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How to Start Brewing Beer at Home
by Marika Josephson
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Overview
Brewing beer at home can be as easy or as difficult as you make it. With about $100 and a little patience, however, you can be brewing beer in just a couple of days and be ready to drink it in a few weeks.
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Find a Retailer and Home Brew Network
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Find a home brew store in your area. Finding a local store is best, as it will immediately provide you with people to help answer your questions. Most local stores also offer home brew classes for more complicated procedures.
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Find a website. If there are no home brew stores near you, find a reliable website that sells home brewing equipment. Although sites can deliver all over the country, many are regional and can suggest events such as classes in your area.
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Join a home brewing forum so that people will be available to help answer your questions.
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Buy a book. There are numerous books on home brewing available for the first-time brewer. Classics include "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by Charlie Papazian and "How to Brew" by John J. Palmer.
Choose a Kit
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Choose something simple. Beginners should start with an extract brewing set, in order to get used to the process of sanitizing, brewing and bottling or kegging.
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Consider price and completeness. Kits range in price from about $100 t0 $500 for a basic beginner's set. Compare equipment provided in each set before buying one. Many kits do not come with brewing kettles, which are an essential piece of equipment.
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Substitute equipment. You may substitute some of your own equipment if a kit does not provide it, but remember that you will want to set it aside to use only with the beer, in order to keep it completely sanitized.
Bottling or Kegging
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Consider time. One initial question a home brewer may ask is whether to bottle or keg. Bottling is time consuming and the fermentation process takes longer, as beer must ferment up to a week longer in bottles than in a keg.
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Consider experience. Kegging can be complicated for the beginning brewer as bottling, especially if you have never worked with kegs or CO2 tanks before. Try to have someone experienced help if you get a kegging kit.
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Consider sanitation. It is much easier to clean and sanitize one keg than it is to clean and sanitize 50 bottles, the typical production of one home brew.
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Consider extra equipment. Kegging requires an extra refrigerator to house the keg and CO2 tank, so you will need to also purchase a small refrigerator, chest freezer, kegerator, or simply another fridge in order to do this.
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- 3.5-6 gallon kettle
Floating thermometer
Long-handled stirring spoon
Sanitizing solution: StarSan or a bleach mixture
Carboy or fermentation bucket (with lid)
Rubber stopper to fit on top of carboy or bucket during fermentation
Airlock
Siphon
Hydrometer
Bottling equipment, if bottling: About 50 bottles, bottle caps, and one bottle capper
Kegging equipment, if kegging: Refurbished keg, CO2 tank (usually 5 lbs.), one regulator, one tap line, one CO2 line
- 3.5-6 gallon kettle
- Floating thermometer
- Long-handled stirring spoon
- Sanitizing solution: StarSan or a bleach mixture
- Carboy or fermentation bucket (with lid)
- Rubber stopper to fit on top of carboy or bucket during fermentation
- Airlock
- Siphon
- Hydrometer
- Bottling equipment, if bottling: About 50 bottles, bottle caps, and one bottle capper
- Kegging equipment, if kegging: Refurbished keg, CO2 tank (usually 5 lbs.), one regulator, one tap line, one CO2 line
- Some pieces of equipment will make your brewing experience a lot easier, and you may consider adding them to your equipment when you buy a kit. A wort chiller will cool your beer after it's done brewing very quickly, and is easier than lifting a heavy 5-gallon kettle into an ice bath. A 6.5-gallon kettle will allow you to brew a full batch of beer, and siphon it into the fermenting bucket or carboy, rather than having to add sanitized water in a second step, which may contaminate your beer.
- Some pieces of equipment will make your brewing experience a lot easier, and you may consider adding them to your equipment when you buy a kit. A wort chiller will cool your beer after it's done brewing very quickly, and is easier than lifting a heavy 5-gallon kettle into an ice bath. A 6.5-gallon kettle will allow you to brew a full batch of beer, and siphon it into the fermenting bucket or carboy, rather than having to add sanitized water in a second step, which may contaminate your beer.
- Be sure to sanitize everything that touches the beer after it has been boiled. The most problems for home brewers arise when equipment has not been properly sanitized. When brewing for the first time, it's also nice to have someone with you who can lend another set of hands if something goes wrong, or simply to help set up equipment and do some of the heavy lifting when transferring boiling water.
- Be sure to sanitize everything that touches the beer after it has been boiled. The most problems for home brewers arise when equipment has not been properly sanitized. When brewing for the first time, it's also nice to have someone with you who can lend another set of hands if something goes wrong, or simply to help set up equipment and do some of the heavy lifting when transferring boiling water.
