Home Brewing Equipment - Brewing Equipment You'll Need

The very first step you will have to take to make your own beer will be selecting an acceptable location to brew it. Your kitchen generally is a great location. Anticipate being there for a number of hours and most likely creating what could possibly be considered by non-home brewers as a huge mess. For that reason, you may want to ask those people that are living in your home if it's alright. After you have secured your kitchen you'll need your home brewing equipment. First off we are going to take a look at what sorts of equipment will be needed to home brew utilizing malt extract.

Basic home brewing equipment is usually not really all that costly. You ought to be able to buy all of the equipment that is necessary for somewhere between $100 to $150. A good number of home brewing equipment suppliers have kits that have everything you'll need to make your own beer at home with the exception of ingredients and bottles.

Below is a list of the basic home brewing equipment you will need in order to begin brewing beer:

- Brew Kettle

- Thermometer

- Hydrometer

- Funnel and Strainer

- 6.5 Gallon Primary Fermenter

- Airlock and Rubber Stopper

- Racking Tube with Siphon Hose

- 6.5 Gallon Bottling Bucket with Spigot

- Bottles

- Bottle Brush

- Bottle Caps and Capper

Below are a few more things from around the kitchen that can be useful:

-Small bowl

-Saucepan

-Rubber spatula

-Oven mitts/pot handlers

-Large mixing spoon (stainless steel or plastic)

So now let us discuss the home brewing equipment and provide you with a basic idea of what you will be doing with it.

Brew Kettle:
The brew kettle is a large pot which has a volume of at least 4.5 gallons. The best type is constructed of stainless steel. It's also possible to use one which is made of ceramic-coated (enameled) aluminum or steel. If you are using a new aluminum pot, dont use it bright-and-shiny; you may get a metallic off-flavor. Boil some water in it first. Furthermore chipped enamelized pots can also cause off-flavors. If you happen to have got two smaller sized pots in your kitchen that hold at least 4.5 gallons together that will also work. The brew kettle is the very first piece of home brewing equipment you will be using. All your ingredients (accept for the yeast) will be added to the brew kettle and brought to a boil. This sweet mixture you will have produced is called wort.

Thermometer:
A thermometer is used to determine the temperature of the brew during various stages of the brewing process. A stick-on thermometer can be affixed on the outside of the primary fermenter to permit you to track the temperature of the fermentation. This is a necessary piece of home brewing equipment because the temperature of the fermentation affects the flavor of the finished beer.

Hydrometer:
A hydrometer is a particularly useful device for finding out potential alcohol, or when your beer has fermented totally. This really is one particular piece of home brewing equipment that every beer maker will need to own and understand how to use. A lot of home brewing kits provide one.

Funnel and Strainer:
These are used to help transfer the contents of the brew kettle into your primary fermenter. The strainer will help filter out the hops that were put into the brew kettle.

Primary Fermenter:
The primary fermenter is the place where the wort goes after you have boiled and cooled it, this is the place where the beer begins to ferment and change into the amazing stuff which causes you to be so amusing and wonderful. The primary fermenter is a piece of home brewing equipment which can be a plastic bucket along with a lid which seals tightly or a glass container (often known as a carboy). Either one needs to have a minimum capacity of 6.5 gallons, and accommodates a rubber stopper and the airlock. The fermenter will have to be thoroughly clean and free of scratches.

Airlock and Rubber Stopper:
The airlock is a nifty gadget that enables carbon dioxide to escape out of your primary fermenter during fermentation, thereby preventing it from exploding, but doesnt enable any of the air from outside to get in the beers clean environment. It fits into a rubber stopper that has a hole drilled into it, and then the stopper will go on the top of your primary fermenter.

Racking Cane with Siphon Hose:
A racking cane is a stiff piece of clear plastic tubing that's connected to the siphon hose and reaches the bottom of the fermenter. The siphon hose should be clear food-grade tubing. It is used to transfer the beer from one container to another.

Bottling Bucket with Spigot:
This is a 6.5 gallon, food-grade plastic bucket with a spigot at the bottom. It has to be at least as big as your primary fermenter, because you have to transfer all your tasty beer out of your primary fermenter into your bottling bucket prior to bottling it. It's also recommended to have a bottle filler attachment on the end of the tubing coming from the spigot. This really is another key piece of home brewing equipment which allows you to fill the bottles by simply pressing the filler down on the bottom of the bottle until the beer reaches the top, and after removing the filler, the ideal amount of head space is made.

Bottles:
After the primary fermentation is complete the beer is placed in bottles for secondary fermentation and storage. The most commonly used kind of bottles are usually brown glass ones with smooth tops (do not use the twist-off variety) that can use a cap from your bottle capper. You will need a good amount of bottles to hold all of the beer you are preparing to brew. Based on the bottle volume you will have to do a bit of math. A 5 gallon batch of beer is 640 ounces; so if you are working with 12 ounce bottles you want about 54. Should you decide on 16 ounce bottles you'll want 40 bottles.

Bottle Brush:
This is a thin, curvy brush which you can put in a bottle so you can clean the inside effectively. We have not mentioned how thoroughly clean all items have to be, but we will, and the bottle brush is a specialized item of cleaning equipment you will need for home brewing.

Bottle Caps and Capper:
You will also have to have bottle caps, as you would expect, and you can get them from any home brewing equipment store. The optimal kind of bottle capper is one that can be attached to a surface and operated with just one hand while you grip the bottle with the other. You can also purchase cheaper ones that must have two hands on the capper, however these usually are a hassle. Go where your budget guides you.

Two other things that you will need to get are products to clean and sanitize your home brewing equipment. You might want to know what is the difference between cleaning and sanitizing? What can make these two things so imperative to making your own beer? 90% of all home brewing failures are typically connected with a breakdown in cleaning or sanitization and definitely, they are two separate things.

Cleaning chemicals take away apparent build up and residue on your home brewing equipment. Some good quality cleaners are B-Brite, One Step, and Easy Clean.

Sanitizing is actually treating your home brewing equipment with chemicals which are able to wipe out, or prevent the development of undesirable microorganisms. You are unable to sanitize a single thing unless it's thoroughly clean. Some good sanitizers are IO Star and Star San. Your brew kettle is one of the few pieces of equipment that only has to be cleaned and not sanitized. This is because you'll be boiling your wort in the kettle which will sanitize it and also the wort.

All of the home brewing equipment which touches your beer after it leaves your brew kettle must be clean, and adequately sanitized, from the thermometer to the carboy, from the siphon hose to the rubber stopper and airlock. One single mistake may potentially contribute to the whole batch turning out poorly. By the way, there are no known human pathogens that can remain alive in beer, and that means you do not need to be concerned about poisoning yourself or your friends.

When you have gotten all these items, youre almost ready to make your own beer! Now you need to get your home brewing supplies and ingredients and you'll be all set.

Should you be concerned that brewing beer at home is confusing and difficult, dont be. It is just a progression of basic steps. More descriptive brewing instructions are going to come in a following article.