Author: Brülosophy Crew
Halloween has passed, Thanksgiving is approaching, and Christmas tunes have taken over the Muzak of many a department store. This can only mean one thing– the holiday season is here and people will be looking for unique gift ideas for their favorite brewer!
2018 Gift Ideas For Homebrewers
Brülosophy is made up of a group of contributors who brew on a range of setups and have their own preferences. As such, for this year’s gift ideas, each contributor was asked to provide a response to 3 questions, resulting in a hearty list of rad products we’re sure any homebrewer would love to find wrapped under the tree.
Jake Huolihan
Jake’s setup consists of dual 240v electric brewing systems powered by separate controllers. He mashes in 20 gallon Ss Brewtech InfuSsion mash tuns then uses gravity to transfer the wort to 20 gallon Spike Brewing V3 Brew Kettles.
What can’t you brew without?
HotRod Heat Stick from BrewHardware
As a new dad, time spent brewing has been at a premium, and cutting down my brew day into various short-as-necessary segments has allowed me to continue to brew often. Nothing has had a greater impact on this for me than my Hot Rod Heat Stick.
The night before brewing, I simply gather my water, place my heat stick in the filled kettle, and set it on a timer to turn on a couple hours before I plan to brew. This has allowed me to cut my time spent actually brewing down to about 3 hours, and I’m often finished before my son even wakes up.
What unnecessary luxury has improved your brewing experience?
Ss Brewtech Glycol Chiller
I like to have multiple styles fermenting at the same time but used to be constrained by the use of a chest freezer, as it could only be set to a single temperature. This problem was solved when I purchased my Ss Brewtech Glycol Chiller a few months ago, which allows me to independently control the fermentation temperature of up to 4 beers at the same time with temperatures ranging from 45°F/7°C to 90°F/32°C. It’s been truly amazing.
What are you asking Santa for this year?
Ss Brewtech 7 Gallon Unitank
The ability to ferment, carbonate, and package in an environment that’s 100% free of oxygen is something I think could take homebrew to the next level, and the 7 gallon Ss Brewtech Unitank seems to offer exactly that. As someone who has experienced the negative impact of cold-side oxidation and who loves crafting the best beer I possibly can, this unit is very high on my wishlist.
Matt Del Fiacco
Matt brews on dual 120v Unibräu electric brewing systems from BräuSupply, an all-in-one setup that allows him to mash and boil in the same kettle.
What can’t you brew without?
Extra Corny Kegs
In addition to serving beer from kegs, I also use them for secondary fruit additions, storage container for sanitizer, and fermentation vessels.
Having extra kegs always comes in handy, and considering what all I use them for, I really can’t brew without them. They’re cheap, easy to find, have a relatively small footprint, and serve multiple purposes.
What unnecessary luxury has improved your brewing experience?
Magnetic Phone Mounts
Consisting of a metal plate placed inside my phone case and as many external small mounts as one desires, these magnetic phone mounts are a total luxury
that have added an element of convenience to my brew day. In addition to using my phone as a brewing timer, keeping it mounted near my brewing area gives me easy access to podcasts, music, and brewing notes. I love these things and have a bunch scattered throughout my house, they’re quick, easy, and affordable.
What are you asking Santa for this year?
50 Gallon Water Barrel
I use a ton of water during the brewing process that currently goes down the drain. To reduce this waste, I’d like to collect it in a rain barrel then reuse it for cleaning my brewing equipment and watering my garden.
Brian Hall
Brian uses a traditional Brew In A Bag approach where he performs full volume mashes using The Brew Bag fabric filters in 15 gallon Ss Brewtech Brew Kettles. Once the grains are removed after the mash rest, he uses propane to boil the wort in the same kettles.
What can’t you brew without?
Sous Vide Immersion Heater
While it may not be as powerful as typical homebrewing heat sticks, my Anova Sous Vide immersion heater offers precise control and built-in recirculation, plus it can be used to cook the most amazing meat ever! I set my sous vide cooker to heat my strike water to the exact temperature a few hours before mashing, which can be done via an app on one’s phone with newer models.
In addition to be efficient and easy, using my sous vide as a water heater saves me a ton of propane, especially during the cold Alaska winters. I use mine every time I brew.
What unnecessary luxury has improved your brewing experience?
Monster Mill MM3-Pro Grain Mill
There are a number of grain mills available to homebrewers, many of which I’ve used, but none that have impressed me more than the Monster Mill MM3-Pro that I bought a few months ago.
This thing is truly a monster! With hardened rollers that won’t wear out as fast as other mills, my MM3-Pro can crush an entire sack of grain with ease in under 4 minutes. I know the others have also had great experiences with the non-pro version Monster Mill MM3 and MM2 as well, which are a bit easier on the pocketbook.
What are you asking Santa for this year?
Ss Brewtech Glycol Chiller
I like to have various styles of beer around at the same time, which is difficult when I can only control my chamber to a single temperature. My most wanted item right now is a Ss Brewtech Glycol Chiller so that I can have up to 4 batches fermenting at different temperatures at the same time.
Malcolm Frazer
Malcolm’s brewing setup consists of converted cooler MLTs and 15 gallon Spike Brewing V3 Brew Kettles for boiling. However, having recently moved, he has been brewing on a couple Grainfather All-In-One systems at Schoolhouse Beer & Brewing, the homebrew shop he now frequents in his new home of Atlanta, GA.
What can’t you brew without?
Spike Brewing V3 Brew Kettle
I’ve tried brewing without a kettle, but it always results in water or wort getting all over the place. My 15 gallon Spike Brewing V3 kettles, which I’ve been using for about 3 years, nicely contain these liquids and have features such as volume markings and welded fittings that contribute to a positive brewing experience.
What unnecessary luxury has improved your brewing experience?
Ss Brewtech 7 Gallon Chronical Fermentor
Great beer can be made using cheap plastic buckets or glass carboys, but I absolutely love being able to take samples of fermenting beer without exposing it to oxygen and perform fully closed transfer, which the Ss Brewtech Chronicals allows me to do.
Unlike glass, they won’t break and kill me, and the large opening makes them really easy to clean. Plus, they work seamlessly with my Ss Brewtech Glycol Chiller.
What are you asking Santa for this year?
Ss Brewtech 240v eBrewing System
I want to brew in my basement, which puts gas out of the question, and I don’t want to wait too long for my water heat to strike temperature, so I’ve been looking to upgrade to a 240v electric brewing system. In the research I’ve done, the option that strikes my fancy is the new Ss Brewtech 1V eBrewing System, which can be used on its own for 5 gallon BIAB batches or with other gear for batch and fly sparge brewing.
Phil Rusher
Phil spent the earlier part of his brewing career using the BIAB method with a homemade keggle, though recently switched to using the Grainfather Connect system.
What can’t you brew without?
BeerSmith Recipe Design Software
I think about and formulate beer recipes on an almost daily basis, and the BeerSmith software is the best tool I’ve found for this. I recently made the jump from version 2 to version 3 and really like the improved water profile tool, as it allows me to match desired profiles easily from within the program. Every beer I make is designed in BeerSmith.
What unnecessary luxury has improved your brewing experience?
Refractometer
I hate wasting large samples of wort to measure the OG then making sure it’s at the exact right temperature before dropping in my hydrometer. Using a refractometer, I can take just a couple drops of wort at any point during the brewing process and it quickly drops to the right temperature after hitting the sample plate.
What are you asking Santa for this year?
Blichmann Riptide Pump
I’ve been sitting on 50 gallons of Flanders Red Ale that’s been in a wine barrel in my basement for about 7 months now. When it reaches my desired level of acidity, I’m going to have some trouble getting the beer out of there and the Blichmann Riptide Pump would definitely come in handy!
From what I’ve read and heard from others, the Riptide is whisper quiet and transfers wort quickly while significantly minimizing air pockets that can lead to oxidation. It’d also be nice to not have to worry about gravity feeding wort/beer in other situations.
Marshall Schott
For the last few years, Marshall has brewed full volume no sparge batches using Ss Brewtech InfuSsion mash tuns and Ss Brewtech Brewmaster Edition Brew Kettles. However, he is currently in the middle redesigning his entire garage brewery and will soon be brewing on the new Ss Brewtech 1V 240v eBrewing System.
What can’t you brew without?
Imperial Yeast
Yeast is required to make beer, and in the years I’ve been brewing, I’ve used various strains from many labs. I’ve never experienced such consistently strong fermentations and overall quality as I have since I started using Imperial Yeast.
Their yeast is always clean and each pouch contains double (or more) the cells as other labs, which contributes to predictable and awesome results. I love this stuff so much!
What unnecessary luxury has improved your brewing experience?
Ss Brewtech Stainless Brew Buckets
I’ve made great beer in cheaper fermentors, they work fine, but they pose issues when it comes to cleaning and durability. Made of high quality stainless steel and having a large opening, Ss Brew Buckets will last a lifetime and couldn’t be easier to clean, and their footprint is about the same a standard bucket or carboy.
The conical bottom keeps the trub underneath the valve, making kegging a piece of cake with no need for a siphon. I’ve been using the same Brew Buckets for over 2 years and they still looks as good as new.
What are you asking Santa for this year?
Glycol Chilling System
I wasn’t terribly interested in glycol at first, but constantly hearing Jake and Malcolm talk about how wonderful their systems are has made me quite jealous. I’m open to various options and plan to do more research soon, but the ones I’d be pleased as pudding to find under my tree are the Grainfather Glycol Chiller or the Ss Brewtech Glycol Chiller.
In addition to being able to independently control fermentation temperatures of 4 batches, these units would take up less space than my current chest freezer chamber, which is one of the main motivators for my switch from gas to electric.
Those are a few of our favorite things that we think other homebrewers would love to receive as gifts! For more gift ideas, check out our lists from previous years:
2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017
All of from Brülosophy extend the best of wishes to you this holiday season!
If you have any thoughts about this gift list, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!
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13 thoughts on “A Few Of Our Favorite Things | 2018 Gift Ideas For Homebrewers”
What about a counter pressure bottle filler for the forward sealing beer tap?
https://tapcooler.com/en/accessories-c-2/counter-pressure-bottle-filler-for-vent-matic-perlick-intertap-p-16
this looks like a better tool than blichmann beer gun
Brian — can you go into a little more detail about how you use the Anova in tandem with your burner? It seems like it’d be a good way to supplement my stovetop brewing ( 2 gallon BIAB ), especially if I can make bigger batches and also maintain more stable mash temperatures.
I second this question..Brian, are you using it to maintain mash temp? Or does the grisy interfere with the circulation?
This has me rethinking getting rid of my Anova.
Thanks!
I’ve used my Anova for 2 to 5-gal stovetop batches, before I had a large electric system. Place it *outside* of the BIAB filter to prevent grain ingress.
This is a wish list for millionaires…. How about stuff normal people can afford? Like the Anvil Fermenter bucket!
The Anvil and Ss Brewtech stainless fermentors are similarly priced, and we included items like yeast, magnetic phone clips, and BeerSmith. But I see what you’re saying. For more great gift ideas, check out the lists from prior years!
I thought the point of this article was for OTHER people to buy the stuff, so we get cool things on someone else’s dime?
Though I will say that the SS Brew Bucket was absolutely worth spending my own money on, and probably my best brewing investment after Starsan and a chest freezer / Inkbird. I would assume the Anvil and similar things are comparable, but no one else offered a 3.5gal unit.
I’ve always wanted something to heat my strike water ahead of mash so I am not wasting time, having little ones running around time is precious.
I was debating between a temp controlled heat stick (maybe with ink it’s) or one of these sous vide devices. Only thing I can think of is that the sous vide has connectivity so I can start it at lunch and brew when I get home immediately for example. The reviews on that Anova indicate WiFi requires passwords with no special characters (wtf!), any experience here?
Or generally, anyone’s have thoughts on heatstick vs. a connected sous vide device?
Thanks,
Justin
I bought the glycol chiller made by Penguin Chiller (https://www.penguinchillers.com/product/12-hp-glycol-chiller/) and its a little bit cheaper, but works perfectly. I use it for 14 gallon Chronical and a Brewbucket at the same time without any difficulty holding lager temperatures.
My HotRod Heatstick is one of my most valuable home brewing purchases
Do you use it with a temp controller or just a timer?
What sort of timer do you use with the heatstick? I’m interested in getting my Unibrau on a timer so I can wake up to hot strike water, but want to be sure it’s plugged into something that can handle the current. I have the standard 120V 1600W model. Any recommendations?