Essential Homebrewing Equipment
I’ve shared some tips for how to start homebrewing here, including links to all-inclusive recipe and equipment kits. I recommend an all-inclusive equipment kit to those that are just getting started in homebrewing. There is room for improvement with these kits for those that have completed a few brew days. I put together this list of essential homebrewing equipment required for all-grain brewing after much experimentation over the course of many brewing sessions, tailoring the list for small-batch brewing, specifically batches between one and three gallons.
I favor brewing beer in small batches for all of the reasons outlined in this post. Small-batch brewing offers a low point of entry into the hobby by repurposing equipment already found in your kitchen. Much of this gear also supports larger batch brewing, though some components (for example, the brew kettle) will need to be scaled-up.
Equipment listed below is specifically for brewing day. I’ll follow up this post with another one showcasing equipment needed for bottling and kegging.
Review my list of brewing terminology if any of the vocabulary below is new to you.
To support brewing beer in single-gallon batches, I recommend a pot with two-gallon capacity and a lid. This will serve as your brew kettle and is a critical part of your homebrewing setup because it is used during mashing and boiling.
You'll need a second pot for heating up water for sparging. I have another two-gallon pot I use but yours doesn't need to be this large, nor does it need a lid. Any pot with a one-gallon capacity will work.
I highly recommend a slotted, metal stirring spoon for stirring the mash and to use during sparging. I prefer metal over wood or plastic because it it easy to clean and sanitize.
A glass, heatproof measuring cup comes in handy during the sparging process.
You'll need a third vessel to use for lautering and sparging. I highly recommend a clear, food-storage container with volume markings printed on the side.
Link to 12-Quart Container and Lid
A large strainer is also essential here. This 10 inch model fits perfectly into the container and can easily handle a few pounds of spent-grain.
A digital thermometer is needed to measure the temperature of the mash, sparge water and wort as it is cooling down. I started out by repurposing my trusty digital probe thermometer on the left. It's a fine gadget if you already own one but the Inkbird instant-read thermometer is of a much higher quality and it is rechargeable.
A digital scale serves many purposes, including weighing out precise amounts of hops and yeast. For single-gallon batches, you may only need a few grams of hops at a time. The scale on the left served me well in my early homebrewing days. Eventually I upgraded to the jewelers scale on the right because it can accurately measure in increments of 0.01 grams. That level of precision is necessary when it comes to making water chemistry adjutments (more on that later).
Once you've cooled the wort, you'll need a fermentation vessel to transfer it to and an airlock. There are a few different options to choose from. Starting from left to right we have a single-gallon glass carboy, a two-gallon bucket with a spigot and a 1.4 gallon wide-mouth jar. Each has its advantages and disadvantages which I'll cover in a later post.
The two-gallon bucket fermenter I use was a custom build. MoreBeer offers a slightly larger pre-assembled version here:
Link to 2.5 Gallon Fermenter With Lid & Spigot
The wide-mouth jars are available in plastic and glass. I prefer plastic but will link to both:
You'll also need tubing to connect to the end of the spigot on the fermenter and to use for 'blow off' during the inital phases of fermentation. I recommend a 3 foot length of 3/8 inch inner-diameter tubing.
If your fermentation vessel of choice is a glass carboy then I highly recommend a few additional items that will make your life easier:
A 10 inch Funnel and Funnel Screen to use when transferring wort into the carboy.
A mini-Auto-Siphon and a 3 foot length of 5/16 inch inner-diameter tubing for transferring finished beer out of the carboy
A Long-Handled Brush for cleaning the carboy once beer has been transferred out of it.
Santizing solution is mandatory, especially when your wort has cooled down to yeast-pitching temperature. I use Star San's concentrated product and also recommend keeping some pre-made sanitizer solution on hand in a spray bottle.
Some optional additional equipment
I recommend using a Hop Spider / Filter (pictured on the left) when adding hops to wort in the kettle. The hop spider will keep hop particles out of your wort.
For dry-hoppng, I recommend using small muslin bags and sous-vide magnets.
The equipment pictured here will enable you to start on some basic water chemistry adjustments. Water chemistry is a big topic that deserves its own post. In the meantime, think of water chemistry adjustments as you would when you season food with salt. Your food tastes fine without it but with the salt, it tastes like a better version of itself. Water chemistry adjustments are like for beer. Your beer will generally be fine without them but treating your water will really enable you to finely 'tune' your beer's flavor.
Campden Tablets are used by brewers and wine makers as sterilants and also to remove chlorine from brewing water. This is the easiest adjustment to make and I do it with every single beer I make.
A pH Meter will allow you measure the acidity of your mash, which can then be adjusted by adding lactic acid using a small syringe
While not technically a water-chemistry adjustment, I lump Whirlfloc tablets here as they are added to wort during the boiling process to help promote clarity in the finished beer.