new equipment?

[thisisbeer]

I have the basics and have made a couple brews and was seeing what I could get to upgrademy home brewery. I have a couple plastic bucket primarys and 2 plastic carboys. Hydrometer and racking equipment and a bottling bucket. Pretty basic stuff. But I am making a trip to the homebrew store this weekend and I was wondering what else I should pick up. Im headed up there to pick up some kegging equipment.

 

[runningweird]

homebrew stores are great, but usually overpriced. kettles are cheaper online, and oftentimes so are kegging supplies. I ferment in buckets still, I love them - cheap, hard to break, and easy to throw away.

1. don't worry about kegging just yet
2. find a way to control temperature!
3. get a yeast starter kit!
4. TEMPERATURE CONTROL!

 

[thisisbeer]

What is recomended for temperature control? The room I ferment in sttays pretty consistently at 68-70. I keep wondering what people are using when I here most of these beers fair well being fermented at 65 degrees. The whole conversion kit is $200 bucks plus fridge/freezer or whatever.

 

[woozy]

I'm going to be snarky and say if you don't know if you need it, then you don't.

On the other hand of there are things in your system that you feel are a little hairy or devices that are catching your eye... explore those feelings. (My latest acquisition was a bottling wand. It's .... nice. Really nice.)

 

[kaconga]

Temp control is the biggie. Yeast propagation would be my next one. With aeration rounding out my top three. If you can master yeast then you can make better beer.

 

[kaconga]

What is recomended for temperature control? The room I ferment in sttays pretty consistently at 68-70. I keep wondering what people are using when I here most of these beers fair well being fermented at 65 degrees. The whole conversion kit is $200 bucks plus fridge/freezer or whatever.

I use an old fridge I got off craigslist and a Johnson control. There are other ways and you will have to find what works for you.

 

[thisisbeer]

Well thanks guys. I will definently look into this im really looking forward to making better beer.

 

[biestie]

As far as an upgrade from a basic setup...

1. Yeast starter equipment.
1a. Temp control equipment.
1b. Oxygenation setup
1c. Full size kettle, and a heat source with the ass to use the full size kettle.
2. Things to make brewing easier.

Those would be my priorities. Yeast starter equipment consists of a stir plate and flask (google for more info). Alternatively, you could stick with dry yeast, and that equipment isn't necessary. Temp control can be easy or complex. Easy would be a tub that you use ice or frozen bottles to keep temp in check (most important for the first few days of fermentation, google swamp cooler). Oxygenation setup is some way to inject oxygen into your wort. Aquarium pump setup (google that) works, pure oxygen is better, and isn't much more expensive. Alternatively, dry yeast doesn't require it, so you could stick with that. Full size kettle/burner is pretty self explanatory. If it were me, the only thing I'd look to a home brew shop for would be the stir plate/flask, and the oxygenation setup, and I'm sure you could probably find better prices on those, I'm just not sure where.

Last, and I'm not discounting the niceties like kegging that make the hobby easier, they just won't improve your beer. If that's where you want to start, I don't blame you, but I'd start with things that have the potential of taking your beer from good to world class.

You'll notice that everything I listed prior to full size kettle has to do with fermentation. That's where you get the bang for your buck. You'll also notice I didn't list a secondary fermenter. But you can read about that and make your own decision.

 

[biestie]

What is recomended for temperature control? The room I ferment in sttays pretty consistently at 68-70. I keep wondering what people are using when I here most of these beers fair well being fermented at 65 degrees. The whole conversion kit is $200 bucks plus fridge/freezer or whatever.

Yeah, I'd say that ambient temp might be a bit warm since fermentation generates heat, and your beer will likely be a bit hotter than that. You could approach it a couple of ways, cool your beer to 60 or so (can't believe I didn't mention a wort chiller in my previous post)depending on the style, and let it come up naturally. You'll more than likely make fine beer, just not quite ideal.

You can control it cheaply, without anything crazy like a thermostat and a freezer or fridge. A tub of some sort with frozen bottles of water to keep the temp in check for the first 2 or 3 days. That's when it's most critical. I'd be perfectly comfortable with a swamp cooler keeping temp in the low 60s for the first 2 days and letting whatever happens, happen after that. The downside to that is that is not really precise, and therefor, not really repeatable. BUT, it WILL do the job, and accomplish the goal of a healthy fermentation.

 

[biestie]

By the way, I LOVE this question, I wish I had asked the same question early in my hobby (of course when I started, the internet was in its infancy). I can't stress enough, that if you want to spend money to improve your beer, fermentation is where you start.

 

[thisisbeer]

Wow thanks for the input. I was under the impression the kegging would help improve the beer. But I definently want to improve the quality of the beer first and foremost. So it sounds like the extra couple hundred dollars will be much better for temp control, yeast starter kit, and oxygenation set up. As far as a wort chiller can I use the copper tubing from the hardware store? Its way cheaper then what I have found online.

 

[thisisbeer]

And I will have to find a more stable temp control. I would get to worried I would mess up and make a good beer and couldn't re create the exact same fermenting conditions. Lol. Can anyone point me in a good direction for a diy or something on this?

 

[PilotCline]

As for the kegging set up, I'd say go for it. I only bottled my first batch. After that I got a 3 keg set up with a 7.1CF Chest freezer from sams club. A Johnson A419 temp controller to run the show, and the 5# CO2 tank and regulator set up. For me the PITA that was bottling was the only real chore that home brewing had for me. I have kegged since and love it. I can go start to finish in about an hour racking into a keg. I find it much easier to clean and sanitize the keg vs. 50ish bottles. Now I am not going to put down the other suggestions either. I have quite a few Erlenmeyer flasks and a stir plate for yeast starters. I am able to control my fermentation temps in another 7.1CF chest freezer with the same Johnson set up. The keg set up was about $550 for everything, chest freezer, temp controll, 3 used corny kegs, co2 tank, regulator, hoses, and MFL quick disconnects. I would say that if bottling is a chore for you as well, get the keg set up next. Plus you can also ferment in the chest freezer while the keg is serving if you do any lager beers. Also for the Wort chiller, I got a 25' from the LHBS for $29. You could also make it yourself with copper coil from the hardware store, but you will want to clean the outside of it very thoroughly. The one I bought was very shiny and clean with minimal cleaning required on my part. The chiller for me was what gave me the best improvement in my beers over any other gidget that I have bought. Good luck!

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

And I will have to find a more stable temp control. I would get to worried I would mess up and make a good beer and couldn't re create the exact same fermenting conditions. Lol. Can anyone point me in a good direction for a diy or something on this?

Check out the threads in here in the DIY section for STC-1000 or ebay aquarium temp controller. There's lots of info and assistance with any questions. Can even DIY a stirplate for making starters for your yeast.

 

[thisisbeer]

This is what I have found so far I will have by next week for my next brew.

8 gallon stainless pot $84.99
immersible wort chiller $59.99
Freezer 7 cubic feet $100.00
SCT-1000 (Ebay $22.99 Anything I should know about this. Seems straight forward
yeast started kit NB $20.00
Stir plate ebay $74.99
Air regulator kit $49.99
412.95 Does This look decent? Prices and what I should get.

 

[kaconga]

This is what I have found so far I will have by next week for my next brew.

8 gallon stainless pot $84.99
immersible wort chiller $59.99
Freezer 7 cubic feet $100.00
SCT-1000 (Ebay $22.99 Anything I should know about this. Seems straight forward
yeast started kit NB $20.00
Stir plate ebay $74.99
Air regulator kit $49.99
412.95 Does This look decent? Prices and what I should get.

Is that a 2 liter stir plate or a 5 liter one. Seems pricey for a 2 liter one.

 

[thisisbeer]

Just found another 2 liter stir plate for $49.99 does that sound better. Also if anybody else is looking at temperature control, I talked to a friend of mine that works in refrigeration and he said for $30 you can get a mid range thermostat for a chest freezer to make the temperature range from 40 to 70 degrees for about 30 bucks. But you have to have your Refrigeration license or something like that because you can only buy them through a company. But if you know a guy.....

 

[biestie]

Since you're going all out, is the STC a dual stage (I'm not sure if they all are or what)? Just curious, because depending on where you live, and where you're putting it, that might be important. My freezer is in my garage, and I live in Iowa, so I need to be able to heat and cool. I put a couple stick on terrarium heaters inside my freezer, and a computer fan to circulate the air. I could ferment a saison in the middle of winter if I wanted to.

And I don't think there are any big issues with the prices you quoted. I guess I didn't do all of that at once, so I'm not real sure what everything set me back.

 

[brewtexas]

Q

 

[thisisbeer]

I looked at the dual stage thermostat but I live in houston tx. So cool weather is never an issue. I have everything in an extra bedroom upstairs so it stays a little warmer than the rest of the house. I wouldnt see any reason it would ever get below 60 degrees

 

[kaconga]

I think I paid 50 for my stirplate. I was going to build it myself but sourcing the parts was proving difficult. How much variance is on those 30 dollar controllers. +/- 2 degrees?

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

Since you're going all out, is the STC a dual stage (I'm not sure if they all are or what)? Just curious, because depending on where you live, and where you're putting it, that might be important. My freezer is in my garage, and I live in Iowa, so I need to be able to heat and cool. I put a couple stick on terrarium heaters inside my freezer, and a computer fan to circulate the air. I could ferment a saison in the middle of winter if I wanted to.

And I don't think there are any big issues with the prices you quoted. I guess I didn't do all of that at once, so I'm not real sure what everything set me back.

Yes the STC is dual control. I use one myself. Has hot and cool controls.

 

[atreid]

What type of temperature sensors is the STC-1000 compatible with? Thermocouple, RTD, or both?

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

What type of temperature sensors is the STC-1000 compatible with? Thermocouple, RTD, or both?

I'm not sure what all types if probe it is compatible with. I'm just using the stock NTC probe that came with the unit.

 

[JrBeerGut]

This is what I have found so far I will have by next week for my next brew.

8 gallon stainless pot $84.99
immersible wort chiller $59.99
Freezer 7 cubic feet $100.00
SCT-1000 (Ebay $22.99 Anything I should know about this. Seems straight forward
yeast started kit NB $20.00
Stir plate ebay $74.99
Air regulator kit $49.99
412.95 Does This look decent? Prices and what I should get.

I bought my stuff from here a store here in Michigan and I think they have good prices. Even with shipping, it may be a bit cheaper for you.
http://www.homebrewing.org/25-38-Economy-Copper-Wort-Chiller_p_2734.html

 

[thisisbeer]

The the temperature control for my belgian wit beer im about to start what temp shoukd I set ths freezer for to ferment it

 

[biestie]

I'm a use white labs because that's what my LHBS sells. With wlp400, I start at 68 and ramp up to 74, a degree per day.