Rationalising / selling my brew kit

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dean_wales
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Rationalising / selling my brew kit

Post by dean_wales » Tue Nov 28, 2017 3:32 pm

So, the time has come to clear out my brew shed and free up some cash locked up in kit and projects!

My usual kit is a three vessel 50/50/100 keg based DIY system which suits me well at the moment, me and my brew buddy get a 25L fermenter each brewday and lots of recipe flexibility. Works well but takes up loads of room and is very time consuming. Last year I purchased about half the parts for a 50 L clone of a Braumeister before I started brewing with someone else as it didnt suit me, but never finished the project.

What I cannot decide is whether to:
a) Just finish the braumeister clone and keep both rigs, in case I move to a smaller house or revert to brewing solo or just for choice.
b) Finish the Braumeister clone, but immeadiately test and sell it.
c) Sell off the Brauimeister parts and stick with my keg brewery as it works well. Maybe buy a few gadets (another pump, hoses, controller etc) with the proceeds.
d) Sell the malt tube but use the parts for something else entirely.

Might be of no interest but it is a real pickle for me!

Thanks,
Dean.
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Click here to see my 20% Damson port experiment...
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MashTim
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Re: Rationalising / selling my brew kit

Post by MashTim » Tue Nov 28, 2017 3:46 pm

What’s the priority cash or space?

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dean_wales
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Re: Rationalising / selling my brew kit

Post by dean_wales » Tue Nov 28, 2017 3:55 pm

Well, cash is always king but if the parts are much less valuable than the completed project or vice versa then it skews the decision somewhat.

For reference its the following bits I have to hand:
Tools for the job
80 litre thermopot
Original 50L malt tube
Original 25L malt tube
Original filter plates
Threaded and plain stainless bar
3/4 female ball valve and hose barb
Roll of copper microbore
Set of four legs
Some of the electrics

The stuff I have left to buy was:
Pump
Deck drains
Pipework
Bendy elements
Some of the electrics

I have loads more crap to shift but that is the stuff in question!

Dean.
Click here for my cider pressing...
Click here to see my 20% Damson port experiment...
Click here for red wine from my allotment vine...

jaroporter
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Re: Rationalising / selling my brew kit

Post by jaroporter » Tue Nov 28, 2017 5:24 pm

doing a similar thing here to be honest. i've redesigned and rebuilt the brewery so many times, and so many more in my head! gotta say it's so useful having spare parts sitting around just to be able to quickly knock up a prototype. the problem is that everytime i go to clear out, i find a use for something that has been sitting around for years and that encourages me to keep everything.. :s

currently i'm on a mad drive to finish all outstanding projects, as that's the only way i'm gonna be able to tidy up and clear some space, and at least know which parts are definitely required vs junk. hard to know what works for someone else but i kinda feel for me that completed projects give you more options and are - if nothing else - easier to get your head around than a bench full of pieces!
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Kev888
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Re: Rationalising / selling my brew kit

Post by Kev888 » Tue Nov 28, 2017 7:37 pm

Hard to say really, so much is down to personal preference.

I'd question if a DIY one-pot system would sell for anything like the price of a new Braumeister though, even if it were nominally a clone. It would also be a lot of work to then just sell on, and theres no guarantee it'll work out as well as hoped either, at least not without more fiddling. So personally I'd only build it if I wanted to use it myself, otherwise I'd sell the authentic parts, and any of the other bits you have no use for.

My own preference has been to ditch the BM-alike I built and go with 3V, as I prefer this type of system. Its also partly based on not needing to step mash, I mostly just make British styles which don't really benefit from the extra complication. If you make certain foreign styles that would gain more from this, then upward recirculation is hard to beat - though the flow and pressure balance is also fairly challenging to get right.
Kev

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dean_wales
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Re: Rationalising / selling my brew kit

Post by dean_wales » Tue Nov 28, 2017 7:47 pm

Hmmmmm glad you chimed in Kev as you know plenty about both sides of this coin!

I was mad about the single vessel idea for ages but with a little company on brewday and some planning / tech additions it just seems like 3 V systems are better. They can brew better/clearer beer more efficiently and arent, like you say, quite so dependent on the DIY kit being dialled in quite so perfectly. He says with a kettle hop fileter that blocks like a devil!!

Has anyone sold a DIY 50L single vessel online before? I have no idea what the asking price would be and what the market is. Likewise I don't know if there would be any market at all for the two original malt tubes and filter plates which were darn expensive!

Thanks,
Dean.
Click here for my cider pressing...
Click here to see my 20% Damson port experiment...
Click here for red wine from my allotment vine...

jaroporter
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Re: Rationalising / selling my brew kit

Post by jaroporter » Wed Nov 29, 2017 1:50 pm

dean_wales wrote:
Tue Nov 28, 2017 7:47 pm
Has anyone sold a DIY 50L single vessel online before? I have no idea what the asking price would be and what the market is. Likewise I don't know if there would be any market at all for the two original malt tubes and filter plates which were darn expensive!
50L might get you a clear market. i think barneey sold his breadmaker a while back but that's all i've seen. i think smaller DIY single vessel's have and might struggle to sell due to the competition with grainfathers and other lower priced 25-30L systems - they may also feel like a safer bet for a buyer getting trusted quality and a store guarantee. yours could easily be much higher quality than an off-the-shelf system but it may be harder to convey that in a sale.
i wonder if i heard that grainfather were planning a 50L unit or just made that up? right now, as i say, i think the 50L market is pretty clear.

on the other hand, i'd expect the malttubes and filterplates to hold their value pretty close if unused.
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Kev888
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Re: Rationalising / selling my brew kit

Post by Kev888 » Wed Nov 29, 2017 2:09 pm

dean_wales wrote:
Tue Nov 28, 2017 7:47 pm
Hmmmmm glad you chimed in Kev as you know plenty about both sides of this coin!
Well, quite a lot of people have had/used both 3V and BM-style systems so I'm certainly not claiming any unique insights there. They can both make excellent beer and so the choice is more about circumstances and priorities and so on, which differ greatly between people.

Though having made my own upward recirculating system, I'm impressed by how much development and testing BM must have done to get theirs right. There are quite a few things which may not be apparent until you start to work through the design and testing yourself - such as the pressures involved with incorrect pump choice and getting the filters and their seals right. I was successful but it took longer than imagined and a few iterations of some things. Probably less of an issue if you are doing an exact clone using their design and parts, but for me the value of a DIY system would need to be much more than the sum of its parts before I'd feel it worthwhile building just to sell on.

Ultimately it turns out that I personally prefer the 3V method, so am reverting. The choice between the two is just preference and I'm 'not' saying the BM-style system is deficient, but I 'am' saying the 3V system hasn't (at all) been superseded either, as some may try to suggest - it simply depends on what you want from the system.

EDIT: of course, in your case you've already invested time and effort learning how to brew, so with a minimal amount of familiarisation I'd expect that you could get the best out of either system; in terms of the end result, it likely wouldn't matter which you used. But if someone had only ever brewed by following instructions and software-generated numbers, as is possible to some extent with popular off-the-shelf systems, then transferring to a more bespoke setup could be much more challenging.
Last edited by Kev888 on Fri Dec 01, 2017 10:36 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Rationalising / selling my brew kit

Post by TheSumOfAllBeers » Thu Nov 30, 2017 11:18 pm

The all in one market thrives on the twin benefits of shortened brewdays, and reliably hitting your numbers. You compromise on some recipe flexibility and the up front price tag. If you want to make beer and ignore most of the kit dialling spreadsheet-itis that the hobby can sometimes feel like, these units are right up your alley.

As other posters have mentioned you don't have any competition in the 50L space on a resale except BMs own 50L unit.

And I will wave a flag for the BIAB ers out there too, which is also competition in that space, subject to the reintroduction of spreadsheet-itis and brewing rules that are totally bespoke to your kit.

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