Brewing Equipment 101: The Basic Brewing Equipment for Making Your Own Beer

As a craft brewer, you know exactly how labor-intensive and costly it is to perfect your products. The equipment you have plays a big role in making sure your brewery produces only the finest offerings. If you’re just starting, it can feel overwhelming to think about buying all the necessary equipment.

However, in reality, it’s not that complicated. So long as you know what to get to start a simple homebrewing system, you’ll be well on your way to crafting quality brews. All it takes is knowing what equipment to get in order to lay the foundation of a successful brewery in your own garage. Here’s a simple checklist to get you started. 

1. Brew Kettle

When it comes to basic equipment, the trusty brew kettle has to be at the top of any list. You simply cannot operate your homebrewing system without it because it’s used to create wort. Using this simple device, you can heat water with quality hops and malt and produce the sugars that are fed to the yeast and fermented. 

Brew kettles come in different sizes depending on the amount of wort needed on a brew day. Choose one that comes with a temperature gauge and a valve in case you’re opting for an all-grain brew.

2. Fermenter

Once the brew kettle has done its job of producing the wort, the extracted sugars are then fed to a fermenter where the yeast acts on the wort and produces alcohol. The fermentation process takes place over weeks with the duration varying on the type of beer you’re producing. 

Optimizing the process requires a large enough container that allows yeast expansion, maintains an ideal temperature for fermentation, and enables you to adjust oxygen, pressure and pH levels to control the taste and quality of the product. 

A fermenter can be made from hardwood or stainless steel, but in most cases, natural wood produces unique flavors like they do in Norway.

3. Brewing Hoses

Your beer brewing setup won’t be complete without a system that channels liquids and gasses from one section to another. Beer hoses are essential on that front as they bring together these different devices to produce your product. These hoses are installed using NPT fittings and are made from durable material. 

When shopping around for these parts, make sure to look for FDA-approved hoses that won’t impact the taste of the beer while dispensing. Opt for non-toxic silicone hoses or UHMW, which is lightweight and easy to clean.

4. Bottling and Kegging Equipment

If you have perfected your brewing process, you might as well mass-produce your beer for the market. To do that, you must set up a delivery system that includes bottling and kegging the product. 

Since you’re starting small, go for a home bottler to fill up small batches of labeled bottles. In case you’re not planning on selling your craft beer to local businesses wholesale, you can store the beverage in steel kegs designed to preserve the flavor and consistency of your brew.

Conclusion

Whether you’re planning on starting a craft beer business or you’re simply an enthusiast, it’s possible to produce great beer for selling or personal consumption once you have these essential tools.