So many new toys!

I have the fortunate situation of having some extra money in the coming month, so I've gone on a bit of a homebrew supply shopping spree for the last week or so.  I'm pretty sure I am going to drive my neighbors nuts with all the deliveries that are coming to my house (which I won't be home to sign for).

From Midwest Supplies I ordered:

• 6 gallon Better Bottle w/Stopper and a 3-piece airlock
• A Better Bottle handle
• A carboy handle
• 2L flask (for starters)
• Cream Stout extract kit (2nd batch!)

From Amazon, I ordered an immersion chiller, Bayou Classic SP10 propane burner, and a a Cool Brewing cooler.

A note about this Cool Brewing cooler... I am excited about it.  It's just a big bag made of insulated cooler material, the same like you would see at the supermarket.


Cool Brewing Cooler,
image from Amazon.com

 It's big enough to hold a large carboy, with enough headspace for a blowoff tube or airlock.  By all accounts on HBT, this thing should be able to hold temperatures anywhere from 10-15 (up to 20) degrees cooler than ambient temperatures with a couple of 2L bottles of ice.

After my terribly failed build of my own fermentation chiller I was considering just using a swamp cooler.  This product should allow me to do the same thing, without water, and the same amount of maintenance (having to swap out ice bottles).

I would not recommend purchasing this product directly from the manufacturer's website. The site looks nice and they have an SSL, but again, no attestation of PCI compliance or any other reason for me to believe they are keeping my credit card information secure.  Luckilly, however, these guys are also selling through Amazon, who I trust.

The last thing I ordered is a stir plate from some dude named Dan.  I'm hoping this new equipment will give me better control over my brew - we'll see how everything turns out.