Basic Equiptment needed for Home Brewing
Monday, February 11th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
If you want to start brewing your own beer think before you start. You will need good Equiptment so your home brewing doesn’t end up in disaster.
In almost every culture of the world home brewing has been a long tradition. You should know that mankind for some 11.000 years has been brewing his own beer and other beverages. These days, although most still buy their beer, wine or mead from the local liquor store, many people rediscovered the ancient art of home brewing. Like with any hobby, before you start your home brewing, there will be an initial investment in equiptment and other things you need. If you still want to begin brewing your own beer at home, let’s take a look at the basic home brewing equiptment you need to get started.
The Equiptment
First and foremost of the home brewing equiptment needed is a home brewing kit. This is relatively easy to find, and relatively inexpensive. A brewing kit is essential, as it contains most of the items you’ll be using over and over again each time you brew up a new batch. Many of these items can be found in your local hardware store, while others may have to be purchased from a specialty store that caters to wine and beer makers. Checking places like eBay or other online sites may also help keep your cost down, as you can sometimes find used equiptment.
A kit can run anywhere from $90 to $400, depending upon what’s included in each kit.
At the very least, you’ll want a kit that contains the following:
. One five to six gallon glass carboy (fermentation jar)
. One funnel
. One racking cane
. One siphon hose (at least 6 feet long)
. An airlock for each carboy
. One six gallon bottling bucket
. One thermometer
The thermometer should have a range that goes up to at least 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). For the carboy, it is recommended that you stay away from plastic.
You’ll also need a large pot that can comfortably hold at least 3 gallons of liquid, with plenty of extra room. This is the brew pot in which the brew will be boiled. A good brew pot can vary in price up to $50, depending on the size and quality.
Though it can be easy to forget, one piece of home brewing equiptment that you can’t do without is a stainless steel spoon with a long handle. You’ll need this for stirring both the mash and the wort as it boils.
The Home Brewing Ingredients
This article is about home brewing equiptment and ingredients are generally considered not part of that, but they are too important not to mention them. Maybe you are lucky enough and there is a brewing supply store in your neighborhood, then it shouldn’t be a big problem getting these ingredients. But don’t worry if that is not the case. On the internet you can find many suppliers and their websites from which you can purchase both your home brewing equiptment and the ingredients needed for brewing beer.
The basic ingredients you need for brewing beer are:
. grains
. malts
. hops
. yeast
. sugar
. water
The exact measurements for the ingredients will depend up on the kind of beer you will be brewing. Most Brewers also have their own special recipes and add various herbs and spices to their brews so they get a unique flavor. Some common used additives are cinnamon, honey, and cloves.
For making wine or mead you use the same basic home brewing equiptment, but the ingredients are slightly different. Mead is made mostly of honey, water and yeast. Wine requires some type of fruit and added sugar. Again, as with beer, both mead and wine often have spices and other things added to them. For example, one recipe for honey mead calls for rose hips and lavender.
When you decide to start brewing your own beer it’s certain you’ll enjoy the process as much as you will enjoy drinking the end results. And don’t forget to share your home brewed beer with your friends, they’ll love you for it!
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