Homebrewing Beer Equipment List
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 easier than you think. This is a discussion about what main pieces of brewing equipment you will need to get started with malt extract brewing.
You’ll need a large pot to boil at least 2 gallons of water, and closer to three gallons is better for brewing five gallon batches. Make sure your brew pot has insulated handles so you can easily move the hot liquid during brewing. To make sure you have the proper temperature values during brewing you’ll need to have a good thermometer. Before you add the yeast to your brew you need to ensure that the temperature is neither too hot or too cold. If the temperature is too high it may kill the yeast, and too low the yeast will simply not do anything.
Make sure you have a long steel spoon to stir your brew, as a wooden spoon can become filled with bacteria and is not ideal to use. After you are done with brewing the beer you’ll need to transport it to a fermenter. There are numerous types of fermenters available, with the most simple being the plastic bucket type. To measure the alcohol content of your beer you will need to purchase a hydrometer, a gadget that measures the density of your beer.
Once fermentation is finished, you must transfer your beer to a bottling bucket. 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. After the beer has been transferred to the bottling bucket, you will need another plastic hose connected to a bottle filler to fill each individual glass bottle with your home brew. Bottle-fillers are spring loaded and make filling the bottles much easier than using a basic hose.
Your home brew needs a place to go, so you will also need bottle caps and glass bottles. A standard 5 gallon batch of home brew requires approximately 50 12 ounce bottles. Each and every bottle needs to be cleaned with a brush and sanitized before bottling your beer. Applying the bottle caps to the bottles is the last step in producing your homebrew. I recommend you buy a good counter top or standing bottle-capper. Just remember you must sanitize the caps for the bottles!
To help filter out trub from your brewing process you will probably want to obtain a strainer too. If you use a carboy (glass or plastic) to ferment you may also want to get your hands on a funnel. To take easy sample readings of your beer during fermentation, a wine or beer thief is a helpful tool to have as well.
Brewing your own beer is easy and anybody can be a homebrewer! Build your home microbrewery using this home brew setup as a guide!
Learn more about becoming a homebrewer. Stop by our instructional video website where you can learn how to brew your own beer. It’s easier than you think!
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