Creating Your Home Brewery

Before we started our adventures in home brewing beer, most of us had visions of shiny copper kettles and large wooden barrels taking up most of our kitchens bubbling and boiling as we brought to life our latest homebrew.

I hope this doesn't disappoint you, but the reality isn't much like that at all. Mankind has moved beyond the use of copper and wood to make and store beer and now relies on aluminum, steel, and food grade plastics. And while the new equipment doesn't have the same cool look as the old, it is much easier to keep clean, doesn't take up nearly as much space, and produces a better home brewing experience.

As you begin your homebrew adventures, don't lose sight of the fact that we all were beginners once and didn't have all the equipment we do now. I urge you not to feel compelled to go buy everything at once. Take your time and proceed at whatever pace is comfortable for you. Remember, homebrewing is supposed to be a fun and relaxing hobby. Don't turn it into an arms race where you always have to have bigger and better stuff.

Having said that, where should you start?

Not surprisingly, there is a minimum amount of stuff you will need to successfully brew beer. Many, if not most, homebrewing equipment shops offer starter brew kits that have all the basics needed to get started. These kits run the range from barely sufficient to absolutely top of the line. Prices begin under $100 and can go north of $400 pretty easily.

These kits will all have the basic stuff needed and some of the more expensive will include books of recipes, instruction DVDs, and more which will drive up the price.

One thing that many starter kits do not include is bottles to put your new homebrew in. And not just any bottles will do, you need the older style bottles whose caps do not screw on. Interestingly, most brew kits will include the bottle capping tool and the bottle caps.

My advice is to start your search in your local phonebook under either "beer" or "hobbies". If you find a local shop, you have the opportunity to see what you will be purchasing and ask questions about what options you might have. If you don't have a local store, and many folks don't, then it's time to start the on line search. Even a quick Google search for "brew kits" returns something like a million results.

Take your time, make your choices depending on your individual budget, and don't overbuy stuff until you are more confident in what you need and, above all. HAVE FUN!