Brew Day Equipment

Get everything out organized and ready to roll. This will make the day go better. Equipment, ingredients, recipe, tools.

Equipment you need for brew day:

Boil Kettle: capable of collecting 3-6  gallons / 11-22 liters more than your intended fermenter volume. Bigger is Better.

Mash Tun: You will need something like a brew bag (mesh fabric filter), cooler, kettle, false bottom, screen tube, or hardware store special. You need a place to soak your grains in hot water. You also need to separate the grains from the wort then transfer the clean wort to your boil kettle.

Propane Burner: You can boil 5G / 19L of wort on your stove top. Once you go bigger you need a propane burner.

Mash Paddle, Spoon, or Big Whisk: You need something to stir your grain into the water. You need to make sure all the grain is in contact with the water and there are no dough balls.

Thermometer: Test it, quick read a must.

Hydrometer: To test the original and final gravity. This will tell you how much ABV (alcohol by volume) your beer has.

Wort chiller: You need one if your doing more than 5G / 19L or want an easy life.

Kettle: The bigger the better. You want a ball valve. Your going to have a lot of strike water and wort to boil. 18 gallons is not that much difficult or different to brew than 5 gallons. My prediction is that you will get hooked like the rest of us and you will want to share your beer with your friends. I have never said, “I think I made to much beer, what am I going to do with all this delicious awesomeness?”

Water Matters: A filter is highly recommended,  a simple 2-stage filter does a great job. You can also buy some spring or reverse osmosis water.

If using tap water use a campden tablet! Chlorine and Chloramine are not your friend.

Sanitizer: Star San is so easy and effective.

Spray Bottle of Star San. 

Fermenter: There are so many different styles to choose from. I like anything that has a valve on the bottom. I mostly use the Fermonster and Speidel fermenters.

Air Lock: I like the 3 piece type they are easier to clean.