"ill never be one of those crazys that spend thousands on equipment"

Williams 728
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With me it was a slow snowball that then caused an avalanche.

4 years ago: SWMBO got me the Brooklyn 1 gallon kits for Christmas. Did several batches like that, made a huge mess on her white cabinets splashing wort when I stepped up to 2.5 gallon BIAB batches and kept the kink occupied w/ the ice bath. Got a IC from my mother to free up the sink.

3 years ago: I got several batches of gushers in a row and got so put off I didn't brew for over a year.

2 years ago: Then we moved, got an 8 gallon 2 weld kettle w/ a false bottom for Christmas, no more stain cabinets, time to start brewing again... SWMBO gets pregnant, no playing gallons of boiling liquid in the new house while she's pregnant.

6 months ago: Well the little one is old enough/sleeping enough that I could start brewing again. I do have that brand new kettle I haven't used... But all that effort for gushers? Not dealing with that heartbreak again (and SWMBO isn't dealing w/ bear on the ceiling again) Guess I better buy a keg... and regulator... and a krome tap w/ QDs and lines. Stove in the new house wont boil the volume for 5 gallon batches, which I figured out the night before I planned on brewing and I already had the ingredients bought... Well, better go get that turkey fryer burner.

Hmm... missed my numbers, screwed up my H2o needs w/ the new false bottom. Gunna have to go again and figure this out. Wait, need another keg then.. and a tap I suppose... Hey babe, you're ok if I put some holes in the fridge downstairs right? I mean its just full of my beer anyways...

Still missed my OG, but the beer is good even if its 2.8%. No hun, we don't need to buy beer for that party, we have a dark ale and a brown on tap downstairs. Too dark for the summer? I can do a Blue Moon clone wheat for the summer? ok, just need another keg... and tap...

Oh, you like IPAs? Sure I can clone 2 hearted, I just need this stir bar/flask set up to harvest the yeast, don't worry its not that expensive. Oh,

The tap is sticking? Probably because we don't drink enough, I guess next time I could get a Perlick? Might as well get flow control and creamer function right? No sense wanting to replace it in a few months, better to pay for what we may want up front.

Still not hitting my numbers... Gunna need a cooler to convert into a mash tun, hey so about that birthday coming up...

Is there a word for when you're proud and ashamed at the same time? :mug:
 
https://imgflip.com/i/15eqdv

meme homebrew.jpg
 
4 years ago I started making cider cuz I wanted to get the girl I was dating drunk on the cheap
3 years ago I started making extract kits cuz a friend told me i already had pretty much everything I needed to make beer.
2 years ago I moved to all grain.
1 year ago I built my dream keezer, have beer, cider and all kinds of stuff on tap. Couldn't be happier. Oh and as far as hobbies go, I think we're on the cheaper side compared to my friends who are windsurfing, kitesurfing, remote controlled cars and planes, dune buggy-ing, jet skiing, or any other crap we get into...View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465297640.428709.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465297652.781511.jpg
 
Right now I don't have the money or space to step up my equipment. I've done 4 beers to date all 1 gallon batches. I recently got a 3 gallon carboy so I will be getting a little more beer. I'm still doing extract, but plan on doing all grain when I have a bigger place. I'm not gonna lie though I do plan on spending some money on equipment I already have it picked out for when my wife and I get a house. I want the brewha biac 5 gallon set up.
 
I've still only spent a few hundred bucks...biggest expense was the 11gal ss bayou pot.

I'm dropping the kegging hint every time SWMBO complains that she "likes" my cider but wishes it could be sweeter and wants sparkling. I know I can pasteurize but that doesn't get me approved to spend 1-2K on a dream kegging set up. And I don't feel comfortable doing it anyways.
 
Hmm. I like building the equipment and being somewhat delusional in that it is saving me $$$.

Otherwise, I tell myself, I'd be brewing to drink and not making the brewery, and that can be construed in a bad (and mostly inaccurate) way.

I'm presently making my third wort chiller because I wanted to make a better design than I did the last two times. I suppose us Engineering types simply do that.

Maybe the multi K stuff is worth it to avoid the work.. but I like the long projects.. it's really why I do this. I like making the equipment.. and I'm in the 10 corny keg range, too.. ;) So you really can go on forever.

Any good hobby is this way, however... And honestly this is the cheapest of the few I still have.
 
Damn, I love brewing no matter the cost.

Unfortunately I haven't decided if I am....

"Brewing to drink, or drinking to brew"

I guess it really doesn't matter as long as I keep looking forward to brew days.
 
Not me, not gonna be one of those crazys.....Just bought a 21 cu ft freezer, told SWMBO we needed a bigger freezer for meat. Now the 15 cu ft is becoming a keezer. With the new one coming it was just going to sit around and collect dust.

How is that for justification....LOL
 
shadow160 said:
Not me, not gonna be one of those crazys.....Just bought a 21 cu ft freezer, told SWMBO we needed a bigger freezer for meat. Now the 15 cu ft is becoming a keezer. With the new one coming it was just going to sit around and collect dust.

How is that for justification....LOL
Click to expand...

But what do you do with your kegs that are conditioning????!?!!:confused: Definitely need a second keg freezer for aging:tank:
 
hehe, well the keezer is going to be the fermentation chamber for the first batch. My next concern is for the fermentation for the following batches. I might need to upgrade my garage fridge so we can fit more leftovers in it....:D
 
shadow160 said:
hehe, well the keezer is going to be the fermentation chamber for the first batch. My next concern is for the fermentation for the following batches. I might need to upgrade my garage fridge so we can fit more leftovers in it....:D
Click to expand...

Yea I started with one freezer as a fermentation chamber... then served the beer using picnic taps for two or three batches... then go a second freezer for a dedicated keezer and fermentation chamber... then bought conicals and made a glycol coolant system:tank:
 
jddevinn said:
Yea I started with one freezer as a fermentation chamber... then served the beer using picnic taps for two or three batches... then go a second freezer for a dedicated keezer and fermentation chamber... then bought conicals and made a glycol coolant system:tank:
Click to expand...

It's going to take me a while to figure out how to justify that so that the cost is for something else in the house....LOL

If I am kegging beer I need a place to drink beer, so I am going to build a new bar to house the keezer in. Right now I am debating between a keggle vs a regular pot.
 
I estimate I've spent $3k over the past 3.5 years. DIY 4 tap keezer, 3 5 gallon kegs, 6 2.5 gallon kegs, beer gun for bottling sometimes, freezer ferm chamber, 3 primary fermentors, 2 glass secondary, on my second square cooler mash tun, food grade containers for bulk grain storage, vacuum sealers for hops with 5+ lbs of mixed hops in the freezer, large pressure cooker for canning starter wort, just started a frozen yeast bank.

Built a fermentation chamber from scratch early on, but ended up scrapping it. We moved to a new house where it would be located in the blazing hot garage as opposed to the cool basement where it was previously. Chamber was too big for the little mini fridge to keep up with. Ended up freezing over and quit working, then all the ice melted and ran down the side and underneath causing mold. That was about $500 down the drain.

Gearing up to build a large cooler under my basement steps to triple as kegerator, bottle storage and long term aging storage at 45 F. Will also be replacing all my bar/countertops with concrete countertops. Will be costly, but so friggin sweet.
 
Started with a mr. beer kit years ago...

now own a Grainfather, 2 tap kegerator, SS brew buckets.. until I buy my first home in two years or so, I am trying to be done upgrading..

Probably won't happen.
 
treacheroustexan said:
Started with a mr. beer kit years ago...

now own a Grainfather, 2 tap kegerator, SS brew buckets.. until I buy my first home in two years or so, I am trying to be done upgrading..

Probably won't happen.
Click to expand...


I was hoping I'd be able to expand when I bought my house. Unfortunately it's too small for SWMBO to let me have a space.

Time to start working on the brew-shed
 
I maybe spent $150 when I first tried my hand at homebrewing in 1996. Since getting back into the hobby in 2014 I've bought:
- 2 x 7g SS BrewTech BrewMaster buckets
- 10g SS BrewTech kettle (replacing a 10g Bayou Classic :p)
- Yeastir and flask/graduated cylinder set
- Chugger SS pump + TC and quick disconnect fittings
- Brewometer hydrometer
- Barleycrusher mill
- Aeration kit
- Gobs of storage containers

It's amazing what happens as you get older and have more disposable income. Altogether I'm well past the $1000 mark and eyeing a freezer or chamber for temperature control now...
 
Started with a Mr. Beer kit...Now I have an ElectricBrewery, fermentation chamber with brewpi, kegerator 4 kegs, countless bottles, random stuff, beer fridge in the garage...I think I have a problem.
 
I probably brewed my first year for less than $100, it's not hard. If you do stovetop BIAB with a pasta pot you already own, or a 20qt yardsale find. Ground grain in the blender. Bottles were had from the distributor for 5c each. I think that all I bought was a hydrometer, a bottle capper, a glass thermometer, and a fermenter with a valve to bottle. My first "You made this? It's great!" batches were made that way. Of course, I've fallen. Kegs led me down the path...
Now I'm in for hundreds, but not thousands.
 
Adding to my 5 figure investment:

+$200 Switching to immersion chiller. Tired of the plate chiller clogging.
+$200 Pressurized fermentation in kegs (x3). Batch size now 13.5G!
+$150 Misc fittings, quick disconnects, tubing, etc to improve low dissolved oxygen levels and above items.
--------
=Great Hobby
 
Got a chest freezer from a neighbor I turned into a fermentation chamber, $100. Jaded immersion chiller, $200. Both have made my beer awesome and so worth it!!
 
I don't even want to admit to myself how much I spent building my semi-auto electric brew stand. Of course people always ask, "How much money do you have in that?" I usually squirm a bit and say, "oh, probably about $1000"

Then I started thinking...It was $400 alone for the HMI touchpanel, $200 for the PLC, $120 for the analog input module, $250 for the electrical enclosure, $150 for the 40amp220V GFCI breaker, $150 for each pump, $100 for each of the three temp controllers.....
...."Who want's another beer?"
 

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