Part 2 By: Rawley R. Macias
Last month, we discussed how simple brewing excellent beer at home can be. We discussed the basic ingredients; grains, hops, water, and yeast and also the three main brewing phases: the brew day, the fermentation period, and the bottling day. Before you can start brewing your first batch, you need to gather some equipment. Some of the equipment listed is not required but makes the brewing process easier and less time consuming.
Equipment needed to brew your own beer:
• 5 gallon Pot or Kettle – To boil the wort in.
• 5 gallon Glass or Plastic Carboy – To ferment the beer in.
• Carboy Brush – To clean the carboy.
• Airlock with Stopper – Used on the carboy
• Plastic Funnel – To fill the carboy.
• 5 Gallon bucket with Spigot – To bottle the beer.
• Hydrometer – To measure the gravity of the wort.
• Graduated Cylinder – To use with the hydrometer.
• Thermometer – To measure the temperature
• Star San Liquid Sanitizer – To sanitize everything
• Large Plastic Spoon – To stir the wort.
• Reusable Mesh Bag – To steep the specialty grains.
• Plastic Siphon Starter – To start a siphon easier
• 5 feet of 3/8″ ID Vinyl Tubing – To transfer the beer
• 3/8″ Plastic Bottle Filler – To fill bottles on bottling day.
• Bottler Caper – Duh, pretty obvious.
• Pack of Bottler Caps – 50 piece pack needed per batch.
Do not be alarmed. This list of equipment may be overwhelming but there are several online suppliers that make entering the hobby of homebrewing easy, by offering kits that contain most or all of the items listed above. One such supplier is Morebeer.com who offers kits ranging from $69 to $479. So, spend the next few weeks gathering your supplies. Next month, we will go over picking your ingredients to suit your beer tastes.