Home Brew Beer - The Kit

I brew my own beer.  The basic principle is a two stage process. First stage is unpressurised fermentation to produce alcohol, the second stage is pressurised fermentation to produce bubbles.  The yeast culture consumes sugars in both stages to produce the desired result.  The sugars you use will influence flavour and mouth feel.

I'm putting down a brew today, this is just the first stage (producing alcohol).  This post will cover setting up your kit.  A second post today will cover putting down your first batch.  I will cover bottling (producing bubbles) in about a week.

Some people will say you need a $80 brew kit, Hydrometer, etc.  These things add cost, and aren't really necessary. Here's the kit I put together...

My kit

1 x 25L open top camping drums $16ea - Bunnings or camping store

1 x water sealed vent $3 - supermarket or home brew shop
1 x grommet for the seal $2 for a pack of 2 - supermarket or home brew shop
1 x long handled stirrer - supermarket or home brew shop (I was given mine)
1 x pull style tap $8ea - camping store (Bunnings didn't have these)
1 x 2L water jug (I just dug mine out of the back of the tupperware cupboard)
1 x tin opener (from the kitchen drawer)
1 x water kettle (from the kitchen bench)
Some bottles and caps (we'll talk about bottling options when we bottle)

Drum with water filled seal, drum without.

All up you have spent about $30 and you have all you really need.  I use second drum and tap for reasons I will explain when it comes time to bottle the beer, but you don't get these extra's in the $80 home brew kit.  You can also buy a self adhesive bottle side thermometer for about $2 from your supermarket.

Using a jug of known capacity, measure out some graduations.  I use 20L and 23L. Just use a nikko (sharpie) to mark the outside of the drum.  You will need these marks to add the right quantities of water later.

And that's it!  Now you're ready to put down you first batch of beer.