Most:
Temp Control
BeerSmith
BrunWater
AHA and NB Forum
Denny’s Cheap and Easy Batch sparging
Least:
Glass Carboys
Secondary Fermentor’s
Definitely the least reliable piece of equipment. Mine is 13 degrees off at mash temperatures.
Perhaps my most valuable piece of equipment is my propane burner. It allowed me to move out of the kitchen, which I was getting banned from after a boil over and a sticky mess.
Other than that, fermentation temp control.
Least valuable would probably be that cheap thermometer that came with my initial setup.
Most- temp control; especially for brewing lagers.
A couple of books lately. Ok , not technically equipment, but loads of good info.
Least- maybe the auto siphon I bought. It worked, but plastic and I broke it quicker than I thought I would.
I like my:
- thermowell/temp controller/fridge ferment chamber (although fridge needs to be upgraded since it’s old and hence too slow to cool down temps and energy inefficient))
- 2" diameter triple-roller Monster Mill and sturdy 1/2" drill to power it
- Denny cheap n, easy rectangular cooler mashtuns I drilled and modified with straight Bazooka Screen and SS ball valve
- Palmer-Wahl TM500 thermocouple thermometer and SS rod probe
- notched culvert wind screen
- corny kegs and chest freezer kegerator/lagering unit
- plastic buckets that do NOT use rubber sealing o-ring
8)50’ 1/2" copper immersion chiller from MoreBeer - 1/2" outflow auto-siphon
- straight o2 using William’s Brewing 22" aeration stone wand
- two stir plates with 2000 ml flasks
- fermwrap heater taped to back wall of ferment chamber fridge
Not crazy about my:
- KAB4 Banjo Burner - it burns too much propane so i went back to my old burner
- lab thermometers - too slow, although handy for calibrations
- hop spider - anymore I just throw in pellet hops and strain out enroute to fermenters
- carboys (have become unnecessary, although I use them for wine)
- keg washer (I don’t use it much for beer-related; although it’s great for carboys)