Starter Kit Guide

Your First Setup

Starting to homebrew does not require a massive investment. A well-chosen starter kit provides everything you need for extract brewing, with an upgrade path to all-grain later.

Essential Equipment

Brew kettle — 5-gallon minimum for extract brewing, 8-10 gallon for all-grain. Stainless steel is durable and easy to clean. Aluminum works but requires seasoning to prevent metallic flavors.

Fermenter — 6.5-gallon food-grade bucket or glass carboy with an airlock. Buckets are cheaper and easier to clean. Carboys allow visual monitoring but are heavy and breakable.

Airlock and stopper — a three-piece or S-type airlock allows CO2 to escape while preventing air and contaminants from entering.

Siphon and tubing — an auto-siphon makes transfers easy and sanitary. Food-grade vinyl or silicone tubing connects the siphon to the fermenter or bottling bucket.

Bottling bucket — a food-grade bucket with a spigot for filling bottles. Also usable as a secondary fermenter.

Bottle filler — a spring-loaded wand that attaches to the spigot for filling bottles from the bottom up, minimizing splashing and oxidation.

Bottles, caps, and capper — reuse commercial pry-off bottles (not twist-offs). Crown caps and a bench or wing capper seal them.

Sanitizer — Star San or Iodophor. Non-negotiable.

Thermometer — a fast-reading digital thermometer accurate to 1 F.

Hydrometer — measures wort gravity to track fermentation progress and calculate ABV.

Budget Breakdown

A basic starter kit costs $80-150 and includes most of the above. Add $30-50 for your first ingredient kit. Total first-batch investment: $110-200.

What You Do NOT Need Yet

A wort chiller (use an ice bath), a grain mill (buy pre-crushed), a mash tun (start with extract), a kegging system (bottles are fine), or a fermentation chamber (find a cool closet).

Upgrade Path

After 3-5 extract batches, consider upgrading to all-grain: a mash tun ($50-100 DIY cooler conversion), a larger kettle ($80-150), and a wort chiller ($40-80 for immersion copper). Each upgrade improves your beer and opens new recipe possibilities.

Space Requirements

Extract brewing needs a kitchen stove and a closet-sized fermentation space. All-grain needs slightly more space for the mash tun. A garage or outdoor propane burner setup is ideal for full-volume boils.