Best home brew related purchase you have made?

[Godfather50]

I didn't actually buy this for brewing. But pretty soon I found that Homebrewing involved a lot of bottles. Mates ask how many beers have you got at the moment? Might be 100. They think it's a massive amount. It's not really. I brew 5 gallons about once a month. Some beers benefit from a six to eight weeks in the bottle. So it's nice to store the empties and the full in a nice "private" cupboard. Mines in a cool part of the house and is my cellar.

 

[brewzone]

Dave Lines book brewing beers like those You buy.

Set Me off on a life long love of brewing all grain.

Wish He was around to write more on the subject.

 

[broadfordbrewer]

Starsan is a popular choice. Bottling wand also a good call. My Thermomite thermometer has been brilliant too.

 

[TartanSpecial]

OK..I know I've had two go's at this already, but on reflection, after going to extract and all grain I have to say I really love brewing software. Its relatively inexpensive, but I can spend hours on dark winters days developing and redeveloping recipes. I use Beersmith2 ...not sure if its better or worse than the others available, its just the one I came across and bought for approx £20.

 

[Mish]

My very first kit, opened a whole new world for me!!

Now though I'd have to say the graham Wheeler bible and a bench capper. Been with me fir a long time and be lost without either!!

 

[clibit]

Either the £2 square meter of muslin that I sewed two grain bags from to enable my first AG brew. Or the £25 Corona grain mill, which means I use freshly ground malt when I brew.

 

[Yeastmaster]

Bottling wand. Nightmare without it.

 

[buzzharvey22]

I "borrowed" 2 milk crates from the milkman down the road. 20 bottles in each. Makes transporting from place to place so much easier.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I didn't actually buy this for brewing. But pretty soon I found that Homebrewing involved a lot of bottles. Mates ask how many beers have you got at the moment? Might be 100. They think it's a massive amount. It's not really. I brew 5 gallons about once a month. Some beers benefit from a six to eight weeks in the bottle. So it's nice to store the empties and the full in a nice "private" cupboard. Mines in a cool part of the house and is my cellar.

+1

I have:

14 x galaxy hop 2
36 x abdij
28 x oakey dokey
33 x noah knows

= 111, so like you say a couple of 5 gallon brews(or 21 litres as I do) and it soon mounts up. My other half reckons 140 bottles which would be right as the difference in the numbers would be my bought brews. I have a cherry beer on the go and that will be another 40 bottles so storage is a problem.

So my top 3 would be.

1. star san
2. bottling wand.
3. bottle storage.

 

[Fil]

someone worked out the optimum number of cornies for a home brewer iirc it was something like 18 to 24

 

[duncans]

This is slightly off topic, but I've set up a spreadsheet to help control my spending (and when I say control, I mean prevent).

Basically, I log everything I spend on both equipment and ingredients. Then I divide that by the number of bottles drunk. Because I'm a noob still I've only drunk 14 bottles and my average cost per bottle is an eye watering £7.70.

Lol. Glad its not just me.

Best buys :
Some 5l fv's. Great for trying out new recipes.
Brewing Britain by Andy Hamilton.
[emoji4]

 

[MyQul]

I would have to say my bottle rinser and fast rack (as well as swapping all my PET bottles for glass). Has made bottling day actually really pleasant.