I have some credit with Midwest and I’d like to pick up something worthwhile. Any suggestions on a good investment after my first brewing kit?
Is a bottle tree worthwhile?
a chiller if you don’t have one, the dishwasher is a wonderful bottle tree. or hops.
congrats on your first brew day by the way!
cheers.
+1 to chiller.
Holding off on the chiller at this point. Cooled my last 3 gallon wort in about 20 minutes with an ice bath in the deep sink. What else ya got?
Thanks! I would love to buy hops, but as an extract man, I would have no clue what to buy at this point.
You’ll need it once you start using that big pot to full wort boil!
buy any hops you want! they still have to go into extract batches.
what are your favorite beers? what beers do you want to brew? find out what hops go into those beers!
Another carboy or bucket. Every time I think I have enough carboys, I need another.
+1. Always need 'em.
yeah. probably a better bet. i just really like getting new hops.
I was considering getting something to do smaller batches in. Any advice on something to do a 1-2 gallon brew? I would love another carboy but that would require another big igloo fermentor and that probably wouldn’t fly with the senate at this point.
I’m with you. Love some hops.
i bought a 1 gallon brew kit at whole foods a while back. i now use the 1 gallon jug to harvest yeast. you could easily buy a little grain and hops and create your own recipes very easily. though, once i went all grain(3g stove biab and 5g “cheap n’ easy”) 1 gallon batches had no real interest for me since doing a 3g biab took the same amount of time and rendered a bit more beer. give it a try if midwest has 1 gallon kits!
I say a bottle tree can be done without.
You might consider at least two different things. Firstly, you could keep the credit and use it towards a digital temp controller for the freezer you will most certainly will want (need).
Second, maybe an ATC refractometer or a bench capper that can handle a wide variety of bottles. While the wing-capper will suffice I think they are a real PITA to use for any really serious bottling sessions.
How about a nice scale to measure hops and salts? Or equipment to make yeast starters?
+1 to this. if you plan on making high gravity beers, a stirplate will be great. personally i would get the immersion chiller. i didnt use one for the first 10 batches i did. after using it twice i cant figure out how i got by without one.
I would go with a one barrel system if you have enough credit lol. Ingredients if it’s not that big. Yeast starter stir plate kit if it’s moderate
Don’t buy a chiller. If you’re the least bit handy you can make one for far cheaper in under an hour. Buy a book. “How to brew” if you don’t already have it or maybe "brewing better beer " by Gordon Strong. Beyond that I’d say a 2 liter flask for making starters and a 6 gallon glass carboy.
Another bucket and the rest on ingredients to make lots of beer! 
Dave
As others have stated, once you’ve be bitten by the homebrew bug, you will never have enough equipment. I would definitely invest in something you will need in the future. Good luck deciding what that is my friend. :-\