Man, I feel exactly what you are saying. Especially building the papzap mash tun. OTOH that thing worked for many, many great batches.
I put it above sanitation. I’ve had too many shoddy batches resulting from temp swings in fermenters that were thoroughly sanitized.
Before I got my temperature under control, I had some beer that I didn’t prefer, but they were drinkable. Poor sanitation almost always results in a dumper. Sanitation has to be on top.
This all depends on your ambient temp, around here I’d say that sanitation is a distant second to temp control. cheers, j
I think one could clean their plastic buckets really well with hot water and oxyclean and get by with not worrying about infection especially if they keep their fermentation below 70F. Not a best practice obviously. 
one could do very little about sanitation and if one were lucky one could still get good beer. If one does nothing about temp control at all and the ambient temp does not cooperate one will never get good beer. so in that case the first choke point is temp control.
+1 Patience is key… read everything you can, ask as many questions as you can think of.
Everything in moderation. A hundred degree fermentation will obviously result in crappy beer, just like only rinsing a fermenter will likely result in an infection. I’d rather take a chance with slightly higher temps than risk anything with sub par sanitation.
All-grain brewing for small batches isn’t an expensive investment. A 5-gallon cooler, a plumbing supply line, and some spare parts, and you’re in business. You will make it up in the savings over extract very quickly, and you have the fun (if you think it’s fun) of mashing, plus the ability to make any recipe.
What I wish I had a do-over on was thinking that I really needed the propane burner and the 8-gallon pot. I’ve used them to make good beer in the 4-gallon range, but for a variety of reasons I’ve found myself moving back to the kitchen to make 3-gallon all-grain batches (thereabouts, a little more, a little less). Dealing with more than 3 gallons is physically uncomfortable for me, and in the kitchen I don’t have to deal with weather variables. I went back to extract for a couple of batches and it really didn’t save me much time–it took longer, but it didn’t add that much labor effort. The last all-grain batch I brewed, I mashed the night before, went to sleep, and had the wort boiling before 7 a.m.
Instead of that burner and pot, I could have invested the same money (and space!) in a small fridge and the parts for temp control. I live in a part of the country (San Francisco) where most of the year you can ferment pretty decent ale by putting your carboy in a garage on a cement floor, but I’d like to dial it in more precisely than that. So that’s my next stop.
The books have been a great investment. I did a lot of business travel for a couple of years and was constantly pulling a brewing book out on the airplane or in the hotel room to re-read a chapter and puzzle my way through a concept.
My first brews were using directions that came with my kit from the local shop. Sanitized with bleach.
Brewed some pretty good extract batches. For temp control I would just put the carboy on the floor near the house thermostat, set it to 68°f and let it ride.
This past weekend I got to serve my beer at a festival. In fact the homebrew tent was a huge hit. I got quite a few questions on what kind of system I use to make beer, and some people were pretty shocked when I told them my system was a 20qt pot and small mash tun and that all my stuff is partial mash/partial boils. Everyone loved the beer, and I even had repeat customers. I “Sold out” of 10 gallons in about 4 hours.
So no, I didn’t need fancy equipment, I just needed the ability to learn from good people how to brew great beer. (And the few books I’ve picked up help too). Sometimes maybe I post here and think, wow I must sound like I’m clueless, but it helps me learn so I’m OK with it.
And there’s still stuff I know I can do to improve my beer.
I have to agree with most of the posts here . Equipment don’t make good beer. Education, sanitation and fermentation temp control do however. Other than a dedicated fridge for lagers and a room in my house that stays at 62 degrees year round for ales there hasn’t been any change in equipment other than a 7 gallon turkey cooker and burner to take it out in the back to keep the wife happy as I’m no longer trashing her kitchen a couple times a months. You have to keep it clean and sanitized or your starting out in a hole and if you can’t keep a handle on your fermentation temp your going to get mixed results. I still use the same 48 qt Got cooler I started with to mash in and the same glass and plastic carboys and buckets I got with my first kit. They work fine and the only advantage to getting expensive equipment I can see is to make it a little easier to brew but in MHO part of the fun is the work involved in making beer. No short cuts and sticking to tried and true methods is what works. About the only thing I have changed in the little over a year I have been home brewing is I dumped the fly sparge in favor of a batch sparge. I just don’t have the equipment or setup to hold the temp needed for an hour long sparge. My best advice would be get a handle on your process, keep is so clean and sanitized you put an operating room to shame and keep a handle on your fermentation temps and get all the education you can and this is the place for that. Other than that have a home brew and relax the rest is just bells and whistles.
My two bits.
As a new home brewer, I have spent the last two years and sixty batches brewing beer that is consistently getting better. The reason for my success has flat out been this forum. You cannot beat the accumulated years of good information on this site. Interestingly enough, most everyone points you in the right direction. Either through their experience or recommending the appropriate written resource. In two short years I am into a six keg kegerator and three chest freezers for fermentation and lagering. The brewing equipment though is still the Gott cooler, chiller and carboy. I would agree with the sanitation, fermentation temperature control and yeast management. Thanks to all of you and to all the new brewers in the wings, cheers!
Sanitation is a good practice but without the proper temprature controls and yeast pitching practices you can very easily end up with perfectly sanitary bad beer. Besides, paranioa takes away the fun of home brewing.
I have made some less than desirable beer by frementing to hot or under pitching but have never had an infected batch in 20+ years and my sanitation practices are not exactly up to par for what is required for brain surgery. I have dug out more than one grommet from the bottom of the bucket.
I can’t believe no one has brought up that co2 purging thing.