So wondering if anyone has items in your brew area that are not “standard” brewing supplies that are helpful to the process.
For example, I have a box of alcohol preps (the little towelettes nurses wipe you with just before they give you your shot) and I’ll use them to sanitize anything small and easy. They are easy to get, have tons of uses, and not expensive.
Any other good “non-standard” products/ideas out there?
It is probably fairly common around here but a spray bottle full of sanitizer is a god send
My air compressor with some QD’s that I made up for ease of purging all water out of system after cleaning. I’d hate to have one of my Chillzillas freeze and crack.
Noeprene gloves, mine are my SCUBA gloves. My wife got tired of me stealing the oven mits and bringing them back soggy. Neoprene is water proof and great protection from any hot side mishaps.
It’s been said before, but a wallpaper tray is great for soaking and sanitizing racking canes and small tubes.
1 gallon size pitchers. Clear polycarb lab grade, with measurements on them. They handle boiling wort with no problem.
I use three of them, but 1 will change your life.
+1 Also great for blowing out your grain mill. My tank has a hole in it, so I’m really missing it now.
I have a refillable lighter with a flexible wand that’s handy for lighting burners. It also has a built in bottle opener. :cheers:
A metal cocktail shaker and a bowl of ice water make chilling samples for OG or pH measurement fast and easy.
Dry Deck.
a bunch of old towles. I slipped once during a brew day cause I let the floor of my garage get wet by accident. After that beer spill, I never let the floor get wet again. I keep everything dry and ready to go.
My pool. I use it to pump water through my IC and the return goes back into the pool.
All of the alcohol wipes I have in my office are 70% isopropyl alcohol which is toxic and can cause irreversible vision loss if imbibed in sufficient quantities. So if you aren’t using ethyl alcohol wipes be really careful about ingesting any of that or getting that fluid in your beer.
Pressure cooking your starters and just storing them on a shelf or fridge. Then you can make a starter on a whim without any extra hassle.
+1000 to this. Plus I got to buy a pressure canner, which got me to branch out into canning projects.
Wow, I did not know this. I really only use them to wipe down the occasional thing rather than using star san, etc. The alcohol from the wipes evaporates almost immediately, would it still be a problem? Though they are quite helpful, I’ll be more careful with them.
Another thing I have in the brew room is a box fan. It is great for helping dry items. I use it all the time.
Toilet bowl brush, You can scrub the bottom of your keg with it. Under the rim too. Don’t get it mixed up with the “other one”, that will make some sh!tty beer.
Don’t worry, you’re fine. Unless you’re sucking on those wipes.
I have a small, collapsible plastic table to hold stuff - from lids to hops to the stirring spoon. It allows everything to be right next to my brewstand. Also if you are a skimmer, you can put your SS skimmer next to the brewstand on the table. Lastly a double mesh strainer - I pour collected wort through it into the boil kettle and drain the chilled wort through it into the primary to strain out any small particulate matter. Yeast harvesting is easier as a result, too.
I use a 3 1/2’ section of plastic gutter with ends attached as my sanitizing tray for long things like racking canes, spoons, ect. I have another section attached to my brew cart to hold the small things like refractometers and thermometers.
Sump pump for recirculating cooling ice water.
My best addition is a cart-mounted tankless water heater. Puts out 168F water at 4 GPM. Makes getting ready to brew a snap and hot water on demand makes clean-up a breeze. 
So, FightD, how is this powered? 110v? Is it expensive? Sounds very cool.
