Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

The wife has given me the green light to make an upgrade to the brewery. My question to you guys is: What's the best bang-for-the-buck piece of equipment you have come across. I've considered a Blichmann hop rocket, but I'm not sold on it yet. I'm thinking something in the $50-$150 range. Annnnd, GO.

got a johnson controller?

I have a homemade equivalent.

maybe an oxygenation system?

All perlick faucets?

Do you have a stir plate for starters?  An oxygenation system?  Healthy, happy yeast makes for good beer. On Jul 24, 2013 6:19 PM, "kjball" <brew-equipment@crbeernuts.org (brew-equipment@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

The wife has given me the green light to make an upgrade to the brewery. My question to you guys is: What's the best bang-for-the-buck piece of equipment you have come across. I've considered a Blichmann hop rocket, but I'm not sold on it yet. I'm thinking something in the $50-$150 range. Annnnd, GO.



Bad people drink bad beer. You don't usually see an empty bottle of Rochefort tossed onto the side of the road

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perlicks are on the short list, but I want to wait until I get the bar finished before I get any dispensing equipment.

I have a stir plate, and am leaning towards the oxygenation system. I agree with you Jim.

FWIW I have a coupon code with midwest.

WEMISSYOU 20%off your purchase

I second the aeration system.  In my experience you only really need the regulator, not the tubing or stone.

A refractometer is handy if you don't have one.


A precision finishing hydrometer is very nice, too.


How about a gram scale for precise hop or mineral additions?


Do you have two pumps?  If not, a second pump can be very handy.

On Wednesday, July 24, 2013, kjball wrote:

perlicks are on the short list, but I want to wait until I get the bar finished before I get any dispensing equipment.

I have a stir plate, and am leaning towards the oxygenation system. I agree with you Jim.

FWIW I have a coupon code with midwest.

WEMISSYOU 20%off your purchase



Bad people drink bad beer. You don't usually see an empty bottle of Rochefort tossed onto the side of the road

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refractometer
1st and/or second pump
Electric mash tun and or boil kettle
glass primary fermentation with brewhaulers
second fermentation chamber?
more kegs?
5 gallon shop vac or smaller for cleaning out the boil kettle
new thermometers for kettles
BCS 460 control system, wait that one is on my list

Wait...how do you employ a Shop Vac to clean out your boil kettle?

On Wednesday, July 24, 2013, bf514921 wrote:

refractometer
1st and/or second pump
Electric mash tun and or boil kettle
glass primary fermentation with brewhaulers
second fermentation chamber?
more kegs?
5 gallon shop vac or smaller for cleaning out the boil kettle
new thermometers for kettles
BCS 460 control system, wait that one is on my list



Brandon Franklin - The other Franklin

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Blichman Beer Gun

I have a wet dry vac, 1 gallon, after I drain my kettle there is junk in the bottom, I use the wet/dry vac to finish cleaning it out. I use hop sacks , but not always, then when I pbw, and drain there is a little lft, rinse drin, vac out the rest done, then I can just cary the vac to wherever I wan to get rid of the stuff.

That means you have to clean the shop vac hose out so that trub/hop crap doesn't get nasty right? That's a microbiological nightmare I would not want to deal with.

I use a 1 inch welded fitting and ball valve at the bottom of my MT and BK for cleanout. I thought about the shop vac idea but welded on the fittings and attached a valve and drain hose that I can route to a bucket.

Back to the original intent of the thread... are there any things about your setup that are more of a PITA than it needs to be? Asking yourself that question might give you some ideas. E.g. moving full carboys from the floor to a countertop is hard on my back so I will someday invest in a lift table from HF http://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-cap ... 94822.html
I could also use it when I finally get my Mk2 brewery up and running (it will yield 1/2 bbl batches at minimum).

Interesting thing about this hobby is that most of my stuff I got from various hardware stores and the scrap heap... I bought very little as specialty items from a brewing store. But I get off on making my own doo-dads so I am super weird like that and the bonus is that I get the maximum bang for my buck.

I decided to go with the oxygen system.

I've eyed a beer gun on many occasions. I borrowed Randy's for a bottling session last year, and was underwhelmed. I think I really need to see someone who knows what they are doing use it. Next time someone is bottling with one, let me know, please.