Getting Started Brewing My Own Beer
Posted on January 17, 2010 by mike
Getting into homebrewing can seem like a daunting experience. I mean you are bombarded with new terminology, new equipment, and new processes you probably have never seen before. Believe me though, it is really easy and completely worth it to get into homebrewing no matter how in depth you want to get. I personally recommend getting a starter kit. They are relatively inexpensive and once you get all of the things that don’t come in the kits you are easily able to get into brewing for under $170.
Below I have outlined what comes in most starter kits. I try to explain to you what the piece is and what its function in the big scheme of things is. This way you get more than just a list of a bunch of equipment you are not familiar with. Please email me or comment with questions about any of it, I’d be glad to answer them.
Minimum Homebrewing Supplies To Get Started
I personally think that you can get started for less than $170 easy. Follow these easy steps to get everything you need.
1. Go over to Northern Brewer and pick up a brewing starter kit. It is the best starter kit for your money.
2. Pick up a 5 Gallon Stainless Steel Stock Pot with Lid
3. Pick up 2 cases of amber bottles
4. Pick up The Complete Joy of Home Brewing
5. Pick up a recipe kit these are the easier ones to use. (I recommend the WYeast add on when it asks)
6. Pick up a thermometer.
7. A Brewing Spoon.
If you do these 7 things you’ll have everything you need to get started brewing your own beer.
What am I getting and what the heck does it do?
If you buy the Northern Brewer starter kit, all of this comes with it except for anything marked with a *.
*Does not come in starter kits must be purchased before your first batch.
1. Homebrewing Fermentation Bucket
The homebrewing fermentation bucket is great for starters. It is easy to use, easy to move around, and if you ever move on to something more involved like a carboy, these buckets are great for sanitizing. The fermentation bucket is a 6.5 gallon plastic bucket with a top. The top has a little whole drilled out with a rubber cushion in it to place your airlock for fermentation.
2. Homebrewing Bottling Bucket
The homebrewing bottling bucket is much like the fermentation bucket. It is a 6.5 gallon plastic bucket that has a hole drilled in the bottom of it where you screw in a little bottling spigot. This bucket also has a cover to keep organic yeast out during bottling.
3. Air Lock
The air lock is what allows the beer to exhaust CO2 into the air. This prevents it from exploding and making a huge mess while keeping it completely sanitary. It comes in three pieces and is very easy to assemble.
4. Auto Siphon
This isn’t a must, but I believe it should be because it saves you a headache of starting a siphon on your own. The auto siphon is used to move beer from your fermentation bucket to your bottling bucket. To use, place the end of the large tube at the bottom of your fermentation tank and push the plunger down. It creates a vacuum and automatically starts your siphon.
5. Siphon Tubing and Racking Cane
Siphon tubing is needed for your auto siphon, bottling rack, racking cane, and is just good to have around. It is cheap, anywhere between 35 cents to 65 cents depending on the size. Chances are you’ll need 3/8″ inner diameter and 1/4″ outer diameter. Six feet to start is probably plenty. The racking cane is a hard plastic tube that is used to transport beer from one vessel to another.
6. Bottle Filler
The homebrewing bottle filler is a great invention. The filler is just a spring loaded plastic end that when pressed into the bottom of the bottle it fills the beer up without infusing to much air into the fermented beer. Plus, it fills the bottles up perfectly so there is no need to fuss about measuring how much goes into bottle and easily attaches to the end of your bottling bucket spigot.
7. Bottle Capper
This one is pretty self explanatory. You use this simple machine to put caps on your freshly bottled beer.
8. Homebrewing Bottle Caps
Pretty self explanatory as well. These are used to cap your fresh brew dogs. A great tip here is that you should always boil your caps before using them.
9. Bottling Brush
You probably won’t need this right of way since your bottles will be new, but if you decide to collect a couple of cases of bottles to start you’ll need this brush to scrub them out before you rinse them. Its just a nylon brush with an aluminum handle. They clean up surprisingly well.
10. hydrometer
I personally really like using the hydrometer just for determining my alcohol content. Plus it is good to have so you can find out when your fermentation has really ended. When the gravity in your brew finally stops changing consistently you know it is ready to bottle or age. They are really easy to use and come with instructions, so I’ll spare you the boredom.
11. No Rinse Sanitizer
This stuff is for the beginner. It is a powder mixed in with warm water. You never have to rinse it off and is perfectly ok to get a little in your beer. This is beginner sanitizer and usually comes with kits. There are a lot of other sanitizers out there and some that work better, but for the first timer this will work just fine.
12. 5 Gallon Stainless Steel Stock Pot with Lid
*
Ah, the pot…The most important and nostalgia piece of the homebrewers arsenal. This is the smallest size of pot I would get. If you think you are going to be a serious homebrewer right out of the gate, I’d get something bigger. However, it is always nice to have another pot around for warming up extracts or steeping grains, so it isn’t a bad investment to upgrade later. It cleans up nice, heats evenly, and doesn’t hold flavors.
13. Stirring Spoon
The kit comes with a hard plastic spoon but if you’d like to upgrade right of way I’d go with stainless. My spoon kind of sucks but I recommend getting some kind of large stainless steel stirring spoon. I think mine is just a little to short. These are great because they don’t hold flavor and wash up very easily, plus they are very durable.
14. Thermometer*
This is really a must. It is so important to know what your temperature is in your brewing pot. During the the brewing process you will need to have a rolling boil or if you are steeping grains you need to monitor a constant temp. Along with that it also helps you know when you’ve hit your cold break and when the wort is ready for the fermentation process. A thermometer is always a plus!
15. Stick on Thermometer*
This is a must as well. These thermometers stick right on to your fermenter. This will help indicate the temperature of the wort and indicate when you are in the right temperature zone for pitching your yeast. It also comes in handy in letting you know how warm or cold the place you ferment your brew is as well. They are cheap and provide enough information that they are worth every penny.
16. Two Cases of Amber Bottles*
Your going to need bottles when it is time to bottle your beer. I recommend 2 cases and a few more if need be. My first batch only yielded me 46 beers, but it should get upwards to 54. So if you have a six pack around, drink it while you brew so you can use those bottles if need be.
17. Homebrew Kit*
You’ll need a kit to get started as well. Depending how in depth you want to get you could just get an extract kit. These are made up 100% of extracts and are pretty easy to brew. A great place for a beginner to start. If you are looking for a little more excitement without a whole lot of difficulty, I’d recommend an extract kit with some specialty grains in it. It takes a lil longer, but it a lot more fun in my opinion.
18. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing*
I highly recommend this book by Charlie Papazian for the beginner. It isn’t overly complicated and starts you off nice and slow. This is a great book to keep with you all the time during your brewing processes and to keep notes in. It is basically a bible for home brewing. He covers basics and goes into some pretty advanced stuff, but it is never forced upon you. The further you read, the more advanced it gets. Plus, it is an easy read and has loads of recipes!
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