Equipment For Your Home Beer Microbrewery
Everyone loves beer and wants to create their own, but they’re not sure how to get started. The number one question is often what kind of equipment do I need to start home brewing? A lot of people think that it’s very expensive and difficult to get all of the home brewing equipment they need to get started, but it’s cheaper and much easier than you think. This is a discussion on what main pieces of brewing equipment you will need to get going with malt extract brewing.
You will need a large pot to boil at least 2 gallons of drinking water, and closer to three gallons is much better for brewing 5 gallon batches. This brew kettle needs to be sturdy and have handles that make it simple to lift when filled with hot water. To make sure you have the correct temperature values during brewing you will want to have a trusty thermometer. This is important so you know when you have cooled your wort to the proper temperature to add the yeast. Yeast can be very fickle and is easily killed if the temperature is too hot, and will be inactive if the temperature is too cold.
You’ll need a large steel spoon to stir your homebrew, and don’t use a solid wood spoon as it may contain bacteria that could possibly infect your beer. Once you have completed brewing the beer you will need to transfer it to a fermentation container. Plastic bucket fermenters are the most popular for beginners, but other styles are available. You’ll also need a hydrometer, a gadget that calculates the specific gravity of your beer and helps figure out how much alcohol is produced during fermentation.
The beer is moved to a bottling bucket once fermentation is finished. You need to use a sanitizing solution to cleanse your brewing equipment so your beer does not become ruined with bacteria. Moving the beer is accomplished by using a plastic hose connected to a siphon. To transfer the beer from the bottling bucket into the individual beer bottles, you’ll need to use a plastic hose in conjunction with a bottle filler. I suggest using a bottle filler as the spring inside makes bottling much easier than merely using a plain old hose.
Your homebrew needs a place to go, so you will also need bottle caps and bottles. You need approximately fifty 12 ounce. bottles for a conventional five-gallon batch of homebrew. Each and every bottle must be cleaned with a brush and sanitized before bottling your beer. The final step in finishing your bottling process is to attach the bottle caps to the bottles. I recommend you purchase a good counter top or standing bottle-capper. Remember to sanitize the bottle caps as well!
To help filter out sediment from your brewing process you will probably want to get a strainer as well. If you use a carboy (glass or plastic) to ferment you may also want to get a funnel. To take samples of your beer during fermentation you might need to use a beer thief, but you could use anything really that is easily sanitized.
Brewing your own beer is easy and anyone can become a homebrewer! Use this homebrew equipment list to build your own microbrewery at home!
Steve Pavilanis is an expert homebrewer who loves teaching others the pleasures of home brewing. Learn more about homebrewing and stop by our instructional video website where you will learn how to brew your own beer. It’s easier than you think!
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