If you had £600 or so saved up

[Deadhead]

If you had £600 or so saved up, what fermenter system would you go for? Something shiny? A few different pressure fermenters?
I currently ferment in a plastic bucket submerged a bucket with an aquarium heater method of temperature control. Love the idea of something like the Grainfather conical where I can set and that's that. But I know there are other options. I won't have any room for a glycol chiller though, so would need to do ice water, etc for chilling (though, I don't really do traditional lagers ,so don't really need really low temps). I do want to pressure transfer so I can make something hazy and hoppy. Don't really want a fridge, as I'm having a hard enough time trying to convince the hubby that I need a fridge to turn into a kegerator (space is the main concern).
My head hurts from reading various threads, US based reviews, etc, etc. What would you do?

 

[Clint]

Keep your plastic bucket,get a used fridge for free or £20,get an Inkbird £28,get a tube heater £15.
Spend some time setting it up (free).
Make great beer!
Save about £500.
Oops! I see you didn't want a fridge...you do really. Just get it.

 

[LeeH]

Fermzilla, fermenting and transferring under pressure is a winner.

 

[Toxicdonkey]

All rounder, you can pressure ferment and closed transfer. Easier to live with that the snub nose of bigger systems.

 

[jof]

What about saving even more for a nice outbuilding that you can do your brewing in?

If your not doing that - I would recommend keeping your equipment to a size that you can carry & lift to siphoning/bottling height when full

 

[Leon103]

If you can't control the temperature then it doesn't really matter what you ferment in. Overcome that hurdle first.

 

[samale]

I'm having a hard enough time trying to convince the hubby that I need a fridge to turn into a kegerator
[/QUOTE]
I would get that boy checked out, what's wrong with his head. He obviously doesn't realise he's married to a unicorn
Some boys don't know when they have made it in Life

 

[Cheshire Cat]

If I had that money I'd spend some on drink and some on women and waste the rest.

 

[Clint]

If I had that money I'd spend some on drink and some on women and waste the rest.

Best idea yet...and curry!

 

[chillipickle]

Best bang for buck I had in my short brewing journey:-
second hand fridge £20 ink bird controller £30, really did improve my beer kits.

Free chest freezer, 2 corny keg set up from brew keg tap £240 ish ( gas £80 ish) another ink bird £30.

Sunbnose fv, then the most expensive item, brewzilla bundle, £370.

The fun and the quality of beer I can make has been outstanding.

So for not much over your budget, you can get some fairly decent kit together to make some respectable beer.Im sure you can get a full set up for less.

what ever kit you buy, it is certainly rewarding brewing your own.

 

[Leon103]

Best bang for buck I had in my short brewing journey:-
second hand fridge £20 ink bird controller £30, really did improve my beer kits.

Free chest freezer, 2 corny keg set up from brew keg tap £240 ish ( gas £80 ish) another ink bird £30.

Sunbnose fv, then the most expensive item, brewzilla bundle, £370.

The fun and the quality of beer I can make has been outstanding.

So for not much over your budget, you can get some fairly decent kit together to make some respectable beer.Im sure you can get a full set up for less.

what ever kit you buy, it is certainly rewarding brewing your own.

You want to shop around for your gas.£80 notes

 

[chillipickle]

That was the £60 deposit on the bottle and £20 a fill, could of got it a little cheaper, if I travelled 1/2 hr

 

[Corbières]

That was the £60 deposit on the bottle and £20 a fill, could of got it a little cheaper, if I travelled 1/2 hr

I’m looking for gas in Wigan and getting same quotes £60 deposit (some want £70) and £20 ish to fill. Anywhere cheaper. Can pickup west side of Manchester or Liverpool as well.

 

[cossie.j]

I have 2 grainfather conical fermenters and im over the moon with them tbh. The ability to have precise fermentation control has vastly improved my end product. Granted they aren’t cheap but i saved my backside off to buy them. If you ever get the opportunity to buy the glycol chiller? Don’t hesitate, its yet another great bit of kit and it’s relatively small in comparison to a fridge. This gives you the option to cold crash too, which again has improved the quality of my beers

 

[Deadhead]

Well I have specifically been saving this money to upgrade my brewing equipment. I have been brewing in regular ole plastic buckets since 2014 and trust me, I understand importance of temperature control and I actually get really good results with the fish tank heater, bucket of water and a controller. I am not opposed to a fridge at all if an all-rounder is the best option Is it? No one here would go with anything like Grainfather, Blichmann, Ss? Because they appear to have built in temperature controllers, etc, so no need for a fridge. Please talk me through pros and cons, that's what I'm looking for here
Here is my current issue on the fridge front. A long time ago, a friend gave me a fridge as he was cleaning out his flat. It was manky, manky, manky. But I cleaned it out. And got it up and running. And then it started tripping circuits, smoking!, and doing other strange things. So we got rid of it asap and hubby said no more used fridges unless it's PAT tested. Or new fridges are fine. So there isn't anywhere anymore around here to get used PAT tested fridges. So new one it is. But then we sit and go, gahhh ,can't justify spending £100+ on a fridge to drill holes through it.So, continue to bottle. Even though I have some kegging equipment. And have regular conversations about it. On the fermentation chamber side, hubby still worries about the safety of the heaters, etc. I tell him all the time people do this, all the people on here, youtubers, instagram stars, but he worries.

 

[Deadhead]

I have 2 grainfather conical fermenters and im over the moon with them tbh. The ability to have precise fermentation control has vastly improved my end product. Granted they aren’t cheap but i saved my backside off to buy them. If you ever get the opportunity to buy the glycol chiller? Don’t hesitate, its yet another great bit of kit and it’s relatively small in comparison to a fridge. This gives you the option to cold crash too, which again has improved the quality of my beers

Thank you! I cross posted with you. If I go with the GF, I'm definitely happy to save up for the chiller, may take me a while but I'm not opposed to scrimping and saving! (Hence why I have £600 saved up just for brewing equipment)

 

[cossie.j]

Thank you! I cross posted with you. If I go with the GF, I'm definitely happy to save up for the chiller, may take me a while but I'm not opposed to scrimping and saving! (Hence why I have £600 saved up just for brewing equipment)

What made my decision to get the conical fermenters and glycol chiller was the space I have! It’s very limited, I bought an under counter fridge hoping that it would fit and i could at least have 1 fermenter ( fermziller ) with good temperature control? But still that wouldn’t fit,and at the time i had 2 fermzillers so i was gutted. But now in my tiny brew space, I have 2 grainfather conical fermenters and a glycol chiller. This goes to show how much space this setup takes up! So for me it was a win win situation.
However if you are getting already good results with what you have? Then your money is probably better spent elsewhere no? Why not invest in a brand new fridge? Or maybe buy a couple of SS Brewtech buckets? I believe you can still do pressurized transfers with these?

 

[Deadhead]

Wow, that's really interesting on the space! Seems like it takes up quite a small footprint!

 

[cossie.j]

Wow, that's really interesting on the space! Seems like it takes up quite a small footprint!

Absolutely. I could probably squeeze in another fermenter in that space too? But I won’t haha as I don’t brew enough to justify another!
I’ve seen people using the standard cooling pump kit with a cool box water and ice method with great results? These fermenters are great and I’m more than happy with them, but it is a huge cost which is the only downside.

 

[Bold_Ron]

Well I have specifically been saving this money to upgrade my brewing equipment. I have been brewing in regular ole plastic buckets since 2014 and trust me, I understand importance of temperature control and I actually get really good results with the fish tank heater, bucket of water and a controller. I am not opposed to a fridge at all if an all-rounder is the best option Is it? No one here would go with anything like Grainfather, Blichmann, Ss? Because they appear to have built in temperature controllers, etc, so no need for a fridge. Please talk me through pros and cons, that's what I'm looking for here
Here is my current issue on the fridge front. A long time ago, a friend gave me a fridge as he was cleaning out his flat. It was manky, manky, manky. But I cleaned it out. And got it up and running. And then it started tripping circuits, smoking!, and doing other strange things. So we got rid of it asap and hubby said no more used fridges unless it's PAT tested. Or new fridges are fine. So there isn't anywhere anymore around here to get used PAT tested fridges. So new one it is. But then we sit and go, gahhh ,can't justify spending £100+ on a fridge to drill holes through it.So, continue to bottle. Even though I have some kegging equipment. And have regular conversations about it. On the fermentation chamber side, hubby still worries about the safety of the heaters, etc. I tell him all the time people do this, all the people on here, youtubers, instagram stars, but he worries.

I was lucky enough to pick up a second hand 52" high fridge with no freezer compartment for about £30. It was absolutely immaculate. I haven't had to drill any holes in it at all as I managed to get the heater cord through the drain hole in the back and the temp sensor lead fits through the door without breaking the seal. This means at Christmas I have an overflow fridge but the rest of the year I have a fermenter/crash chiller.

I have a second hand chest freezer set by for a keezer project but Mrs B insists on using it for food. (We have a fridge/freezer and a chest freezer already)