Why would you want to brew your own beer? That was a question I got from friends and family alike. My answer to them was that I enjoy beer and I enjoy cooking and if I can make a quality beer for the same or less then what I buy it for then it only makes sense to brew.
When I started brewing beer, about two and a half years ago, I jumped right in. My father had brewed a couple of batches and I helped him out here and there but I really didn’t know what to expect. My goal for every batch that I brew is to make a quality inexpensive beer.
The most expensive part of brewing your own beer is getting the initial brewing items. This can be done for $60 to $120 depending on what you need and what you want. Some of the things you may already have and other things you don’t “have” to have to brew. You can pick them up later.
The first item you would need is a brewing kettle. You do not need a very large one, but make sure it’s stainless steel. If you are just starting out then the majority of your brewing will be with malt extracts (liquid and powder) which dissolve into the water. You won’t be using too many grains, which take up space. The brew pots that I use are 12 quarts and 20 quarts. Depending on what I am putting in my beer I will use either.
It is not necessary to have carboy, but I would recommend it. A carboy is a glass container that you are going to combine your wort (pre-alcohol beer) and water together to ferment. I would suggest you get at least a six gallon carboy. If you want to go the less expensive route then you could go for a fermenting bucket with lid instead of the carboy. The bucket is cheaper and easier to clean. With a carboy you can make sure it is air tight and therefore won’t get contaminated. You can actually watch the fermentation process, which is pretty cool to watch. To go with the carboy you are going to need a stopper with a hole in it. The reason for the hole is so you can put off a run off tube and then after a couple of days put a fermentation lock in place of the tube. I also like to have a solid stopper, so that I can put it onto the carboy and roll the carboy on the floor to mix things together. You will also need a funnel to put water and your wort into the carboy.
Once the beer is done fermenting you are going to need to put it into a bottling bucket. A bottling bucket is a six gallon bucket with a spigot at the bottom. You are going to need this to put your beer into bottles. You are going to want to get siphoning tubing to change the beer from the carboy to the bucket. The tubing is for the most part flexible, except for the part that you put into the carboy, which is hard plastic (also called a racking tube).
One of the most important tools to have is a thermometer. You are going to need this so that you will know when to add ingredients to a boil or to a cooled mixture. You may also want, but can get by without, a hydrometer. The hydrometer will give you starting gravity for your beer and then a final gravity. You will want the gravities for a couple of reasons. The first you will be able to tell when the fermentation process is done. The second reason is so that you can figure out the alcohol content of your beer.
The last thing you are going to need is a bottle capper and caps. If you have been thinking of brewing your own beer then hopefully you have been collecting bottles. Just make sure the bottles are the type with the pop off tops not screw off.
Brewing your own beer can be enjoyable. Eventually you will want to play around making different kinds of beers and using different ingredients. The only way to get into it is to jump in and start. Just remember that mistakes will happen and you can’t get upset if something doesn’t go just the way you expected.
