What Do I Need To Brew Beer at Home?

Beginner’s equipment checklist for homebrewing.

So, you’re interested in learning the art of homebrewing but don’t know where to start? The first step in brewing your own beer is to purchase the necessary equipment. Some beginners automatically assume homebrew beer requires commercial-grade kegs and equipment, but this simply isn’t true. While you can certainly brew your beer using expensive equipment such as this, there are plenty of other, less expensive ways to brew your beer.

Boiling Pot

This is where the magic happens so to speak. A brewing pot is a key piece of equipment that’s required for all types of homebrewing. Whether you’re brewing a lager, ale or any other beer variety, you’ll need a pot that’s large enough to hold a minimum of 3 gallons of liquid.

Generally speaking, the larger the pot, the better. Larger pots are able to hold more beer and offer greater room for expansion during fermentation; thus, cutting down on your brew times. Aluminum and stainless steel are the best boiling pots for making homebrew beer.

Airlock

Another key piece of equipment that’s necessary when brewing beer is an airlock. Airlocks are filled with water to eliminate the possibility of outside contaminants from reaching the beer. Without an airlock, dust, mold, bacteria or insects could make their way into your beer, tainting it with unwanted chemicals.

Bottles

Unless you plan on drinking an entire batch of homebrew beer by yourself, you should invest in a set of bottled to package and store it. As you may already know, beer is a highly carbonated beverage that possesses a certain fizz and kick. If this carbonation is released, it will become flat, negatively impacting both its flavor and texture. The solution to this problem is to bottle your homebrew beer using a proper bottling kit.

Malt Extract, Hops, Yeast and Water

There are four basic ingredients needed for most types of homebrew beer: water, yeast and malt extract. You can either purchase these ingredients separately, or you can buy a pre-made kit. Kits are generally the preferred choice among first-time homebrewers, as it provides step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow.

It’s important to note, however, that most homebrewing kits do not include sugar. Check to make sure you have plenty of granulated sugar in your kitchen cabinet before attempting to brew your own beer. Sugar is essentially what creates the alcohol content in beer, as yeast acts as a catalyst to convert it into alcohol.