Homebrew Upgrade for Christmas. Help?

$700 for homebrew equipment?
i think we need to meet.

seriously, that's alot of scratch in our humble world. you'd be best asking him directly what his dream brewery looks like. you can get along pretty far with an automated system for example. or anything named Blichman. ask him what he would like, and we can offer some advice.

Cheers.

 

How about a gift certificate to a local or online homebrew store? Honestly, without knowing exactly what he has, how he brews, and what next steps he is pondering, any equipment advice we would give you would be pretty useless, IMO.

 

Steel and somebody to weld it into a brewstand for him, or a mig welder and a welding class (that's what I asked for). A March pump. Another freezer and a temp controller to use as a fermentation chamber. Plate chiller. A RIMS tube. Things fabricated from stainless steel. I could go on.

 

I like the gift certificate idea. Or, next time he goes to the LHBS, find some reason to go along. see what he drools over.
How about a kegging setup? For that kind of money you can easily get then whole thing, some corny kegs, regulator, CO2 tank, and possibly a fridge or something to convert. (or just a kegerator)

 

I would vote for the gift certificate as well. Just looking at that list of equipment though, if I had to pick out some specific pieces of equipment, I would say a burner of some kind, and maybe a beer gun for bottling straight from the kegs.

 

Does he have mill? That may be an easy "upgrade". With a mill he would be able to buy bulk grains and keep them on hands so that he could brew on a whim without worrying about procuring all ingredients.

A bigger boil kettle, and a better burner are always options.

Maybe an o2 setup?

How about a stirplate? Actually, that may make a nice gift... a stir plate and a nice pyrex flask for making yeast starters. Maybe even two different size flasks??

Just tossing out some ideas for conversation... it is really hard to be specific without knowing exactley what his current set up is.

 

Something like this coupled with a new stand up freezer to use as a fermentation chamber would really allow him to step up his game on the fermentation side of things.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/.../brewery-essentials-fermentarius-maximus.html

Also, if you happen to be my wife incognito, I'll take one of these 20 gallons with a false bottom and the optional hop blocker :

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...ent/brew-kettles/boilermaker-brew-kettle.html

 

If he has any friends that he brews with I would ask them.

 

$700?!

Wow... if my SO wanted to drop that kind of money on my brewing habit, I'd love a two- or three-tier brew stand and a couple coolers to go to all grain brewing.

But this seems a lot like trying to buy suits or watches or that sort of thing. A gift certificate would be awesome. Perhaps keep some cash in reserve and pair it with something more tangible? Like a stirplate, as someone already suggested. Old fridge with a thermostat for conditioning purposes?

 

I received a card last Christmas from my partner with a picture of what she thought I needed from the local homebrew store and a "here's how much you can spend" budget in case there was something special I wanted instead of her idea. I'm glad she went with that plan. I got to buy exactly what I wanted and I was very touched that she had done enough research to find something I might like.

I would have to say with a $700 budget that could be a costly 'I thought you wanted this' but I was wrong purchase. (especially if he can get used gear on craigslist, has a fave shop, etc.) Maybe buy him a bottle of sanitizer or some other inexpensive item and tie the card to that?

See also- exceptional gift and you rock for coming on here and asking.

 

I would buy a mill and a nice scale, if he doesn't have one. That would be $250 or so, then the rest in a gift card.

 

For $700 I would put it toward a quater pallet of grain in a group buy.

The idea of a gift card, although I can understand wanting to see him open something up and weep with joy.

I guess you could hang around next time he brews and surreptitously ask him about equipment he is using and what would make it better. Or just wait for him to start cursing.

If he does not have a stirplate that is a pretty sure bet for a good present. Don't forget a flask and stirbar.

 

A pack of yeast and $697 worth of lingerie.

 

Win

 

A grain mill is a great idea. You can spend between $125 - $250 on one. It is a nice-to-have addition but not necessary for most brewers. I don't buy one for myself because I'm cheap However, I would be thrilled to receive one as a gift.

 

If you were cheap, you'd buy one (like me). I cannot imagine paying what some of these places want per pound of grain when I can get sacks for half the price. For instance NB wants what $1.25 per pound of basic Rahr 2-row and a sack of that I get for $29.75. A barley crusher would pay for itself in 4 sacks of grain! Don't even get me started on other per pound grain prices.

 

I'd agree with the gift card idea to the LHBS - not very hard to screw that up, cause in the end he can get exactly what he wants!

 

Sounds like he could use a temp controller and a brew belt. One of those keg/carboy washer things that northern brewer sells would certainly come in handy (I'm hoping my wife gets me one of those for Christmas.). What kind of burner does he have? Those blichmann burners are nice, so are their boiler maker kettles.