Home Brewing Supplies - Brewing Supplies You'll Need. - By: Juliet Wilson

In addition to all your home brewing equipment you also have to get all of the home brewing supplies or ingredients. Based upon what type or style of beer you would like to make will determine exactly what home brewing supplies you will want. If you are planning to make your own beer for the very first time you might like to look into getting a kit with all the recommended supplies.

What follows is a list of what home brewing supplies a standard kit will contain:

- Malt Extract Syrup
- Specialty Grains (some kits have this)
- Grain Bag
- Hops
- Yeast
- Priming Sugar

At this point let’s go over the home brewing supplies and give you a basic idea of how you will be making use of them.

Malt Extract Syrup:
The use of malt extract is something that can help make home brewing easier. Malt extract consists of concentrated sugars extracted from malted barley. It is for sale in either a syrup or powdered form. The syrups are around 20% water, which means that 4 pounds of dry malt extract (DME) is approximately similar to 5 pounds of malt extract syrup. Additionally, malt extract is supplied in either a hopped or unhopped variety. Munton & Fison, Alexanders, Coopers, Edme and Premier are all quality brands. When choosing malt extracts ensure that you look at list of ingredients to avoid any choices with additional refined sugars. These refined sugars are often put into Light Beer-style kits.
Anytime you are home brewing using unhopped extract you need to add 1-2 ounces of hops during the duration of the boil for bittering and flavor. Hops can also be added to the hopped extract brews closer to the conclusion of the boil to produce more hop character to the finished beer.

Specialty Grains:
Specialty grains are small amounts of certain types of malted barley which are utilized to improve your extract brewing. This technique doesn't require any special equipment other than a grain bag and gives you much more flexibility in making the wort for your intended style of beer.

Grain Bag:
The grain bag is used to steep your specialty grains in the wort in your brew kettle.

Hops:
Hops generally are an involved topic. There are numerous varieties of hops, yet they are often divided into two main categories: Bittering and Aroma. Bittering hops tend to be high in Alpha Acids (the primary bittering agents), commonly higher than 10%. Aroma hops are lower, approximately 5%. Some hop varieties can be in between which enables them to be utilized for either purpose. Bittering hops are put in at the beginning of the boil and typically boiled for an hour. Aroma (or finishing) hops are added closer to the conclusion of the boil and therefore are typically boiled for 15 minutes or less. A mesh bag, called a hop bag, is often utilized to help retain the hops throughout the boil and make removal of the hops easier before fermentation. Straining or removal of the hops before fermentation is suggested.
Some more advanced brewers also add hops to the fermenter for increased hop aroma in the finished beer. This is called dry hopping, but normally this is carried out while in a secondary fermentation.

Yeast:
The yeast is one of the most critical home brewing supplies. Without it there would be no fermentation and consequently no alcohol. In addition, it plays a considerable role in determining the flavor with the beer. Different yeast strains will yield unique beers when pitched in identical worts. Yeast is available in both liquid and dried types. For those who are a first-time brewer, dried ale yeast is usually suggested. Some leading and well-performing manufacturers of dry yeast are Yeast Labs, Cooper’s, DanStar, Munton & Fison and Edme. Steer clear of any no-name yeast packet that came taped to the top of the can of malt extract. You have no idea what it is in addition to exactly how old it really is.
Ale yeasts otherwise known as top-fermenting because of the fact much of the fermentation activity occurs at the top of the fermenter. Conversely lager yeasts work at a reduced rate and remain toward the bottom of the fermenter. The fermentation temperature is another fundamental difference. Ale yeasts require warmer temperatures, many will go dormant below 55F (12C), on the other hand Lager yeasts will happily perform well at 40F. Using lager yeast at ale temperatures 65-70F (18-20C) will result in a beer with mixed characteristics, a slightly fruity tasting lager, called California Common Beer. Anchor Steam Beer is one of the most recognized demonstrations of this kind of style.
If this is going to be your very first home brewing attempt it is likely you want to use an ale yeast, for the reason that it's going to finish fermenting more speedily. An ale yeast usually takes just a couple of weeks in comparison with a lager yeast that can take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to totally ferment.

Priming Sugar:
Priming sugar will be put into the beer after it's done fermenting. This is usually done while in the bottling bucket prior to the beer is bottled. This technique of introducing a bit of fermentable sugar just before bottling will give the beer carbonation after a week or two of conditioning.

Now that you have a concept of what kind of home brewing supplies are needed all you've got to do is choose a type of beer to make. When you have all of the home brewing equipment and supplies you'll be prepared to start making your own beer.

About the Author

So you have an interest in home brewing? Click for more details regarding how to make your own beer. Find out more about the home brewing supplies that you'll need to brew delicious beer in your own home.

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