Home Brewing Equipment - Brewing Equipment You\'ll Need

The very first step you will need to take to make your own beer is simply selecting an acceptable area to brew it. Your kitchen should be a great location. Anticipate being there for a number of hours and quite possibly making what may be deemed by non-home brewers as a tremendous mess. Therefore, you really should ask those who are living in the house if it's alright. When you have secured the kitchen you'll need your home brewing equipment. For starters we'll go over what types of equipment is going to be needed to home brew using malt extract.

Basic home brewing equipment is usually not really all that expensive. You ought to be able to get all the equipment that's needed for approximately $100 to $150. Many home brewing equipment suppliers produce kits that have all the things required to make your own beer at home aside from ingredients and bottles.

Here is a list of the basic home brewing equipment you'll need in order to start 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 some more things from around the kitchen which can come in handy:

-Small bowl
-Saucepan
-Rubber spatula
-Oven mitts/pot handlers
-Big mixing spoon (stainless steel or plastic)

At this point let us talk about the home brewing equipment and give you a basic concept of what you will do with it.

Brew Kettle:
The brew kettle is a large pot that has a volume that is at least 4.5 gallons. The ideal type is manufactured out of stainless steel. Also you can use one which is manufactured from ceramic-coated (enameled) aluminum or steel. If you are using a brand new aluminum pot, do not use it bright-and-shiny; you might get a metallic off-flavor. Boil water in it first. Additionally chipped enamelized pots may also cause off-flavors. If you happen to have got a couple of smaller sized pots in your kitchen which hold at least 4.5 gallons together that also will work. The brew kettle is the very first piece of home brewing equipment you're going to be using. All of the ingredients (accept for the yeast) is going to be added to the brew kettle and brought to a boil. This sweet mixture you'll have produced is called “wort”.

Thermometer:
A thermometer is used to check the temperature of your brew during different stages of the brewing process. A stick-on thermometer can be attached to the outside of the primary fermenter to permit you to check on the temperature of the fermentation. This is an important piece of home brewing equipment because the temperature of the fermentation has an effect on the flavor of the finished beer.

Hydrometer:
A hydrometer is a really handy device for calculating potential alcohol, or when your beer has fermented completely. This really is one specific piece of home brewing equipment that every brewer ought to own and can use. Most home brewing kits come with one.

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

Primary Fermenter:
The primary fermenter is the place the wort will go once you have boiled and cooled it, this is where the beer begins to ferment and become the delightful stuff that causes you to be so humorous and delightful. The primary fermenter is a piece of home brewing equipment that can be a plastic bucket with a lid which seals tightly or a glass container (commonly known as a carboy). Either one must have a minimum capacity of 6.5 gallons, and accommodates a rubber stopper along with the airlock. The fermenter will have to be spotlessly clean and free of scratches.

Airlock and Rubber Stopper:
The airlock is a nifty device that enables carbon dioxide to vent from your primary fermenter throughout the course of the fermentation, and thus preventing it from exploding, but does not permit any of the air from outside to get into your beer’s clean environment. It fits into a rubber stopper with a hole drilled in it, and then the stopper goes on the top of the 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 extends to the bottom of the fermenter. The siphon hose should be clear food-grade tubing. It's used to transfer the beer from one vessel to another.

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

Bottles:
When the primary fermentation is finished the beer is put in bottles for secondary fermentation and storage. The most suitable variety of bottles are probably brown glass ones with smooth tops (not the twist-off type) which is designed to use a cap from a bottle capper. You must have enough bottles to hold all of the beer you’re intending to brew. Based on the bottle size you'll have to do a little bit of math. A 5 gallon batch of beer will be 640 ounces; if you are using 12 ounce bottles you'll need about 54. If you happen to go with 16 ounce bottles you need 40 bottles.

Bottle Brush:
This is a slim, curvy brush which you are able to put into a bottle in order to clean it out really well. We have not even mentioned how clean every item has to be, but we are going to, and the bottle brush is a specific piece of cleaning equipment you should have for home brewing.

Bottle Caps and Capper:
You will also need to have bottle caps, as you might think, and you are able to get them from every home brewing equipment store. The ideal type of bottle capper is one which can be mounted to a surface and used with one hand as you grasp the bottle with the other. You can also purchase less expensive types that need to have two hands on the capper, however these are generally a hassle. Go where your budget directs you.

A couple of other items you'll want 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 essential to making your own beer? 90% of all home brewing failures can be linked to a breakdown in cleaning or sanitization and without a doubt, they're two separate items.

Cleaning chemicals get rid of apparent debris 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 will eradicate, or prevent the growth of unwanted microorganisms. You are unable to sanitize anything unless it's clean. Some good quality sanitizers are IO Star and Star San. Your brew kettle is one of the few pieces of equipment which only has to be cleaned and not sanitized. Simply because you're going to be boiling your wort in the kettle which will sanitize it along with the wort.

All of your home brewing equipment that comes in contact with the beer once it leaves the brew kettle must be clean, and properly sanitized, from the thermometer to the carboy, from the siphon hose to the rubber stopper and airlock. One single slip-up can possibly lead to the whole batch coming out badly. With that being said, there aren't any known human pathogens that can remain alive in beer, which means you do not have to be concerned about poisoning yourself or your buddies.

When you’ve gotten all of these items, you are practically ready to make your own beer! Now you have to get your home brewing supplies and ingredients and you will be all set.

Should you be worried that brewing beer at home is complex and difficult, do not be. It's just a progression of basic steps. More descriptive brewing guidelines are going to come in a following article.