So you want to brew your own beer

So, you want to brew your own beer. Fantastic! Welcome to the world of home brewing. A lot of fun is to be had, and hopefully, a lot of good beer is to be brewed. But where does one get started, and what does one need to get started? Here is a quick list of things you should consider when starting your adventure in home brewing.Extract brewing is the best way to get started, and you may even have some of the required equipment at home, so that is what we will be focusing on.

First thing's first, you need a good book and guide to get you started. I would recommend The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charles Papazian. This has all the necessary information to get started, including, equipment, brewing methods and recipies.

Another great source is a local homebrew club. Visit BeerTown.org for a list of homebrew clubs in your area.

On to the brewing

Now for the equipment guide. You will need a brewing vessel. Because this is where the magic starts. Most beer batches are 5 gallons, and it so happens that a 5 gallon brewpot is the ideal size. But you can go down to 3 gallons if necessary. Stainless steel is best material for brewing, but you can use enameled pots too. You have to be careful with these pots, as they cannot have any chips or dings in the enamel. Other tools you will need with the brew pot:

• big spoon
• thermometer with range up to 212?f (100?C)
• grain bags
• hop bags
• big funnel

Next on the list are the fermenters and/or carboys. For the primary fermenter, you have a couple options, material and size. I highly reccomend getting a 6.5 gallon glass carboy instead of the smaller 6 gallon carboy or 6 gallon plastic bucket. The glass is easier to clean, easier to maintain, and you can see what is going on in the fermenter. You will then need the secondary carboy, which is a 5 gallon glass vessel.
For each carboy you should also get the following:

• A carboy handle (Very Important - you don't want to drop these)
• a cap or stopper
• air lock and stopper
• stick on thermometer
• carboy brush for cleaning

Bottling and Transferring

You will need to get the beer from one carboy to the other, for this the easiest way is to use a racking cane, and siphon the beer from one to the other. I have an auto siphoning cane, and it works really well, and it's more sanitary for your beer, and it's not too expensive.

For bottling you will need a bottle capper. There are a few different kinds, ranging from a hand capper, to a bench capper. The hand cappers may be less expensive, but they can be disastrous. Therefore I highly recommend the bench cappers. They are easier to set up and easier to cap with.
You will also need tubing for the racking cane and a bottle filler to get the beer into the bottle. You will also need bottle caps. A 5 gallon batch usually makes 2 cases of 12 oz. beers, so you'll need around 50 a batch.

Other equipment

Here is the rest of equipment you may need to finish out your gear. Remember, talk to the homebrew store people, they are usually extremely helpful, and like to get new people started in the right direction.
For taking gravity measurements, you will need a hydrometer and a test jar.
Get a good cleanser and sanitizer for the cleaning of your equipment. I recommend Straight-A for the cleanser, and Idophore for sanitation. Remember, bad sanitation is the most common cause for a batch of beer to go bad.

The Recipe!

Now that you have the equipment, you need a recipe. There are a lot out there for all the beer styles. Papazian's Homebrew book is full of them, and it's a great place to start, so read through and find one that meets your taste. Also, I would stay away from the canned beer kits. Try recipes the use hops, a few grains, malt extract and liquid yeast. You will get a better beer and it's more fun this way. You will be glad that you did.

Other things to consider

Once you get started, you may want to invest in more carboys so you can have more than one beer going at a time. You may also want to get (or build) a wort chiller. The faster you get your wort chilled down below 80?F, the better, and these are great items to do so.

Remember, relax, don't worry, have a homebrew. It's fun and rewarding.