This section is to talk about what equipment has been the best investment for me personally. You can get into this hobby for low cost with a basic setup. If your looking to build a basic setup on a budget I would focus most of your money on yeast and fermentation management. A fancy pot might be nice but its not going to have a big impact on your beer quality. We make wort, yeast makes beer. If you keep your yeast happy and healthy they will make you good beer.
How to make the best beer for the least money. Good sanitation is a given. If you do not clear this hurtle nothing you do will help. General cleanliness is good across the process but focus on the “cold” side. This starts as soon as you finish boiling your wort. Starsan is easy and it works. Don’t fear the foam, just rack on it. Buy a squirt bottle and fill it with some diluted Starsan it will be very handy.
1. Make yeast starters with a stir plate. A 2L flask and some aluminum foil to cover it. A reasonably priced stir plate can be had from http://stirstarters.com/. You can also make one from a old harddrive magnet, computer fan, old cellphone charger, potentiometer, and a tupperware container.
2. Temperature control for fermentation. This may have had the biggest effect on improving my beer quality but I was already using starters at this point. I use a cheap chest freezer from Lowes with a Johnson A419 controller. I am sure one could be acquired on craigslist for cheap. There are also a ton of DIY options with mini fridges, air conditioners, water baths, heating pads, etc. The key is having good control of your temperature from start to finish. I usually start very low finish high and cold crash at the end. for an ale I might start at 58 work up to 68 then crash to 30 before kegging.
3. Aeration. Air stone and oxygen tank. After you are doing starters and have fermentation temperature control, this is your next step to happier yeast.
4. Brewing software. Relatively low cost and it will help you document your recipes and help with brew day calculations. I use Beersmith but there are a bunch of both free and pay options that are good.
5. Full volume boils. Spend the extra money to get a larger pot, 15 gallon is nice for 5 gallon batches with the occasional 10 gallon batch. Go stainless steel but if your on a budget don’t go too fancy. A quick search for a BAY1160 16 gallon SS pot with lid and valve came back at $120. Restaurant supply stores are good places to look. Don’t fear weldless fittings if you want to add a valve to a cheap stock pot.
6. Chiller. If your doing full volume boils you need a way to chill your beer down after the boil. There are a bunch of DIY’s out there. Build a immersion chiller or a counter flow chiller.
7. A beer hydrometer. A hydrometer to check your gravity before and during fermentation will help you know if your equipment is working correctly and if your yeast are working right. Get a beer one not a multi purpose one. A beer specific one will be much easier to read since it covers a smaller range of gravities.
8. Don’t worry about plastic vs glass fermenters especially if you only brew ales.
9. This will be controversial but don’t secondary if your just doing ales. Your more likely to hurt your beer then help it by transferring to secondary. Cold crash the fermenter before bottling if clarity is important. A secondary can be warranted if you are aging for a long period of time (many months or years).
9. Some folks swear by fly sparging. I have made good beer with batch sparging. A cooler and a mesh braid is cheap and works. Fly sparging may be better but if your on a budget your beer will be better if you spend what you save on your yeast and fermentation.
10. Water report. Get a water report or at least check your yearly report from your provider. Beer is mostly water and bad water makes bad beer. If your unlucky and your water is really bad and you will need to use reverse osmosis filtered water. Hopefully you can use it as is. If your like most of us a few basic additions can help balance your water profile. If your water tastes good and is not overly hard or soft you are more then likely safe and can treat this as a low priority. If you have funky or very hard/soft water check it out first thing before you put a bunch of effort into some off batches.
Things that did not necessarily make my beer better but made the process better.
1. Kegging system. For me bottling is about as fun as removing wallpaper. Investing in a kegging system makes the hobby more enjoyable to me. It also lets me force carbonate which means more consistent carbonation and beer ready and on tap in days.
2. Refractometer. Can be had for as cheap as $20. Save beer and make gravity readings easier.
3. Auto Siphon. Some folks do not have luck with them but mine never gave me a problem.
4. Thermopen. Accurate & fast, enough said.
5. Wall paper tray. Makes it easy to clean and sanitize your long stuff like a racking cane or keg dip tube.
6. Bottle washer. It helps but I still hate it.