Bramstoker17
Well-Known Member
So, I just had a birthday and got money from my brothers/sisters/parents for brewing stuff. All in all its in the neighborhood of $200. I'm debating using that money to buy a chest freezer, then my own money for the temp controller to make a ferm chamber. Up until this point I've just done a swamp cooler in the basement, which is a bit of a pain in the ass. The basement ambient air is usually between 65 and 68 degrees. With the fall/winter season approaching here around Chicago, the temps down there may drop a bit more even. This option would give me peace of mind about ferm temps, and I can do lagers now. The con here would be having to use more of my own money, which is a little scarce as of late.
The other option is to buy a better brew kettle. I'm looking at an 8 gallon tall boy from northern brewer with is about 90 bucks I believe. I'm currently using a 5 gallon kettle and doing partial mashes on my stove top using BIAB with a sparge to get about 4.5 gal in the kettle with a 2 gallon top up in the bucket. I try to use as much grain as I can so I can minimize the use of extract, and I tend to push my mashes right up to the lip of the pot which can be a bit scary when I stir. With the 8 gallon kettle I could do most batches all grain and do full vol boils. My stove has a power burner on it that gets 4.5 gal boiling without issue, so I'm hoping it could handle around 6.5 to 7 gal. This then leaves me with about another $100 or so to spend on ingredients. The Pro here is more all grain and being able to use less extract on big beers, plus getting ingredients for a batch or two. The con is still having to worry about whether my beer is fermenting too warm.
So in my shoes, would people get the freezer and front the extra $70 for the controller, enabling me to do lagers and not worry about swamp coolering my ales? Or should I get a better kettle and have some money for a couple batches? I suppose this is a good problem to have!
The other option is to buy a better brew kettle. I'm looking at an 8 gallon tall boy from northern brewer with is about 90 bucks I believe. I'm currently using a 5 gallon kettle and doing partial mashes on my stove top using BIAB with a sparge to get about 4.5 gal in the kettle with a 2 gallon top up in the bucket. I try to use as much grain as I can so I can minimize the use of extract, and I tend to push my mashes right up to the lip of the pot which can be a bit scary when I stir. With the 8 gallon kettle I could do most batches all grain and do full vol boils. My stove has a power burner on it that gets 4.5 gal boiling without issue, so I'm hoping it could handle around 6.5 to 7 gal. This then leaves me with about another $100 or so to spend on ingredients. The Pro here is more all grain and being able to use less extract on big beers, plus getting ingredients for a batch or two. The con is still having to worry about whether my beer is fermenting too warm.
So in my shoes, would people get the freezer and front the extra $70 for the controller, enabling me to do lagers and not worry about swamp coolering my ales? Or should I get a better kettle and have some money for a couple batches? I suppose this is a good problem to have!