An equipment list a starting homebrewery should have
In this post, we will discuss the equipment a successful homebrewery should have. But before we start, let’s discuss the premise of this post’s title.
You may find that much of the kits listed here may seem like everyday household items or general tools. Why call it homebrewery equipment? The reason is simple. Some of the things you need will are food grade (buckets, for example). Other kits you will want to dedicate to brewing beer. As you may have read here, cleanliness and hygiene are critically important, which sometimes necessitates dedicated equipment. Besides contamination or cleanliness, you do not want to influence your creations because of exotic flavours from whatever you cook and eat!
Without further delay, please find below a list of items every homebrewery should have. This list is for very basic brews, using either a partial mash/malt extract or a brew in a bag (BIAB) approach. All-grain brewing requires more equipment.
A list of equipment a successful homebrewery should have
- A large cooking pan (stainless steel or aluminium). You will use it to mash your grain (if needed) and boil your wort before fermentation.
- A long stirrer. Used to aerate your beer before pitching your yeast
- A fermenting bucket with lid. The fermentation vessel is where your yeast will convert your wort into beer.
- An airlock. Placed through a hole in the lid, the airlock will allow CO2 buildup (caused by yeast) to escape the vessel and prevent pressure buildup.
- A tap or siphon. Fixed to the racking bucket, it allows for you to transfer your beer into the bottle (or keg).
- Tubing. Used for racking beer into the racking bucket and transferring your beer into bottle (or keg)
- A bottling stick or wand. A stick used to fill bottles. It uses pressure in the hose to stop beer flow. A gentle press in the bottle releases the valve, allowing you to fill your bottle.
- Bottle caps, a capper and bottles. Assuming you will package your beer into bottles. Alternatively, you can use swing-top bottles.
- A beer ingredient kit
Some final thoughts
Some final thoughts to finish off this post. We have listed a beer ingredient kit. We would always recommend experimenting with small or cheap kits in order to get to know the process and how to use your equipment. Once comfortable with the process, you can find recipes for styles you like and try to get your own set of ingredients. Putting together your own recipe may be slightly more expensive, but it allows you to improve recipes that already give very nice beers.
As part of our research, we have asked brewing communities (on Facebook and Reddit) what equipment they think a brewer should buy. We will report on the results of our survey in due course. Watch this space (bookmark us!).
In the meantime, Brew on!
The brewingbrowser.com team
To learn more about brewing beer that tastes better, please visit and read our articles in the Homebrewing 101 series. Visit our partners at The Beerologist to learn more about brew science.