Next upgrade

[Angus.]

Hello everyone!

I've been brewing for a few years now, starting off with the Wilko kits (rip) and then upgraded to an all-grain system (Klarstein Maischfest all in one) and have got on well with it brewing (to name a few) Sussex best clone, a nice porter and an Irish red.

I'm not thinking of upgrading my system but not sure what the biggest impact is going to be...
A couple of ideas I've had are
A fridge for temperature control (I have heating belts and pads)
A HLT
A sparging system

What you recommend?

 

[The Baron]

I do not have one but a temp control fridge system will be the biggest asset

 

[Twostage]

I do not have one but a temp control fridge system will be the biggest asset

+1 for a brew fridge.

Lagers, cold crashing, diacetyl rests, kveiks...

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Another +1 for a fridge.

 

[Galena]

Temperature control is going to be the best improvement, so as above get a fridge and an Inkbird. Depending on budget, space and brewing frequency you could get a tall fridge and you could then get 2 x 30L FV's in at the same time if needed.

A HLT would be nice but I sparged for a long time without, just heat extra water and drop it into a thermal picnic cooler box and then batch sparge.

 

[MashBag]

Temperature control yes, but it does not have to be a brew fridge.

Other options do exist

 

[Agentgonzo]

Temperature control yes, but it does not have to be a brew fridge.

Other options do exist

This. Everyone seems to jump into the "thou should have fridge" bandwagon. If you want to brew lager, it'll probably be a good idea.
But if you brew ales and have somewhere cool (eg, a garage in the UK) then an inkbird and a heating belt is all you need.

 

[The Baron]

I use a plate warmer which can be wrapped around the FV when I need further control say to raise temp for Diacetyl etc apart from that just my garage and room as said previously

 

[Galena]

Everyone seems to jump into the "thou should have fridge" bandwagon.

I'm not sure about jumping on any bandwagon, the OP listed some options, of which a fridge was one, which I consider to be a better upgrade than the other options he listed. I use a fridge and find it a versatile tool.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I'm not sure about jumping on any bandwagon, the OP listed some options, of which a fridge was one, which I consider to be a better upgrade than the other options he listed. I use a fridge and find it a versatile tool.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[gavp1979]

From the options listed I would probably go with a fermentation fridge ... But to throw the cat amongst the pigeons how about a kegorator instead?

 

[SMP Brewery]

You haven’t said how you serve your beers, a kegerator with taps was a game changer for me.

 

[MickDundee]

You haven’t said how you serve your beers, a kegerator with taps was a game changer for me.

I forgot how much I hated bottling until I did an impy stout a couple of months back. Kegging made packaging so much easier!

 

[RichardM]

Of the options listed a brew fridge would be my choice. Itmakes it much easier to provide a temperature-controlled environment for fermentation and allows for cold crashing.

 

[RichardM]

Duplicate. I blame the crappy phone signal

 

[RichardM]

Duplicate of the duplicate!

 

[Rodcx500z]

Best thing i did was a larder fridge and inkbird plus corny kegs, which multiply quicker than rabbits

 

[Galena]

I actually have 2 brew fridges now, one for fermentation and the other as a cellar temperature fridge for the cornies.
The OP only made 1 post and hasn't been back so it seems we are preaching to the converted.

 

[MashBag]

Converted or forgetful