Getting new equipment - what do you think?

[aprichman]

Looking at upgrading my brewing setup with a little extra holiday cash One of my biggest short term goals would be expanding my capacity. Right now I'm brewing with extract using 3 gallon carboys and a 2 gallon stockpot. I'm sure I don't have to tell you guys but this is just not ideal at all.

I'm thinking of purchasing the following:

AIB 8 gal. stockpot w/ one weld
Dark Star Burner
Silver Serpent immersion chiller

Short term this would allow me to do full boil extract brews. I could also brew 5 gallons at once if I used both of my 3 gallon carboys.

In the near future I plan to make a Zapap mash tun. I think I could get away using my current 2 gallon stockpot as a HLT if I was brewing 2.5 gallon all grain batches, although that might be pushing it. In the future I plan on getting another 5 gallon pot to act as the HLT for 5+ gallon all grain batches and a 6.5 gallon carboy to stick everything into.

Does anyone have experience with any of this equipment? Would you upgrade your equipment in the same way? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[ghohn]

That 8 gallon pot would serve you well as your sparge water pot should you consider moving up to 10G in the future. If it were me, and I could save a few bucks by doing so, I'd forego the spigot in favor of an unmolested, virgin model. Spigots snag on things and might impede stackability in the future. I'm a big fan of good ole siphoning. It's consistent as you know what.

I don't have any experience with the other two items you listed.

 

[madscientist451]

Depends what your goals are. You can get away from extract and go all grain by using a $20 round walmart cooler, a BIAB bag and a larger pot, all for less than the 3 things you listed.
I would quit extract ASAP and make whatever batch size you can.

 

[eadavis80]

I have NB's Darkstar burner which I got on a promo from N. Brewer - they run a promo at least twice a year where if you spend X amount (I think $150) you get the Darkstar for free. NB sometimes will extend previous promos so there's no harm in calling them and asking if you can take advantage of an "expired" promo. My Darkstar works very well - proudly recommend. My 8 gallon kettle is NB's Tall Boy - works well - no valve, but I just lift and dump into my primary 6.5 gallon bucket. I would encourage you to get at least one big fermentation vessel. I like buckets - cheap and no fear of breaking glass, but you could also do a 6.5 gallon plastic Better Bottle. One thing I do like about buckets though, is I put my double mesh stainless steel strainer on top of the bucket while lifting my cooled wort into the bucket. Not only does the strainer keep hop sludge out, but it also helps to aerate the wort upon its entry into the bucket - 2 features in one! As for the immersion chiller, I saw that new product - looks like it's well designed and I could not brew without a chiller anymore, though mine is just an old school copper one - it works fine.

 

[RM-MN]

May I suggest you get a pot that is a little larger? I've made several 5 gallon batches in a 7 1/2 gallon pot but is difficult to keep it from boiling over. A 10 gallon pot would alleviate that.

 

[eadavis80]

A 10 gallon pot would be a lot more "worry-free" than my 8-gallon Tall Boy, I'll admit that. The first time I used it, I added a lot of fermentables at once and added my hops very quickly - boil over city. However, since then I've learned to be a little slower on my hop additions and it's been fine. As long as you're careful, 8 gallons should be fine, but you have to watch it more closely than you would a 10-gallon pot.

 

[SPR-GRN]

I'm going to echo getting a larger pot.. I do all grain with an 8 gallon pot and I wish it was bigger.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I just used a 20 gal concord pot doing a 10 gal batch. Its really the only thing you need.Do brew in a bag.Use pot for BK and mash tun. Very simple,easy and cheap ALL grain setup

 

[blizz81]

I would never recommend a kettle under 10gal if you want to be doing "5 gallon" batches. Then again, I like to be able to brew big beers and sometimes am at 8gal preboil volume (or higher).

 

[aprichman]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! You guys are really helping to convince me that BIAB is the way I should go.

Northern Brewer has a Raise Your Game II kit that's a 8 gallon Tall Boy w/ Dark Star Burner for $120. I just sent them an email to see if I could get the combo with a 10 gallon Tall Boy by paying the difference between the 8 gal. and 10 gal. kettles (+$20).

Hopefully they will let me, otherwise I will probably just wait for NB to run another free Dark Star burner promo.

 

[aprichman]

Northern Brewer won't make any changes to the kit which is pretty terrible IMHO. I asked people to get me gift cards to NB for Xmas but now I'm starting to regret it. The prices at sites like homebrewing.org seem to be a lot more reasonable.

Maybe I should just try to sell my gift cards at a loss and purchase elsewhere

 

[RSNovi]

I just took my first step toward home brewing and buying a beginners kit. Adventures in Home Brewing is just a little ways from my house. The main components that I went with are:

Brewer's Best Starter Kit
8 gallon kettle
2 6.5 gallon buckets (Came with starter kit)
6.5 gallon glass carboy
5 gallon glass carboy (Came with starter kit)
Wort chiller
other miscellaneous items (Came with starter kit)

The whole kit cost me $270. My first beer will be a scotch ale kit from Brewer's Best.

 

[aprichman]

Are you going to make your two buckets into a Zapap mash tun or are you doing extract?

I'm still torn in between doing BIAB w/ a 10 gallon kettle or getting a 5 gallon kettle HLT + Zapap mash tun + 8 gallon Tall Boy kettle

 

[RSNovi]

Since I am a beginner I am going to start with an extract.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I would skip the carboys at all costs.They sound cool but are a pain in the ass.Heavy,slippery,and most impotant a nightmare to clean...as in nightmare. A plastic ferm bucket works more than fine and takes about a second to clean.
If you want a secondary you can use a home depot bucket.Yes it works,Im still alive for proof.
If it were me Id get
A ferm bucket
hydrometer,You can use the tube it comes in to measure if you want
sanitizer
Spoon
Auto siphon
Thermometer
Airlock
At least twice the pot you think youll need,youll wish you did real soon 20 gal
A way to heat Sounds like your going propane.
look for a used IC or buy some copper.All a chiller is is rolled up copper,not brain surgery.

EDIT: If your already brewing you have all that stuff,Gettin late
20 gal pot with with basket Stainless steel 150 shipped
burner 50 ??
IC 60ish used
6.5 plastic ferm bucket cheap.
For under $300 you can brew 10 gal batches....and that's sweet.
If you get a $100 ceriel killer grain mill youll save big money on your beer.
Doing the math I can brew a 1/2 barrel of quality homebrew for $40.Bud light the cheapest crap around cost $100. Money well spent on equipment

 

[IslandLizard]

^ what he said ^ especially omitting glass vessels.

Regarding the 20 gallon pot, they are huge! Nice for 15 gallon batches if you have a matching heat source, but really, a 10 gallon kettle is large enough for 5.5 gallon full boils of extract or All Grain (6.5 - 7 gallons pre-boil).

I have an 8 gallon kettle and it is a bit tight for a 7 gallon pre-boil volume (AG), having only 1.5" of headspace from the rim! But otherwise it's a great kettle, and not just for brewing beer.

 

[IslandLizard]

Don't forget Craigslist, there are some good deals to be had as well as the For Sale section here (gotta be fast, though).

And check HomeBrew Finds a few times daily. Beware, restrain yourself, you don't need all that stuff, only those few things you're looking for, nothing else!

 

[aprichman]

Homebrew Finds looks awesome - I'll keep an eye on that website. Let me give everyone a run down of the current equipment I'm brewing with.

2 - 3 gallon glass carboys
1 - bottling bucket w/ spigot
1 - 2 gallon brew pot (this is also the same pot I use to make chicken stock every week )
1 - 5/8" auto siphon

I also have various tubing, a big metal spoon, airlocks, bungs, etc. Right now I make ~2.5 gallon batches in my 3 gallon carboys. A typical brew day for me looks like this:

Boil ~1.5 gallons H2O
Add LME, hops, etc. during the boil
Hydrate dry yeast
Fill carboy with ~1 gallon of cool, fresh H2O
Remove hops with slotted metal spoon
Cool in water bath (~5-10 min)
Drain wort through filter/screen setup into carboy
Use drill attachment to oxygenate wort
Pitch yeast
Put airlock/bung over bunghole
Ferment for ~2-3 weeks
Check FG (if it's within .02 of my expected FG I will bottle)
Siphon beer into bottling bucket on top of boiled H2O w/ dextrose
Gently stir beer & added dextrose with big spoon
Rack into sterilized bottles
Age bottles ~2-3 weeks


Honestly it's a lot of work for 2.5 gallon batches that yields ~24 12oz bottles. My goals are to be able to make larger batches so I can brew less frequently, reduce my costs, and brew better beer.

Going all grain and stepping up to bigger batches accomplishes all of these. Trying to decide if I want to build a mash tun or do BIAB method. It might make sense for me to brew in a bucket although I do worry that the plastic would trap more heat during fermentation compared to glass. I don't have a separate temperature controlled space for fermenting. Right now I ferment in a closet that has ~63F ambient temperature. If things get too warm I'll run a box fan on the carboy which helps cool things down by a few degrees. With the bucket being plastic and fermenting twice the amount of beer I'm not sure that I could cool it down enough.