[Saccharomyces]

One of my buddies is a pro brewer and he bought a cheap Chinese all in one for home use. So I agree competition with the new all in ones could be a factor in selling older style systems.

It is not just kettles and mash tuns. All used gear is moving much more slowly than I have seen previously.  On a bright note, I forgot about ready source of buyers; namely, members of my old brewing club.  I managed to sell off several items to club members.  I also moved a kettle and the mash/lauter tun earlier this week and moving 5-gallon kegs tomorrow.  It was a good week for selling used homebrewing gear.

[Big_Eight]

He said the interest in home brewing — at least in our area —  has declined.  You may be struggling for the same reason??

I think this is the right answer. I can't find any statistics on homebrewing from the AHA after 2017. I suspect if the numbers were good they would publicize them. I know craft beer has been declining since then and I also assume homebrewing has followed a similar trend.

Homebrewing has exploded the last couple years with people stuck at home.  My LHBS is going gangbusters.

(Colorado)

I was at my LHBS last week and it was busy. They have everything too it's great.

They also have contracts with a few breweries to supply ingredients so that helps too.

Also from an equipment standpoint I just use a cheap 48 qt Coleman for a mash tun and a brew kettle and a small kettle for strike/sparge water. I don't see myself upgrading anytime soon.

[fredthecat]

He said the interest in home brewing — at least in our area —  has declined.  You may be struggling for the same reason??

I think this is the right answer. I can't find any statistics on homebrewing from the AHA after 2017. I suspect if the numbers were good they would publicize them. I know craft beer has been declining since then and I also assume homebrewing has followed a similar trend.

Homebrewing has exploded the last couple years with people stuck at home.  My LHBS is going gangbusters.

(Colorado)

I was at my LHBS last week and it was busy. They have everything too it's great.

They also have contracts with a few breweries to supply ingredients so that helps too.

Also from an equipment standpoint I just use a cheap 48 qt Coleman for a mash tun and a brew kettle and a small kettle for strike/sparge water. I don't see myself upgrading anytime soon.

thats exactly what i have. this used to be the most common intermediate level setup for a long time i thought. should make a term for it:

cooler&kettle ? i call the kettle a pot i guess even though its 8 gallons. second one is 2.5 gallons

[Big_Eight]

He said the interest in home brewing — at least in our area —  has declined.  You may be struggling for the same reason??

I think this is the right answer. I can't find any statistics on homebrewing from the AHA after 2017. I suspect if the numbers were good they would publicize them. I know craft beer has been declining since then and I also assume homebrewing has followed a similar trend.

Homebrewing has exploded the last couple years with people stuck at home.  My LHBS is going gangbusters.

(Colorado)

I was at my LHBS last week and it was busy. They have everything too it's great.

They also have contracts with a few breweries to supply ingredients so that helps too.

Also from an equipment standpoint I just use a cheap 48 qt Coleman for a mash tun and a brew kettle and a small kettle for strike/sparge water. I don't see myself upgrading anytime soon.

thats exactly what i have. this used to be the most common intermediate level setup for a long time i thought. should make a term for it:

cooler&kettle ? i call the kettle a pot i guess even though its 8 gallons. second one is 2.5 gallons

Yeah my strike/sparge kettle/pot lol is 8 gallons, boil kettle is 10 gallons, and my mash tun Coleman is a cooler I think I missed that. I heat up my strike sparge on my kitchen stove and then boil on propane.

I can see how it can be hard to sell equipment though especially when one can drill a couple of holes and get some fittings and they are off to the races.

[Saccharomyces]

I can see how it can be hard to sell equipment though especially when one can drill a couple of holes and get some fittings and they are off to the races.

It depends on what one wants.  My first all-grain brewhouse in 1993 was DIY because that was the only way one was going to brew all-grain beer.  I also kept a yeast bank on agar slants for a very long time. There is no longer a need to DIY a brewhouse any more than there is a need to keep one's own yeast bank. 

The stuff I sold was all top-shelf gear. There are people aspire to have top-shelf gear, but do not want to pay the cost of new.  That is where used comes into the equation.  The lowest end piece of gear I sold was my 10-gallon industrial Igloo cooler-based mash/lauter, but even that cost me the better part $150.00 to build. Heck, the cooler alone cost $75.  The false bottom cost $40.00.  I used a custom-machined bulkhead and other quality fittings (I have paid my dues dealing with off-the-shelf standard NPT parts for bulkheads).  It all adds up.  However, the mash-tun was optimized for continuous sparging.  False bottom and tun design are critical when continuous sparging.   

One can use any 10-gallon stock pot to boil wort, but one cannot use any 10-gallon stock pot with a portable 3500W induction range.  The stock pot has to be induction ready and better quality than the Bayou Classic garbage if one wants to be efficient.  I have not brewed with propane in a long time.  Same thing can be said about a mash/lauter tun.  If one wants cheap, nothing is cheaper than a Zapap lauter tun.  As I mentioned earlier, what one desires dictates cost.

[Big_Eight]

I can see how it can be hard to sell equipment though especially when one can drill a couple of holes and get some fittings and they are off to the races.

It depends on what one wants.  My first all-grain brewhouse in 1993 was DIY because that was the only way one was going to brew all-grain beer.  I also kept a yeast bank on agar slants for a very long time. There is no longer a need to DIY a brewhouse any more than there is a need to keep one's own yeast bank. 

The stuff I sold was all top-shelf gear. There are people aspire to have top-shelf gear, but do not want to pay the cost of new.  That is where used comes into the equation.  The lowest end piece of gear I sold was my 10-gallon industrial Igloo cooler-based mash/lauter, but even that cost me the better part $150.00 to build. Heck, the cooler alone cost $75.  The false bottom cost $40.00.  I used a custom-machined bulkhead and other quality fittings (I have paid my dues dealing with off-the-shelf standard NPT parts for bulkheads).  It all adds up.  However, the mash-tun was optimized for continuous sparging.  False bottom and tun design are critical when continuous sparging.   

One can use any 10-gallon stock pot to boil wort, but one cannot use any 10-gallon stock pot with a portable 3500W induction range.  The stock pot has to be induction ready and better quality than the Bayou Classic garbage if one wants to be efficient.  I have not brewed with propane in a long time.  Same thing can be said about a mash/lauter tun.  If one wants cheap, nothing is cheaper than a Zapap lauter tun.  As I mentioned earlier, what one desires dictates cost.

Yeah it's a hobby and it depends what you want out of it. All of my pots are induction ready if need be but I got them at a kitchen supply store for a very good deal a few years ago. My Coleman mash tun with stainless fitting and bazooka screen costs around $60-70 all set and done. In it around $200+ dollars for this equipment.

Some people like the bling and ease of use.

Now I do have a homemade kegerator for fermenting and serving so I'm down the rabbit hole somewhat to that end. I also have a tilt so another convenience lol. The rabbit hole is hard to avoid.