Best places to buy used brewing equipment? And what should I know about used Grainfather kit?

[Omega]

Hi, everyone,
I have very basic kit - buckets and bottles - and planning to get myself a lot of equipment to simplify home brewing: brewing, fermenting and keging. What the the best places to buy used equipment?
I plan buying mostly Grainfather kit. Any advice what I should pay attention when buying? I am looking at something like G30V3 ADVANCED BREWERY SETUP, but with two fermenters, 2 kegs and something to dispense
Many thanks

 

[xozzx]

Id probably keep an eye on Facebook marketplace or better yet join a local homebrew club and see if anyone is selling. Most homebrew clubs will have a facebook group or watsapp group chat where you could ask what people are selling.

For kegs they usually sell for about £50 each whether on facebook, ebay or the big brew suppliers like malt miller. If no one is selling locally then just add a couple to your next ingredients purchase. If you buy off marketplace then just check for major damage and that they hold pressure. Most will have small dents or scrapes but these wont have any affect on their use.

 

[Kuabi]

Hi, everyone,
I have very basic kit - buckets and bottles - and planning to get myself a lot of equipment to simplify home brewing: brewing, fermenting and keging. What the the best places to buy used equipment?
I plan buying mostly Grainfather kit. Any advice what I should pay attention when buying? I am looking at something like G30V3 ADVANCED BREWERY SETUP, but with two fermenters, 2 kegs and something to dispense
Many thanks

Hi,have you managed to get sorted with your equipment?

 

[Omega]

Hi,have you managed to get sorted with your equipment?

Not yet - thinking to get myself pressure fermenter, dispenser from fermenter, remote hydrometer. Probably that’s all for now, but will look at kettle to Ferment in a Kettle. Not rushing as I like making a good research and then buy the best for a long time - I have a lot of ale anyway

 

[stripeyjoe]

If you have the room, get yourself an all rounder or Apollo FV, a larder fridge, a 40W tube heater and an inkbird, that will sort your fermentation side out. Al rounder slightly cheaper but the Apollo comes with most of what you need for pressure fermenting. £89.99 from B2B at the moment.

https://brew2bottle.co.uk/collectio...ing-apollo-30ltr-snub-nose-pressure-fermenter
Fridge you can pick up from FB market place or eBay for next to nothing, then choose between an ink bird and an iSpindel or BKT are doing a special on the RAPT temp controller and a Pill for £130

https://brewkegtap.co.uk/collections/best-sellers/products/rapt-fermentation-bundle

 

[Omega]

If you have the room, get yourself an all rounder or Apollo FV, a larder fridge, a 40W tube heater and an inkbird, that will sort your fermentation side out. Al rounder slightly cheaper but the Apollo comes with most of what you need for pressure fermenting. £89.99 from B2B at the moment.

https://brew2bottle.co.uk/collectio...ing-apollo-30ltr-snub-nose-pressure-fermenter
Fridge you can pick up from FB market place or eBay for next to nothing, then choose between an ink bird and an iSpindel or BKT are doing a special on the RAPT temp controller and a Pill for £130

https://brewkegtap.co.uk/collections/best-sellers/products/rapt-fermentation-bundle

I was thinking about Apollo Unitank https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/fermenter-apollo-30l-unitank/?v=79cba1185463
Not sure about temperature control yet as I will be making lagers and IPAs and pressure fermenter seem to negate the influence of the temperature (I plan keeping it in my room)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Best places to buy used brewing equipment? And what should I know about used Grainfather kit?​

You mentioned a grainfather are you considering an all in one?

 

[Omega]

I am still thinking about starting from grain instead of kits. Grandfather seem to be popular, but, as I understand, you cannot use it for fermentation - well, you can, but then it will be a pain to clean

 

[Omega]

If you have the room, get yourself an all rounder or Apollo FV, a larder fridge, a 40W tube heater and an inkbird, that will sort your fermentation side out. Al rounder slightly cheaper but the Apollo comes with most of what you need for pressure fermenting. £89.99 from B2B at the moment.

https://brew2bottle.co.uk/collectio...ing-apollo-30ltr-snub-nose-pressure-fermenter
Fridge you can pick up from FB market place or eBay for next to nothing, then choose between an ink bird and an iSpindel or BKT are doing a special on the RAPT temp controller and a Pill for £130

https://brewkegtap.co.uk/collections/best-sellers/products/rapt-fermentation-bundle

Thank you, Stripeyjoe, I got myself Apollo 30L Unitank and Pill bundle with temp controller. Perhaps I also get a keg that will fit my fridge and transfer brews when I want to have more drinks variety. Only wonder if there are 19 litre kegs that are lower than 55cm - I see Corny kegs are 55 exactly, but I want ideally something even smaller

 

[Omega]

Wow, I did not make my first brew with new equipment yet, but already impressed by both Apollo and RAPT Pill, probably with Pill most - it shows not only density and temperature, but also alcohol content, so no need to use separate formulas.
Wonder what you would recommend for all-in-one kettle? Ideally, I want to ferment in the kettle provided it still makes it easy to brew, follow complex procedures when the system maintains different temperatures and sends me a notification add different ingredients and then it is fairly simple to clean after brewing/fermenting. Or should I stick with Grainfather 30 litres?
Thank you

 

[stripeyjoe]

Wow, I did not make my first brew with new equipment yet, but already impressed by both Apollo and RAPT Pill, probably with Pill most - it shows not only density and temperature, but also alcohol content, so no need to use separate formulas.
Wonder what you would recommend for all-in-one kettle? Ideally, I want to ferment in the kettle provided it still makes it easy to brew, follow complex procedures when the system maintains different temperatures and sends me a notification add different ingredients and then it is fairly simple to clean after brewing/fermenting. Or should I stick with Grainfather 30 litres?
Thank you

If the batch size suits you I’d stick with the G30 for now (do you own one?), there’s not many AIOs where you ferment in them as well. If you don't have an G30 yet then look at the G40 or, as you are using RAPT already then one of the gen4 Brewzillas. Both of those work over wifi and send you notifications. I think the G30 is Bluetooth only.

If you are starting down the path of all grain then look to get a Brewfather subscription, will really help you with recipe development and water profiles. Also get a couple of brewing books, How To Brew by John Palmer is thorough (sometimes too thorough!) Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer is great as well, a good resource for recipes. Also watch some David Heath videos, I’ve done a few of his recipes and they are usually good.

And get that FV in your fermentation fridge or chuck a blanket over to stop the light getting to it!

 

[Omega]

If the batch size suits you I’d stick with the G30 for now (do you own one?), there’s not many AIOs where you ferment in them as well. If you don't have an G30 yet then look at the G40 or, as you are using RAPT already then one of the gen4 Brewzillas. Both of those work over wifi and send you notifications. I think the G30 is Bluetooth only.

If you are starting down the path of all grain then look to get a Brewfather subscription, will really help you with recipe development and water profiles. Also get a couple of brewing books, How To Brew by John Palmer is thorough (sometimes too thorough!) Greg Hughes Home Brew Beer is great as well, a good resource for recipes. Also watch some David Heath videos, I’ve done a few of his recipes and they are usually good.

And get that FV in your fermentation fridge or chuck a blanket over to stop the light getting to it!

Cool, thank you for a detailed response.
I am considering Grandfather G30, think G40 might be an overkill, and wonder if Brezilla might be a better choice instead of Grandfather G30. Finished reading "How to brew" of John Palmer :) and watching David Heath.
Thank you for suggesting to cover my fermenter
Any suggestions what I should use to raise the temperature of my fermentation vessel in a fridge? I have RAPT wifi connected temperature controller box that can connect to my RAPT Pill, but it is not used at the moment

 

[stripeyjoe]

For a heater you can get one of these
https://www.screwfix.com/p/dimplex-ecot1ft-wall-mounted-tubular-heater-40w-408mm-x-81mm/3951f
Plug your fridge into the 'cool' socket of your RAPT temp controller and the heater into the 'heat' one. Stick the temp probe onto the side of your FV under something insulating, a sponge works well. You can then control the temp by either the probe or the Pill.

This is my set up, pic is of a closed transfer to the keg. I fill the keg to the brim with StarSan solution and then use the CO2 from the fermentation to push it out so I end up with a purged keg at the same pressure as the FV. Simple to then do a gravity closed transfer.
My heater is screwed into the underside of the wooden shelf.