Down the rabbit hole

[Cptn_Needa]

I've been brewing kits on and off for 20 years (mostly off to be fair) but just took my first steps down the road of AG brews.

I picked up a 36l stock pot and a BIAB, ordered some ingredients and with some excellent help from this forum, got stuck in. The first results came in last night and I was pretty amazed at the difference between the kits and an AG brew. It was night and day for me.

So of course now I'm hooked. Second brew is fermenting (one week in) and the ingredients for the third, forth and fifth are on their way.\

Now my attention is turning towards equipment. I've just made myself an immersion chiller from 10m of 10mm copper pipe. I'm not sure why I went for this piece of kit before anything else (maybe it was because it looked fun to make) but I figured it might help with cutting down the time spent on brew-day.
Next up I think I might get a gas burner as the gas hob at home might be a bit underpowered for heating larger volumes of wort (it struggled with 20l until I made it an insulating jacket).

So after that big preamble I was wondering about a few things:

1 - What you thoughts were on the latest kit items (chiller and burner)?
2 - What should I tap up next?
3 - What was your game-changing kit upgrade?

Current kit includes: Stock Pot (no tap), BIAB, Immersion Chiller, Hop Bags, Jugs, Thermometer, Hydrometer, Syphon tubes, FV (no tap), Fermenting Fridge (with heater and ink bird), PB x 2, Bottles, Emily capper.

 

[MmmBeer]

A home made immersion chiller is a good addition to your brew kit. With regard to a gas burner, make sure it is suitably rated for your needs, some people use electric induction rings, a possiblity if your stock pot is of the right material.

 

[Cptn_Needa]

...make sure it is suitably rated for your needs, some people use electric induction rings, a possiblity if your stock pot is of the right material.

Good shout
I haven’t looked in to induction rings so would need to do some research on what output I’d need.
The pot is apparently ok for both gas and induction. It’s got a decent thick base on it but there’s no info on what sort of inferno it can take. It’s a cheap Chinese import.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/183380213738

 

[Doive]

I too started out brewing a few kits, and they were okay, but as you say moving on to AG brewing was an amazing difference. I've been doing BIAB for about eight years now, and my initial setup was a plastic fermenting bucket modified with a kettle element & temperature probe, with a temperature controller running the element. Total cost back then was less than £100 - it's a no frills setup, does nothing fancy, but has served me well. I use it for temp controlled mashing, and then the rolling boil. Very happy with it. My most recent game changing kit has been the purchase of a Fermentasaurus snub nose, and a corny key for dispensing.

 

[Cptn_Needa]

I too started out brewing a few kits, and they were okay, but as you say moving on to AG brewing was an amazing difference. I've been doing BIAB for about eight years now, and my initial setup was a plastic fermenting bucket modified with a kettle element & temperature probe, with a temperature controller running the element. Total cost back then was less than £100 - it's a no frills setup, does nothing fancy, but has served me well. I use it for temp controlled mashing, and then the rolling boil. Very happy with it. My most recent game changing kit has been the purchase of a Fermentasaurus snub nose, and a corny key for dispensing.

The corny is on my wish list, as is the snub nose. I think storage and dispensing would come first for me but I'd need to negotiate some storage space with my better half. We've been talking for years about getting a drinks cabinet so I might be able to suggest a kegerator if I make it look the part (some sort of wooden casing perhaps).