What it Takes to be a Brewer: Know The Right Brewing Supplies

Beer making is more than a hobby, even if you never sell a drop. It’s fun, and when you’re done YOU HAVE BEER. When you’re done, you get to enjoy different types of beer that you made from the comfort of your own casa. Before you start as a homebrewer, you of course need the right brewing supplies. Getting the right equipment first will save you from a lot of rookie brewer mistakes (and those can get expensive).

Where To Start? 

First, pick a location that has a low risk of beer contamination. Start your brewing by cleaning and then sanitizing everything. Sanitation is essential in homebrewing, especially in the cooling process. Prepare your yeast. Avoid letting your yeast sit in your fridge for months and give your yeast enough nutrients and oxygen for smooth work. While working on the boiling process, use a propane burner and a spacious area, probably separate from the kitchen (boiling hops can cause a big mess). Arrange the glass fermenters and learn how to check the alcohol levels. 

Homebrewing Kit And Ingredients

You can call a homebrew shop and purchase your home brewing kit and ingredients to start your brewing. Here are the basic items you’re looking for: 

• Brewpot

Brewers need a sturdy, quality kettle for boiling for long hours. Look for the size, material, construction, and features– your needs will vary depending on whether you mean to mass produce or just brew the occasional case. Going twice as large in a brew pot gives you more insurance against extra boiling.

In looking for the brewpot’s material, most brewers prefer stainless steel because it is easy to sanitize and is non-reactive. Choose kettles with sturdy handles– you don’t want to spill a pot full of hot wort!

• Fermenter and Bottling Bucket

Bottling buckets make a perfect fermenting vessel for various stages of fermentation. Brewers look for an airtight container that can hold an airlock with extra space to provide the fermented beer headspace while avoiding spillage.

Homebrewers usually use five to six-gallon carboy or food-grade plastic buckets as fermenters and bottling vessels. Some prefer using a carboy, but you will need #7 drilled stoppers if you choose a carboy. The advantage of using a carboy instead of a bucket during fermentation is its transparency. It will allow you more access to monitor the whole fermentation process. Monitoring the process helps you understand and look for the specific phases as they happen. 

• Airlock

This equipment is sometimes called a fermentation lock. It’s a small device mounted on top of your fermenter. Airlocks allow the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation to escape from the fermenter. This equipment also prevents oxygen, ambient bacteria, and other airborne contaminants from seeping in to spoil the fermentation process.

Oxidation is another risk during your fermentation process. Beer that has been exposed to oxidation tastes like wet cardboard or sherry or fruit, and you don’t want your finished product to taste like that (or you’d be reading a blog about cardboard or sherry brewing, right?). An alternative to the airlock is a blow-off tubes tuck into the fermenter with the other end in a container of sanitized water. 

• Racking Cane

A racking cane is a long piece of hardened plastic with a curved end. Racking canes are used during racking when the beer is transferred from your fermenter. After the primary fermentation, you need a beer siphon starter. The typical containers used to rack the beer into are the bottling bucket or a keg, the secondary fermenters. You can also use cases of clean non-twist top beer bottles that can be found in your beer store or sanitized commercial beer bottles for reuse. 

Brewing Ingredients

Many brewing ingredients depend on the style of a homebrewer, but these are the main ingredients you should not forget:

Malts – This brewing ingredient is the principal source for the fermented sugar of your homebrew beers. Barley is the usually used grain for beer production due to its sugar content compared to other grains. 

Hops- They are used to add balance, aroma, and flavor to your homebrew beer. 

Yeast- Brewer’s yeast is active bacteria that consume fermentable sugars in the wort during fermentation. Dry yeast is perfect for rookie brewers.

Water- An obvious ingredient but also the critical one. You might need to test the water’s pH, alkalinity, hardness, and flavor since all of these affect overall brewing. 

Bear Roots Brewing Co. Provides The Best Brewing Supplies In Vista, CA!

Are you going to start brewing? Bear Roots Brewing Co.’s got your back! We have recipes and kits to help you be successful the first time out! Our community can even help teach you how to brew. Contact us at (760) 726-4204 or send an email to nas@brbrewco.com!