A Home Beer Brewery Of Your Own So your buddy down the street has started making his own beer, complete with his own label, and now you want to set up a home beer brewery of your own. Congratulations! You’re about to become part of a very ancient tradition. Indeed, brewing beer was a common practice even during the time of the ancient Sumerians, and from there the practice spread worldwide. And surprisingly enough, the process isn’t all that complicated. You will need a few things to set up your home beer brewery, though, before you start brewing your own beer. Equipment The equipment you’ll need to set up your new home beer brewery is pretty simple. A home beer brewing kit, glass bottles, a large pot, a bottle capper, a thermometer, and a long spoon for stirring are the basics. The brewing kit will consist of several things, the first of which is a large, five gallon glass bottle. These bottles can often be bought at wine-making supply stores, and aren’t usually too expensive. You may be tempted to buy a plastic one, but don’t! For beer brewing, it must be made of glass. The bulk of the fermenting process will take place in this container, and you will also need a funnel for transferring the liquid into it. A five gallon, food-grade plastic bottling bucket is the next item on your list of supplies. Make sure it has a lid. Fortunately, you can often find these buckets at restaurants, which will usually let you have them for free. Just take it home and wash it well. If you don’t have a restaurant nearby that has these types of buckets, again check with your local restaurant supply store or wine-making supply store. The next item on the list for your home beer brewery kit is a siphon hose, which is nothing more than plastic tubing. Make sure it’s at least six feet long, as you’ll be using it to transfer the beer from the fermentation bottle into the plastic bottling bucket, so it can then be placed into individual bottles. In addition to the siphon hose, a raking cane is essential. It attaches to the siphon hose and makes transferring the beer from container to container much easier. The last item you’ll need for your home beer brewery kit is an airlock. Once again, these can be purchased at your local wine-supply store. The airlock is essentially a rubber stopper with a plastic piece attached to it that allows the carbon dioxide to escape while keeping air and contamination out. The stopper should fit into the opening of your glass bottle. Without the airlock, your beer would end up turning into vinegar. Any type of glass bottles will do for storing your newly made beer, once it’s done fermenting. It is recommended that you avoid using the type with twist-off caps, however. They can let air get to your beer, which will ruin it. The pot you will need for boiling the water, hops and other ingredients (also known as the wort) should be as large as you can find. Ideally, it would hold at least three gallons of liquid with a lot of extra room. Either stainless steel or enameled pots are fine. The final items to complete your home beer brewery are a bottle capper to securely attach caps to your bottles, a thermometer that with a range that, at the very least, goes from 40 to 150 degrees F (4 to 65degrees C), and a spoon with a very long handle for stirring the boiling wort.
Equipment
The equipment you’ll need to set up your new home beer brewery is pretty simple. A home beer brewing kit, glass bottles, a large pot, a bottle capper, a thermometer, and a long spoon for stirring are the basics.
The brewing kit will consist of several things, the first of which is a large, five gallon glass bottle. These bottles can often be bought at wine-making supply stores, and aren’t usually too expensive. You may be tempted to buy a plastic one, but don’t! For beer brewing, it must be made of glass. The bulk of the fermenting process will take place in this container, and you will also need a funnel for transferring the liquid into it.
A five gallon, food-grade plastic bottling bucket is the next item on your list of supplies. Make sure it has a lid. Fortunately, you can often find these buckets at restaurants, which will usually let you have them for free. Just take it home and wash it well. If you don’t have a restaurant nearby that has these types of buckets, again check with your local restaurant supply store or wine-making supply store.
The next item on the list for your home beer brewery kit is a siphon hose, which is nothing more than plastic tubing. Make sure it’s at least six feet long, as you’ll be using it to transfer the beer from the fermentation bottle into the plastic bottling bucket, so it can then be placed into individual bottles. In addition to the siphon hose, a raking cane is essential. It attaches to the siphon hose and makes transferring the beer from container to container much easier.
The last item you’ll need for your home beer brewery kit is an airlock. Once again, these can be purchased at your local wine-supply store. The airlock is essentially a rubber stopper with a plastic piece attached to it that allows the carbon dioxide to escape while keeping air and contamination out. The stopper should fit into the opening of your glass bottle. Without the airlock, your beer would end up turning into vinegar.
Any type of glass bottles will do for storing your newly made beer, once it’s done fermenting. It is recommended that you avoid using the type with twist-off caps, however. They can let air get to your beer, which will ruin it.
The pot you will need for boiling the water, hops and other ingredients (also known as the wort) should be as large as you can find. Ideally, it would hold at least three gallons of liquid with a lot of extra room. Either stainless steel or enameled pots are fine.
The final items to complete your home beer brewery are a bottle capper to securely attach caps to your bottles, a thermometer that with a range that, at the very least, goes from 40 to 150 degrees F (4 to 65degrees C), and a spoon with a very long handle for stirring the boiling wort.
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