What's The Best Deal You've Gotten on brewing Equipment?

[Shenanigans]

Last year I bought a new 12 gallon Speidel stainless steel fermenter from an online brew shop for 94€.
Probably available for less somewhere else but the list price on the Speidel website is 256€


Best second hand deal I got when starting out was a set of stuff from someone who used to make wine and gave it up.
25 L 1800 W electric preserver cooker like the one below.
2 x 30L Speidel plastic fermenters, a wine corker and a 15 liter pot for 50€



I used the cooker for a few years as a one vessel BIAB system for 5 gallon batches.
The fermemters were a bit old looking so I didn't put any finished beer in there.
I still use them for storing grain and can fit 3/4 of a 55lb sack in each.

 

[user 263363]

Just yesterday I probably got the best deal I’ve gotten in my 3 years home brewing. Got 3 kegs, dual regulator, 3 perlick faucets with shanks, gas line, and enough o rings to rebuild the kegs multiple times all for $150. Time to start keg fermenting!

 

[Beer666]

I picked up 4 23L pet carboys for a quid each.

 

[Bobby_M]

I scored a Neslab RTE-111 recirculating water bath on eBay for $90 shipped. It's got a 2 gallon reservoir and 500 Watt cooling capacity. I use it as a glycol chiller.

I have a similar unit from VWR and it's got heating, cooling and circulator pump. The drag is that the compressor never shuts off but rather it cycles the heater to hold it at the set temp precisely. If I keep it I'll have to hack the wiring and put in a separate controller.

 

[Bobby_M]

My best score to date is 100 ball lock corny kegs for $5 each. I responded to a Craigslist ad for "pepsi soda kegs several available" and when I got there the guy opened up a garage door with a bay full of them. It's funny that at the time I thought I was nuts for buying 100 and now I'm pissed I didn't take them all (probably 400 in total).

 

[Hans O. Lowe]

My best score to date is 100 ball lock corny kegs for $5 each. I responded to a Craigslist ad for "pepsi soda kegs several available" and when I got there the guy opened up a garage door with a bay full of them. It's funny that at the time I thought I was nuts for buying 100 and now I'm pissed I didn't take them all (probably 400 in total).

I just picked up 5 corny kegs off Craigslist today for $25 each. And I thought I got a good deal!

 

[myndflyte]

For $150, I got a 5 tap keezer which could fit 6 kegs so I drilled another hole. With it, I got 6 corny kegs, a 6 output manifold, a 2 gauge gas manifold, 10 gal CO2 tank with regulator and a bunch of extra parts including about 50 keg gaskets, and sanke hookup. I replaced all the shanks and taps with stainless steel and replaced all the lines, but otherwise it has been my best score.

 

[jcav]

I got my new Blichmann Glycol Chiller for $100 less than the real price. Keg Factory had the old price listed and when I asked them they honored it! I was happy!

John

 

[crazyjake19]

All ten of my 5 gallon corny kegs were purchased used for $20 each or less, and they're all in better shape than the used deals I see online.

Paid $100 for a 3 gallon corny keg, full 5lb CO2 tank, regulator, and copper chiller.

Paid $40 for a dual SS-coil jockeybox, a CO2 regulator, and three sanke couplers - all in great shape. I went there expecting to pay $40 for just the jockeybox which was a steal, then he showed me the regulator and couplers


The only free thing I ever got was a small chest freezer, and it didn't work.

 

[Shenanigans]

Only free things I got were from the same brew shop.
In 2013 they threw in 100g of cones of a new hop called Belma to try out.
I used them in the mash hop for a Stone Enjoy By clone as I don't like cones in the boil or dry hop.

End of 2020 I got a pack of London ESB dry yeast for free that was 2 months past its used by date.
Still have it in the fridge.

 

[RyPA]

2 corny kegs and a 5 gallon glass carboy for $20 at a yard sale. Purchased 7 years before I actually began brewing.

$400 for a kegerator at Home Depot over 10 years ago, which still runs great.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I've been buying, selling and trading since I got started, so at this point most of what I have, I have very little or nothing in it.

 

[sweenalicious]

I found a 10 gallon pot someone put out for free in an alley, which I scratched volume measurements onto and drilled a hole for a spigot, have been using it since!

 

[NewJersey]

The best deals I've gotten are paying full price on actual high quality products.
I've wasted so much money in various hobbies buying and then rebuying stuff over and over.
I'm happy with the quality of my Spike stuff (Solo and flex), torpedo kegs, draft parts (eva barrier lines, duo tight fittings, perlick faucets), and tilt with repeater.
I paid full price but am happy with the "deal" I got. (Stuff that isn't garbage and will last)
I'm convinced some people in all hobbies care more about getting "deals" than the hobby itself.

 

[mbauer013]

The best deals I've gotten are paying full price on actual high quality products.
I've wasted so much money in various hobbies buying and then rebuying stuff over and over.
I'm happy with the quality of my Spike stuff (Solo and flex), torpedo kegs, draft parts (eva barrier lines, duo tight fittings, perlick faucets), and tilt with repeater.
I paid full price but am happy with the "deal" I got. (Stuff that isn't garbage and will last)
I'm convinced some people in all hobbies care more about getting "deals" than the hobby itself.

Yeah, some folks live for the DIY component, I did so much myself in the early stages, anymore it is more how much time it will take that stops me doing that. I could have built my new brewing table like the last one, but that $100 savings just want worth it when it would take me a full day to get it done. I find myself replacing all of my jerry-rigged gear with purpose built now that these things are available. Most of it just wasn't around 20+ years ago when I started brewing!

Overall best deal though? - I bought a conical on clearance brand new for $150 off the normal price, that was probably the best monetary wise!

 

[PCABrewing]

Several years ago a friend gave me a Corny keg he found at work. It still had a small bit of soda in it.
Then a couple years ago I was checking out at the NB store in MKE and the guy brought out a new in-box Dark Star 2.0 burner and put it in the cart for free. Some sort of promotion. Not anything fancy but it definitely was worth the price.
Just this month I passed it along to another new home brewer who is just starting out in the hobby.

 

[4_Sons_Brewing]

I got an Oktober MK16 for $150, and a 2 roller grain mill on a cart with an American ale works motor for another $150 and the guy threw in as many 5 gallon corny kegs as I could fit in my truck (6)!

 

[SeeMont]

Where do I begin, I was given a 10 gallon Corny keg, a new brewery gave our brewing club 7 full bags of malt. Another brewery makes out brew club a unreal deal on Hops, I got 5 corny kegs and a CO2 cylinder for $50, and the cylinder was full. I found an old 70's industrial kegerator for $50 including regulator and CO2 cylinder. We have been really lucky

 

[JAReeves]

I started out with my dad's old brewing kit (from the 1980's, brew kettle was a stock pot from my kitchen days) and my uncle's wine making stuff from when he moved and didn't want to take it with him (lots of glass carboys). Since then, I have bought several complete home brewing setups from people that have quit the hobby, cherry-picked what I want and let the rest go at steep discounts; I have even shipped home-brew stuff internationally. Best deal was the last one: SS Brewbuckets, induction burner-capable brew kettles, kegs, and so many other things for about 20% of retail. I filled up all of a Honda Accord's available spaces (no passengers) and couldn't see out of my mirrors for a 150 mile drive, but damn, I have nice set up now!

 

[WesBrew]

A guy down the street asked me if I wanted his old Summit kegerator back in 2010. He didn’t want his teenage kid drinking beer from it. Gave it to me for couple beers. The top was rotten. I made a new one out of nice hardwood., now it has a three tap tower , distribution block, 20lb co2. Today its running like a champ with 4 corny kegs in it.