Illustrated Beer Brewing Primer

Paul's Brewing Home Page
Illustrated Brewing Primer
Simple All Grain Brewing
German Pilsner Ingredients
Equipment List
Partial Mash Brewing Procedure
Fermenting
Corny Keg Rebuild
Racking
Reusing Yeast
Transferring Beer
Carbonation
All Grain Decoction
El Cheapo Mash Tun
Favorite Websites

Beer Brewing Equipment

Brewing requires a number of items that you will probably have to buy to get started. You can expect to spend $200 to $300 on equipment to get started brewing. For some equipment, there are a number of options. I have listed the equipment that I recommend to a beginner, if you find a different piece of equipment that works for you, that's fine.

Boil Pot

The brew pot should be an aluminum, enamel steel or stainless steel pot that can hold at least 4 gallons (16 quarts). A larger pot is nice to have but not necessary. I have the Wal-Mart Turkey Fryer set up, which includes a burner, thermometer and brew pot. This is a low cost way to get started, and it works well as a 5 gallon boil pot.

Cajun Cooker Burner

A burner and a propane tank will get you out of the house and avoid sticky malt spills in the kitchen. You can also use the kitchen stove, but I strongly recommend that you get a burner and work outdoors. Do not use a propane burner in the basement. My burner came with the Turkey Fryer kit. It had everything needed except a propane tank.

Thermometer

The thermometer should be a floating thermometer that can handle boiling temperatures. Candy thermometers will work, however a floating thermometer with a dial that faces up so you can see it is the easiest type to use. My brew pot lid has a hole in the top and a thermometer that fits in the hole.

Grain Bag

The grain bag is a fabric or nylon mesh bag with a drawstring or other method of closing it, that can hold at least 2 lbs of grain. The grain gets heavy when wet, so it needs to be sturdy.

Stirring Spoon and other items

The spoon should be long enough to reach the bottom of the brew pot, and preferably should be made out of metal or hard plastic. I use a large ladle. Originally it was just a little bit too short, but the handle broke off so I used some scrap aluminum bar to make a new, longer handle. A scissors is needed to open the hop packages. A grill lighter with a long extension is needed to get the Cajun Cooker going.

Wort Chiller

A wort chiller is a coil of copper tubing that sits in the wort (unfermented beer) and cold tap water is run through the tube, which cools the wort. The most important part of the wort chiller is the connection to your source of tap water. Typically they are either connectors that fit on to a kitchen sink type faucet, or a garden hose type faucet. Choose the sink that you want to use to cool the wort in, and make sure the wort chiller fits the faucet. You can make your own wort chiller, but there is not much savings over buying one ready to go.

Timer

A simple kitchen timer is used to time the 60 minute boil. Most kitchens will have one!

Funnel

A large plastic funnel is used to pour the cooled wort into the carboy. My funnel came from an farm supply shop and was probably intended for automotive oil or coolant. The larger the better, just make sure that the nozzle fits into your carboy. I put a bent wire or paper clip around the edge of the carboy opening before putting the funnel into the carboy. This gives a small opening for air flow and speeds drainage.

Carboy

A carboy is a large bottle. Typically the opening is about 1" in diameter. I recommend that you use a 6.5 gallon carboy, but only put 5 gallons of beer into it. This prevents most of the foam from getting blown off during fermentation. Foam blowoff can clog a blowoff tube and cause a beer "explosion"; not particularly dangerous but very messy.

Blow Off Tube

The blow off tube fits into the top of the carboy and is laid with the other end in a pail of water. This creates an airlock that prevents any bacteria from entering the beer during fermentation. It also allows foam blowoff to pass through the tube into the pail. You have two options:
  • a drilled rubber stopper that fits your carboy (usually 1") and fit a plastic tube through it, then connect some flexible tubing to the hard plastic tube.
  • a 1" outside diameter clear plastic tube of about 4 feet in length. Check to see that it fits into your carboy snugly. Avoid a tube with a lot of kinks in it. Some kinks are unavoidable.
I usually use a drilled stopper with a tube.

Small Pail

A small pail or bowl is filled with water and the blow off tube is laid into it as an air lock. One or two gallons is a good size.

Large Pails

I try to keep at least two clean 5 gallon pails in my brewing area. I use them for holding sanitizing water and holding and transferring wet stuff like the grain bag and wort chiller.

Siphon Racking Tube

Racking is moving the beer from the carboy to the keg after fermentation. The goal is to get the liquid but to leave the sludge behind. The best way to do this is to set the carboy up high, and the keg on the floor, and siphon the beer using a racking tube. I recommend a self priming racking siphon, like the Fermtech Auto Siphon.

Corny Kegs

A stainless steel 5 gallon keg used in the soft drink industry. I suggest getting a starter kit with a used corny keg. This comes with a corny keg, a regulator, gas line and quick disconnect, and cobra head (serving valve), line and disconnect. I would also get at least one additional keg. Used kegs are cheap and work fine, for help on how to rebuild them, see: Corny Keg Rebuild. The best deal on used kegs that I have found is at Adventures in Homebrewing. You should be able to find them for under $20. My goal is to have 10 kegs, because the more kegs you have, the longer you can condition your beer. It also makes it easier to brew for parties and still have enough left over for home use.

CO2 System

A tank and regulator, with hoses that connect to the keg. The regulator and hoses come with the kit recommended above. The CO2 tank itself is something you should get from a welding supply shop, or a fire extinguisher shop. I use a 20 lb tank which lasts at least 6 months or a dozen kegs. A 10 lb tank is a little easier to carry, while the 20 lb tank means you don't have to get CO2 very often.

Corny Keg Jumper

A corny keg jumper is used to transfer beer from keg to keg. It allows you to do secondary fermentation in a corny keg and then transfer the beer to a clarifying keg or to the serving keg. Make one up with two liquid quick disconnects and about four feet of hose. If you have ball lock kegs, you would need two of part #K013 and four feet of K025.

Carboy Brush

A brush on a wire to scrub the inside of the carboy.

OK, so you have your equipment and ingredients. How do you get started?

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Illustrated Beer Brewing Primer

Ingredients :: Equipment :: Preparation :: Steeping :: Sanitation :: Mash Out :: Add Extract :: Boil :: Bittering Hops :: Wort Chiller :: Flavor Hops :: Aroma Hops :: Chill Wort :: Remove Chiller :: Aerate :: Carboy :: Pitch Yeast :: Cap :: Cool the Carboy :: Fermenting :: Corny Keg Rebuild :: Racking :: Reusing Yeast :: Transferring Beer :: Carbonation :: Prost!