The 101 on Home Brew Supplies

If you are into brewing your own beer, then you need home brew supplies and lots of them. Although many shops offer a variety of products on home brewing, you still have to discern which among the many homebrew kits fit what you need.

The first thing that you need to know is how much beer do you actually want to produce? If you want to make around five gallons of beer then your brewing kit must be able to yield this amount. There are brewing kits that would give you this and there are those that won't. Thus, when purchasing home brew supplies, make sure that you read the details attached to the items. It is also advisable for you to ask someone who works at the shop to help you if you need clarifications regarding home brewing products.

Second, your home brew supplies must include buckets for fermenting and bottling. Your fermenting bucket must have an airlock so that bacteria and oxygen cannot get into your supply of unfermented beer. It is recommended for your bottling bucket to have a spigot because the spigot makes it easier to transfer the beer from the bottling bucket to the beer bottles or beer keg - if bottles are too much of a hassle for you. You may also use kettles and various pots for brewing, boiling and mashing the ingredients for your homemade beer.

In addition to the above, you need a siphon in order to transfer your fermented beer from the fermenting bucket to your bottling bucket. Automatic siphons are good home brew supplies because they are more sanitary than non-automatic ones. Quality cappers and caps are also items that you should add to your home brewing kits.

Grains, malt extracts and yeast are also essential because they are basically the source of your beer. How would you produce beer without them? Similarly, if you want to add flavor to your home brew beer you need to put in flavorings and spices such as licorice stick, spruce essence and dried ginger root. Aside from these, hops such as Cascade Leaf Hops can also be used to add taste to your home made beer.

To control the temperature of your beer and therefore improve its quality and consistency, you need a thermometer that gives an accurate measurement. In addition, you should include a hydrometer in your list of beer making must-haves because this instrument keeps track of the beer wort's density rather than water density. By doing so, the hydrometer is able to determine if the beer is fermented enough for bottling.

Finally, you need sanitizers and cleaners for your beer brewing equipments. Even if they are not really part of your beer brewing supplies, they are obviously necessary to keep your items clean and reusable.

In sum, brewing your own beer can be a whole lot of fun... but before you can engage in it you must know the 101 on home brew supplies.