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Quality Brewing Equipment
High technology equipments are very important in homebrewing. At home I only use the basic equipment. Do you know where to buy the best and quality equipment for homebrewing? My equipment here easily broken because i'ts just local made. I believe quality equipments produce quality products. A penny of your thoughts?
Homebrewing does not necessarily require high tech equipment. Don't forget that brewing is a very old tradition, and has been accomplished with very low-tech kitchen utensils. So don't worry so much about that. You are correct to recognize that quality is important. Most importantly, you want equipment that will last. Start by analyzing what your current brewing needs are, and how much you want to expand in the near future. Do you currently brew 1 gallon at a time, or 10? Do you brew 1 beer every few months or 5 different ones each month? This will greatly help determine what equipment you should be looking at.
I agree with Car Boy, you don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money or have high tech equipment for brewing. My whole set up cost less than $300, and some of that is homemade stuff. I works well for me. I use a modified keg for a brew kettle, a turkey fryer for a HLT, and a Coleman cooler for a mash/lauter tun. Throw in a couple of buckets and carboys for fermenters, and that is a pretty low expense set up. I use gravity to transfer everything, whith my truck tailgate providing the height for my gravity feed. A little ghetto maybe, but since my wife isn't exactly understanding in spending money on brewing equipment, it is the best I can do until I win the lottery. Plus I get a little extra exercise by moving around all the containers full liquid ;-).
if spending a lot of money is your main goal, Sabco has prefabbed brewing systems, as does morebeer...
I personally enjoy the whole MacGuyver-ing of my brew system, I'd rather build it than buy it... here's some pics of my system...
If you have the time and money, custom making your homebrew system is the best bet. I prefer stainless steel as it is easy to clean and does not pit easily. It is relatively easy to find old kegs if you search hard enough and they are always awesome for brew kettles and mash tuns. Plastic fermenters are relatively cheap and easily replaceable but generally hard to clean. Stay away from wood kegs unless you are willing to devote a lot of time and boiling water or else you brew exclusively high gravity beers. I saw a seven gallon stainless turkey fryer with propane rack at Costco yesterday for less than a hundred bucks...
Cheers,
Tim
I'll try to U/L these pix again. I've built more than a dozen systems for different members. in clubs from Neb, Calif to Fla and now Georgia. This one is my latest.
I've always wanted to do one out of 100% stainless and I came real close on this one. These were taken last Sat; the first brew on this sytem. As you can see, my HLT burner shroud is no longer a virgin, as are several other spots that got a good blast from the new 200,000 Btu burners. Since I'm a machinist, I make all the special fittings that can't be purchased and did all the welding and polishing in my garage. The kettles have been with me for 10-12 years and are still in great shape. Let me know if I can help anyone out in the future.
Brewing in N. GA
RedEyeBrew
I'll try to U/L these pix again. I've built more than a dozen systems for different members. in clubs from Neb, Calif to Fla and now Georgia. This one is my latest.
I've always wanted to do one out of 100% stainless and I came real close on this one. These were taken last Sat; the first brew on this sytem. As you can see, my HLT burner shroud is no longer a virgin, as are several other spots that got a good blast from the new 200,000 Btu burners. Since I'm a machinist, I make all the special fittings that can't be purchased and did all the welding and polishing in my garage. The kettles have been with me for 10-12 years and are still in great shape. Let me know if I can help anyone out in the future.
Brewing in N. GA
RedEyeBrew
RedEyeBrew, that's fantastic. my system is all stainless (and copper for temperature changing stuff) for what touches my beer, but those custom fittings and the stand are amazing. that looks like a Shirron plate chiller, and do you have a pump tucked under there somewhere?
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