How much $$$ do you have Invested?

[SmokyMtn]

Thought this could be interesting. How much money do you have invested in your equipment? Stills, fermenters, mash tuns, pumps, reservoirs, BOPs, chillers. You get the idea. Whatever you have bought for the sole purpose of this hobby.

Not counting grains, yeast, sugar- lets leave that stuff out

I'm hovering real close to $3,000.00 US. Probably 3,800 invested when I'm done building.

Let's keep this between us, don't need the wife reading this one.

[Expat]

When I first started into this hobby I kept notes, not that it was about low price, just that it was interesting. I subsequently decided it wasn't worth my time. I occasionally find a bag of copper fittings which I grabbed with ideas in mind, but never got around to using; so who knows.

Long way of saying its almost impossible to answer with any accuracy. Maybe $1500 cannukistan pesos....

[miletwo]

I think about only about $600 or so.

[Deplorable]

Probably in the neighborhood of US$1800.
Fermenter, still, glass ware, grain mills, power controller, gas burner, chillers mop wringer, buckets...

A lot less than my gun addiction, or the RV, but it sure ain't no cheaper than going to the likker store.

[jonnys_spirit]

Non consumable HW about $2500 over a few years and could have done very similar for $1500 in hindsight.. Maybe a little less with more DIY but I appreciate the copper.. Now i've got a stainless 13g milk can boiler taking up space I don't do anything with.. Got started with "a nice drop off the spout kit" for just under $1k...

It's paid for itself by not buying as many $80-$100 bottles.. Easily made more than 50x bottles that I would have paid more than $50ea for.. I also found out that I don't necessarily need a cellar full of likker either so I moderate better these days lol.

Posted same time as Deplorable - Add a couple hundred for some other odds and ends lol...

[Bushman]

Haven’t got a clue, I have 3 stills built myself plus all the barrels and all the accessories I’ve bought over the years not sure I can calculate it. But it is pennies compared to the enjoyment I have gotten from this hobby.

[OtisT]

Haven’t got a clue, I have 3 stills built myself plus all the barrels and all the accessories I’ve bought over the years not sure I can calculate it. But it is pennies compared to the enjoyment I have gotten from this hobby.

+1 to what Bushman said. No real clue, many stills, many accessories and tools.

I love to make things, including Booze, so it’s all a long term investment in where I spend my free time.

Otis

[Sporacle]

If I'm 100% honest I would say I spend about 30 bucks a week, that doesn't include ingredients although I am slowly piecing together a new still and boiler so I'm buying small bits at a time.

[kimbodious]

Bloody hell, I could get divorced if I answered truthfully and my wife were to read it! On the other hand over the years we have well and truly recouped the cost if you don’t factor in my own time.

[Stonecutter]

At least 3k And planning on a conical fermenter with a spike Kettle. That’s the cost of going the commercial route though. +1 about the gun collection…. And guitar collection When I proposed to my wife I knew for that ring I had to cough up more than my most expensive gun at the time…. Jewelers are more crooked than a ? I tell you what. But like Bushman said, I have had so much fun with all my hobbies. I work damn hard for my money and I aim to enjoy myself on my off time.

[Yummyrum]

Its the only hobby I have so I don’t feel too bad if I spend a bit . But I’m a cheap bastard and try to do as much as I can myself .Apart from the first still and upgrade boiler I got from a HB shop , all the others I’ve made . Copper where possible was second hand . There have been a lot of tools I have bought and MAPP torches , not to mention bottles of gas and rods . Fermenters , heaters , heater controllers , cooling tanks etc etc etc .

If I was truely honest , I recon I would have spent close $10,000 over the last 10 years . All those $100 here and there all add up .
Time was priceless , not include distilling time , my biggest enjoyment comes from building and experimenting . I make booze to justify the cost LOL

[NZChris]

I wouldn't have a clue. Nearly every still I have is made from materials from scrapyards and friends and built by me and friends, plus it's been spent over thirty odd years. I have a collection of boilers that can be run in various configurations and probably cost me less than some newbies spend buying their first still. There is a healthy collection of copper in my steel rack for when I get the urge to build something, none of it new.

My biggest spend on a single still would be my latest acquisition, a second hand 3l copper alembic that I picked up for about a third of it's new price. I'd been waiting for a cheap one to come up for several years, wanting to be able to run gin on a table top, off grid, in front of guests.

[shadylane]

Just guessing, around $1,000.
Not counting what I paid for tools and supplies such as mig, tig and plasma cutter.
Scrap material was used for most of what I've built.

[Deplorable]

It's really not about the money for me. I need a hobby that I can enjoy well into retirement. I'm just a few short years away from retiring, and while I love me some evil black rifles, poking holes in paper at a range gets costly, even if you reload. At least with this hobby. Once the initial investments are made in equipment, and you have a good stock of aging spirits, it's a hobby that will pay dividends, and keep me busy into my golden years.

[Corn Cracker]

I've got right at $120 bucks wrapped up in my 2 potstills and all equipment, I'm a plumber so all my copper was scored through work, new but older, discolored copper around the shop my boss let me have. Repairing busted pipes after the big freeze we had was a good source for scrap copper also. I found all my brewing/bottling equipment in one add on craigslist for $30. Any tools i might need i already have.

[Jstroke]

I look at hobbies much like most things. My time and energy are valuable. I build things myself if possible and I try to find things at a reasonable cost. However I’m not spending hours and hours in scrap yards. If I can, I scrounge it. If I can’t I find the lowest price and move on. My set up so far, maybe 300-400.

[LWTCS]

Strictly hobby wise,,I'm thinking under 2k.
But then I start thinking about all the hot solder I've dribbled all over the shop floor and .

[Saltbush Bill]

You guys are making me cringe with the small amounts you have spent. I'm beginning to get worried that I wont like the answers if i start adding up the costs.
One thing I do know for sure ...the savings on booze over the last 10 years are far greater than the expenses involved in the hobby.

[Deplorable]

You guys are making me cringe with the small amounts you have spent. I'm beginning to get worried that I wont like the answers if i start adding up the costs.
One thing I do know for sure ...the savings on booze over the last 10 years are far greater than the expenses involved in the hobby.

The ROI takes a while. That's where the patients comes in.

[Euphoria]

With a 1 1/2" thick Manila folder of purchase receipts, I have over $7,000 USD in equipment, parts, accessories and spare plated sections, spare fittings, my double-wide milk crates full of spare "just about everythings," plus my 3 boilers, (8/13/26 gal.), 2 controllers, my power mash mixer, my 3" Lyne Arm with Thumper attachment, My 4" plated column with 7 sections, my Corny kegs (4), my small pressurize-able mini kegs, my CO2 equipment, including gas bottles, hoses and regulators, etc., ad nauseum. Certainly more stuff than I need or use. Imagine all the liquor I could have bought for that investment...

[Euphoria]

[Deplorable]

And here I thought I lacked self control. Damn Euphoria, I want to mash in your shed.
Weren't you trying to sell off that mixer and mash pot a while back? Sure wish I had the room for that set up.

[Dr Griz]

Maybe 1500 USD, but it’s complicated — a lot of my gear does double duty, between beer, cider, canning and the like. Or at least that’s what I tell the missus…

[Hambone]

About twice am much as my wife thinks…

[Yonder]

Probably more than my most expensive rifle, less than my most expensive watch. It’s my hobby. I make stuff I like and enjoy doing it.

[Saltbush Bill]

About twice am much as my wife thinks…

If something happens to you oneday somebody's going to get a bargain.....have ya looked at it from that angle?

[NZChris]

About twice am much as my wife thinks…

If something happens to you oneday somebody's going to get a bargain.....have ya looked at it from that angle?

If something happens to me, my gear doesn't come with instruction manuals so will have to go into the skip with the rest of my hobby equipment.

[SmokyMtn]

About twice am much as my wife thinks…

If something happens to you oneday somebody's going to get a bargain.....have ya looked at it from that angle?

You only come clean on your death bed, otherwise deny...deny...deny

[Euphoria]

And here I thought I lacked self control. Damn Euphoria, I want to mash in your shed.
Weren't you trying to sell off that mixer and mash pot a while back? Sure wish I had the room for that set up.

Actually I was, and I still would. I'm out of space and I need to clear some room, and I am willing to sell off some of my seldom, if ever, used equipment. I'd also sell my apple grinder and wine press as well. Both are brand new and have never been used in the several years I've had them. Thought that I would use them, and paid a handsome price for them, but sadly, I never did use them. They are just taking up valuable space I now need for other uses. Anybody interested?

[The Baker]

I'd also sell my apple grinder and wine press as well.

I would love to have them, but unfortunately I am too far away, and have no money...

I spent far too much on a so-called tradesman...

Geoff