Holy smokes, I just read every word of these last 53 pages in one sitting. I can't get enough. This is SO much fun!
I am inclined to believe you, Altrez, that you are indeed genuine in all of this. I know that if I had the means, I would go crazy with the equipment purchases, regardless of "needing it" to make good beer. I absolutely do not have money to spend on more brewing equipment beyond my current AG setup, but that sure doesn't stop me from spending plenty of time on internet retailers' sites drooling over glycol jacketed conicals, yeast lab equipment, and tons of other utterly unnecessary equipment (on which I'd 100% click "add to cart" if I were able). So good on you, I wish I were in your shoes!
I'm going to offer a piece of advice that for some reason has not been put forth in this thread (I don't think), but that you should take heed of given your current situation. Make your extract beers using unadjusted distilled water. This is advice straight from the mouth of some of the major homebrew experts (John Palmer comes to mind, among others). The reason is that the extract already contains whatever mineral profile was used in its creation, and you are essentially just reconstituting it. Since you have no way of knowing what this water profile is, you're just stabbing in the dark by adding your own mineral additions on top of it. You may get lucky, or you may create a beer that tastes like alka-seltzer. Building your water profile with mineral additions is an awesomely useful practice when brewing from grain, but is basically pointless in an extract brew. Think of it like having a clutch installed in your automatic transmission minivan. Sure, you have put in a clutch, but this is the wrong context for it and it is at best redundant. Master other areas of your process now while you are in the extract phase, and save water for when it is actually relevant.
Looking forward to hearing more as your beers become ready to drink!
