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New Article: Brewing on a Budget
A new article was posted:
Brewing on a Budget
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Money is a concern for just about everybody. While making beer is
cheap, buying the initial equipment is not necessarily the cheapest
part. This can run under $100, to over $500. That is a big chunk of
money when you live on a budget. Here are some tips I have learned over time to help save money.
These can be used by anybody to save money. You will find these
especially useful if you don\'t have any equipment yet, and want to get
it very affordable.
Please feel free to make comments here.
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i bought all my equipment from sellers on creigslist [orange co . ca] i got a turkey fryer pot@ the propane burner for 35.00... and complete brew kit with 3 buckets and all basic accessories including about 300 caps , 12 bottles. and a very nice hydrometer ,joy of brewing book, for 40.00
Craigs list is a great resource for getting peoples unwanted gear...
I don't know how you walk away from the hobby and sell your gear though.
Maybe they make a bad batch and give up. Its a shame because of great resources like BKB boards to help improve anyones beer.
Craigslist is always a good deal...as long as you don't screwed, but most people here probably have enough common sense to know a stinky deal when they see one....I'll be looking on my Craigslist in the near future for the conversion to AG....
I wish I had my brewhouse built....I was looking in the Columbus, Oh craigslist yesterday and a couple was giving away a free kegerator and CO2 tank....said they don't drink anymore....shame!!! I just don't have anywhere to put it and I got another line on one that will be there when I'm ready.......
GOODBREWING......
Just a note here, check on Freecycle (freecycle.org for your local group) for equipment. There are many who buy kits, try it a time or two and then forget about it. That is where I got my equipment to start out. There is often other things like tubing and buckets available that you can use as well.
While fnding good deals on line is a good way to save some dough, another take may be to use some common cense and a little research, and build some of your equipment. I have built my own mash tun, wort chilller, sparge arm, and hop back, while they arn't as pretty as the store bought stuff, they work really good. Most of my ideas came from C. papizans joy of home brewing. I just used the principals he laid out for some things, and expanded them into others. I have seen some very impressive set ups posted here too. What ever approach you take to assemble gear for brewing, make sure you have fun!
i've been brewing 5 gallon batches of beer for 3 1/2 years now. when buy the equipment, i spent only about $75. of course, that's not including ingredients for a 5 gallon batch, however, $75 isn't bad for the basic equipment. i also added to my equipment piece-by piece since then, equaling to about $90-$100. but for the basic equipment, i paid $75.
Yes,secondhand is a very cheap way to go.For example:I just picked up 3-6 gallon carboys with fermometers,brew caps and handles,4-5 gallon corny kegs,1-5# co2 bottle and dual gague regulator,1-4 way co2 manifold,2 beer out ball lock connectors,3 co2 in ball lock connectors,2 beer faucets and 3 airlocks for 100$ what a score huh.And i found it on craigslist.I've got my fridge setup in the garage with a super cheap kegerator now,just waiting on a couple batches to ferment and then i'll have draught homebrew yay!
I read Jamil's article on his whirlpool/immersion chiller technique from www.mrmalty.com and was thinking through the improvements I could do using my immersion chiller, which typically took like 45 minutes and lots of water. I tried a variation this afternoon, when I was brewing an oatmeal stout. I use to use a black HDPE paint stirrer chucked into my drill to try and whip additional air into the wort right before pitching. More recently, I have been using oxygen injection and was no longer using the stirrer. However, I chucked it up and strapped my drill to a pipe and suspended it over my wort with the stirrer inside of my chiller loops. With it running at high speed, it induced a pretty good whirlpool. My 6 gallon brew went from boiling to 100 degrees in six minutes, and was down to 70 degrees in another 5 minutes. Be much cooler to use Jamil's method, but a pump will run be over a hundred bucks and is not likely in the near future for me. For now,. I can live with my drill induced whirlpool, and it cost me nothing and used way less cooling water. Not bad.
forget the immersion chiller, and get the plate chiller "shirron". This costs about 95 bucks, but it cools so much faster than anything I've ever seen. It's really one of the best kept secrets in brewing, I can't believe that everyone doesn't have these.
from boiling to 60F as soon as it's out of the chiller. I just put it right into my fermenters. This time of year with the pump it takes me 5 minutes to cool and have it in the fermenters, it's absolutely crazy. Especially if you where used to chilling with Ice like I used to do. Seeing somthing cool this fast blows your mind.
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