Advice on future purchases :)

[Manngold]

Hi all,

I have recently got into the world of Homebrew, and WA has told me I am a apart of his ELC!

However, I am looking to possibly expand my equipment, but need some recommendations.

So far I have:
2 FV (one with a tap)
Hydrometer
Siphon
Little Bottler
Paddle
Collection of about 200 brown bottles
Muslin bags

Is there anything else that you could recommend, that I could use?

Thanks

John

[sbond10]

Depends at what level your aiming to get to

[DeadFall]

Capper? Or are the bottles screw tops. For kits thats all you need.

[Manngold]

Oh yea, got me a capper!

I am only doing kits at the mo. What would I need if I wanted to advance?

Thanks

[DeadFall]

That depends, do you want to do extract? or all grain? If you want to go down the all grain route, do you want to do BIAB or a more traditional 3 vessel system or a 2 vessel system? Read around on the forum and work out what you want to do and compare it to how much you want to spend.

[Fil]

a thermometer is very useful. tho u probably have one, biggest improvement in my beers came with using a fermentation fridge, if u have the space for one its well worth the investment (freecycle fridge and about £40? on controller heater n bits)

[Manngold]

Thanks DF and Fil.

Fil, is the fridge something that is relatively easy to pot together?

Thanks

[Fil]

like anything u can make it complex if your ok with wiring a plug u can follow one of the many utubes or howtos google stc1000 and brewfridge or search brew fridge in here

simply u add a controller to goveren the fridge compressor and a small heater to maintain a perfect fermentation temp regardless of the ambient conditions. it will also allow u to crash cool the beer at the end of the fermentation which helps it drop out more yeast leaving u with a brighter clearer beer.

the right controller is crucial as it MUST have a compressor delay protection feature to stop the compressor cycling on off to rapidly 2 i know of are the stc1000 and the atc800+

You can make a controller by boxing and adding 13a plug sockets to a powered controller and just plug in the fridge and heater(if used)

Or you can build the controller into the fridge (More detailed work needed, and careful selection of a suitable probably commercial and expensive fridge).

also check u can fit your FV in the fridge before u buy/start, errr i didnt.. and had to switch to new FV's that would fit HA

but with a fermentation fridge the beer completes primary like clockwork, s04 in 4-5days and crash cooling before kegging helps both clear the beer and with co2 absorbtion when conditioning with gas pressure.. if priming u can delay the conditioning with crash cooling as u then have to warm the beer back up to bring the docile yeast back into action.. swings n rounderbouts

[DeadFall]

And you can lager properly. A fridge is next on my to-do list, hopefully in a couple of months.

[chris2012]

Corny kegs + gas + regulator - are very handy

And it means you can drink your beer sooner, as no bottle conditioning!