| Many homebrew equipment suppliers sell bundled | | | | Drilled Rubber Stopper: A rubber stoppers acts as a |
| starter kits that can range from bar bones to top | | | | wedge when you insert the airlock into the hole in |
| quality all inclusive start kits. All these kits include the | | | | the fermenter lid. |
| basic beer brewing essentials, but some kits throw in | | | | Plastic Hose: The plastic hose is used for transferring |
| extra stuff like books, videos or other items to just | | | | your beer from vessel to vessel or from vessel to |
| inflate the price. | | | | bottle. |
| Before you buy a kit you should be aware of the | | | | Bottling Bucket: You will need the bottling bucket on |
| essential equipment needed to brew your first batch | | | | bottling day. The bottling bucket is also called a |
| of beer. The following is a start list of necessary | | | | priming vessel because you prime your fermented |
| items to brew beer. | | | | beer with corn sugar just prior to bottling. |
| Brewpot: Your brewpot needs to be a minimum of | | | | Glass bottles: Your bottles need to be heavy, thick |
| 16 quart in size. It is recommend to upgrade to a 20 | | | | and the returnable kind. Bottles with a threaded |
| or 30 quart pot for brewing. If your brewpot is made | | | | (twist-off) opening will not work, they do not seal |
| of enamel coated metal, make sure it contains no | | | | properly. You will need enough bottles to hold 5 |
| chips where it may come in contact with your beer. | | | | gallons or whatever size your kit requires. |
| Brew Spoon: Every homebrewer needs to have a | | | | Bottling tube: A bottling tube is a hard plastic around |
| spoon dedicated for brewing beer. A brew spoon | | | | a foot long and comes with a spring loaded valve. |
| needs to be stainless or HDPE grade plastic. It also | | | | Bottling brush: This is an inexpensive but important |
| needs to be long around 18 inches or more. | | | | piece of equipment. You need the bottling brush to |
| Primary Fermenter: The primary fermenter is where | | | | properly scrub the inside of the bottles prior to filling. |
| you pour the cooled wort shortly after you're done | | | | Bottle rinser: Bottle rinser is a peice of curved plastic |
| brewing. The vessel needs to be airtight during the | | | | that you attach to a faucet. This rinser is used for |
| fermentation process. A primary fermenter needs to | | | | rinsing bottles. |
| have a capacity of at least 7 gallons with an airtight | | | | Bottle capper: A bottle capper is used to affix bottle |
| lid. | | | | caps to the filled bottles. These will come in all |
| Airlock: An airlock is a tool that allows the carbon | | | | shapes, sizes and costs. |
| dioxide gases to escape from the fermenter. This is | | | | Triple scale hydrometer: A hydrometer is a glass |
| done during the fermentation process without | | | | measuring device used to calculate the density of |
| compromising the antiseptic environment. This setup | | | | your beer as well as the amount alcohol that the |
| lets gas escape without allowing any air into the | | | | yeast has made in your homebrew. |
| fermenter. | | | | |
