What piece of equip to buy next?

[geekyasiwannabe]

I hope I didn't miss an already existing forum that addresses this. I've been steadily brewing since Nov. 07, started with a Mr. B33R and after one batch, knew I wanted something bigger, better and with more bells and whistles. Skip ahead a few months and I've got 4 five gallon brewing buckets, all the plastic tubing for racking, hydrometer, thermometer, capper, nice strainer, the basics for brewing. I use a huge 10 gal. canning pot for boiling the wort (too big, really) and cool with an ice bath. I'm ready to move ahead alittle and buy something that will improve my beer making. Where should I go from here? I'm still an extract brewing, using specialty grains when called for and only have 6 brews under my belt, so I'm not ready to go all-grain. With all that in mind, if I have a little cash to spend, what should I buy next to get a better brewing experience?

p.s. I'm a woman and have not yet run into any other women brewers and would love to see a forum related to women and brewing. Oh, I mispoke, the brewmeister for Mr. Beer is a woman and I know that because say what you will about their little beer kit, but they are really helpful when you run into a prob. She gave some nice advice on brewing a double cherry porter when I had no business brewing something so much more advanced than my noob skills allowed.

 

[Aleforge]

Honestly it sounds like you got everything you need. You could "upgrade" a few things like build an Immersion Chiller or something. But if what you have works for you, I wouldn't worry about it. I started with 1 glass carboy, and have since just evolved my equipment to make things easier. Went to better bottles to help save on weight and possible lacerations. Made an Immersion chiller to speed up and simplify cool downs. I did get a deep freezer and convert it to a keezer. That might be one thing to look into if you interested in brewing some lagers. Otherwise keep on rocking until you wanna go all grain.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

I agree. Sounds like what you have works for you, so why mess with it. But if you are itching...I'd second a chiller of some sort. Once/if you move to AG or even full boils you'll find that the 10 gal pot you are calling too big now may be not big enough! But I think that can wait.

 

[tdavisii]

Dont waste your time on a immersion chiller. Get a counter flow chiller. It is more effiicient plus it doesnt matter how big your batch is 5 10 20 gallons. That will run you about 60 bucks. If you are looking for something cheaper i would say get a beer theif or a auto siphon. Both are worth there weight in gold and both are under 10bucks.

 

[fat x nub]

u dont need anything really....i say go for all grain and make a mash tun!!!

 

[geekyasiwannabe]

If it won't set me back too much. I'm a make-it-yourself kind of girl and my step dad happens to have quite a bit of copper tubing that he's offered to sacrifice, so maybe this is right up my alley. I do try to stay "green" and compost all of my spent grains and other bits, and I hate using all of that water to cool down the wort, so this is probably a good direction to go in. Anyone else made their own?

One thing about the ten gallon canning kettle: It's that thin enamel-ware cheapy stuff and I'll never go this route again. It's also too big for my burners, so I have to do a bit of awkward adjusting; I'm not yet ready for backyard boiling. For any noobs who are thinking of saving dollars by buying this sort of thing, skip it and buy something more expensive and less likely to rust out or scorch all those sugars in your wort. It might seem like a luxury, but a decent boiling pot might've saved me a bit of heartache with those first few brews.

 

[geekyasiwannabe]

Whoa fat boy! Still perfecting my extract tech. Not ready for the major leagues just yet.

 

[geekyasiwannabe]

I'm off to research the counter flow chiller. If it saves water I like it!

As for siphoning, I've been struggling with this since I started and hate this part of racking. My LHBS sells an auto siphon for 13 bucks and I'm thinking if it reduces the amount of cursing in my kitchen on bottling day, it IS worth its weight in gold.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

You're still going to be using water to chill. I have my runoff water going into my Doggie Dooley (google it). I also use it to rinse out my mash tun, save it for future Dooley fills, even water the lawn/garden.

 

[fat x nub]

Whoa fat boy! Still perfecting my extract tech. Not ready for the major leagues just yet.

well i have only done two batches and i just made a mash tun...some may think im wastin time doin all grain....but im determined

 

[eriktlupus]

my cooling water comes from rain barrels (2x55g) and is recirculated back to them using a boat bilge pump.

 

[geekyasiwannabe]

Why wasting your time? Nah. I aspire to the AG stuff. Rock on.

 

[geekyasiwannabe]

my cooling water comes from rain barrels (2x55g) and is recirculated back to them using a boat bilge pump.

hey, clever rain water use! way to keep it green!

 

[RiverSwillBeer]

AG is the way to go if you enjoy really manipulating the outcome of your beer. There are some major award winning breweries that do nothing but extract so IMO extracts have their place and you can make great beer with them. Infact I think the best beer I ever made was my first. An extract stout that was over hopped

One cool thing is that the more you play with recipes .... you start to see what different grains add to the flavor. There are some VERY sharp people that frequent this board that Ive come to respect their opinion and I believe that most bend over backward to answer any questions that may not be addressed in other posts .. but I also believe that practice makes perfect

 

[Aleforge]

Dont waste your time on a immersion chiller. Get a counter flow chiller. It is more effiicient plus it doesnt matter how big your batch is 5 10 20 gallons. That will run you about 60 bucks. If you are looking for something cheaper i would say get a beer theif or a auto siphon. Both are worth there weight in gold and both are under 10bucks.

I second the beer theif and auto siphon. Both made life easier. Can't agree on the IC however, as dropping it in, cranking on the water and getting pitch time in 10 minutes rocks. Of course a counterflow is better, can't agree an IC is a waste of time.

 

[Aleforge]

Triple Post? WTF!

 

[Aleforge]

Double post

 

[newbrewr4fun]

I think that there are a number of things you could get but you might not necessarily need. The one thing that comes to my mind after frementing a beer that did not reach it's final gravity is an aeration kit. Austin Homebrew has them for about 30 bucks and it comes with everything you need to areate your beer very well. Ice baths seem to work for me but a wort chiller would be a great thing to have. It speeds up your cooling time by about 60 percent. I personally want both of these things for my next brew.

After that or maybe even before would be a used cheap fridge for lagering or just to keep your ales at the right temperature. All you need is a fridge and a temp control and you are in business. Who knows maybe you would even want to convert it to a kegarator. Keg equipment is much more expensive of course. Check craigslist for this there are cheap fridges there all of the time.

I recommend a wine thief as well, taking hydrometer samples by spoon is messy and time consuming and could even contaminate your beer if you aren't careful.

and +1000 to the autosiphon reccomendation. They are cheap and will save you headaches and trouble.

 

[Special Hops]

I use my cooling water to water the garden. That way it doesn't just go down the drain. Have a hose attached to the outlet of the immersion chiller and then just move it around to various spots in the garden.

 

[Aleforge]

I use my cooling water to water the garden. That way it doesn't just go down the drain. Have a hose attached to the outlet of the immersion chiller and then just move it around to various spots in the garden.

I do the exact same thing. I water things I would of normally been outside watering so that doesn't even matter. The one thing I love about my IC is how easy it is to use, one issue with a counterflow is having to make sure the inside is clear and clean. Its not easy to "see" through all that pipe to make sure no chunks got stuck to the sides.

 

[fratermus]

Dont waste your time on a immersion chiller. Get a counter flow chiller. It is more effiicient plus it doesnt matter how big your batch is 5 10 20 gallons.

I think this unnecessarily overstates the benefits of a CFC, and understates the value of an IC.

Horse for courses. This thread has a pretty good comparison.