I'd get 3 of them, preferably with lots of couplings they never stop being useful/awesome.
Carboys/fermentor of choice, most brewers have at least one problem, not enough carboys.
Grain Mill, hell with a 2k budget get the best one out there. It'll last a lifetime.
A bag or two of quality base malt, sure 0.99$ 2-row will get the job done but why not splurge for Golden promise?
Hop Rhizomes are great, buy'em, plant'em, love'em.
Given your budget I can barely justify recommending Blichmann burners, but hell why not, people say they're great (although my 30$ burner works fine and isn't much more inefficient),but I digress.
I love custom wooden brew paddles, preferably oak you should too, so maybe get a nice one of those.
Fermentation Chamber is crucial for great consistent beer GET ONE!
Corny keg system/regulators etc.
Kegerators can be dangerous...for your liver.
cheers

 

[TicoBeer]

Thanks all for the great recommendations. Now you got me thinking again 😕. I can summarize your comments in, spending my money wisely, buying things that I really going to use a lot, like all related to cool side mostly.

The other problem I have is space, so that's why I was thinking about that Blichmann setup cause it seems that it won't take too much space, and definitely can't go with a machine like Braumeister or Grain Father because I don't have the electrical setup for that.

I guess I will create 3 or 4 options of Items to buy and compare and weight them in terms of efficiency, ROI, storage, ease of use, future use, etc.

I like to do some things on my own, but not everything, I sometimes prefer and rely on experts in terms of products manufactured, however sometimes money is a problem so that's when I consider cheaper stuff or DIY.