Start Brewing Beer

New to brewing at home? Possibly your New Year's resolution is to start home brewing? If so, our three-part series will be terrific for you. My how-to guide will take you through all the basics of home brewing from front to back like what supplies you'll need, how to brew & ferment your beer, not to mention how to bottle and age it.
contrary to everyday opinion, home brewing doesn't require you to splurge on fancy, overpriced supplies to brew your own beer.
Here's a checklist of what you'll need:
o Large Pot - would need to hold at least 3 gallons. Go even bigger when possible because a larger sized one will hold more, causing a smaller amount of spillage.
o Tubing & Clamp - to siphon beer from one container to another & to bottle your beer. A 5 foot segment of 5/16-inch ID (inner diameter) food grade tubing will do. The larger the diameter, the more easily you can siphon your beer. Make sure the clamps you choose match the ID (inner diameter) or OD (outer diameter) of your tubing.
o 5-Gallon Carboy - A carboy is in essence simply a glass bottle. A 5-gallon airtight bucket will also do, will also do the trick, but I favor a glass carboy with a rubber stopper because the airtight seal on a carboy has never broken on me (I actually have with plastic buckets).
o An Air Lock and Stopper - sizes will differ; you want to purchase one that fits your fermenter (carboy or plastic bucket).
o A Bottle Filler - be certain that the tubing & clamps are going to suit the bottler.
o A Thermometer - you'll need one with a range of 0-100 Celsius or 32-220 Fahrenheit. Floating thermometers certainly are a very good possibility.
o Bottles - 5 gallons of beer ought to supply nearly 54 12-ounce bottles or 27 24-ounce bottles so strategize properly. Don't cut a corner here, select high-quality bottles that aren't closed with a plastic twist-off top. You need the ones that need a bottle opener to open.
o Bottle Brush - Cleanness is very important! This isn't mandatory, but I recommend it and I generally advise taking every step to be sure your home brewing equipment is as sanitary as possible!
o A Bottle Capper - a hand powered apparatus to cap your bottles
o Bottle Caps - this is somewhat self-explanatory, but you will want as many caps as beer bottles. Moreover, nearly all beer caps will fit a lot of beer bottles so if you don't see any measurements on the ones you're buying then they'll likely work. You might want to double check in case there is a problem.
o Sanitizing Solution - Beer is incredibly susceptible to an infection or contamination so it's definitely important to carefully disinfect before & after brewing. You can also use household bleach though you will have to rinse thoroughly to avoid bleach contamination. I recommend iodophor or starsan. Personally, I use iodophor.
In the remainder of Part 1 we'll take you step-by-step through the separate ingredients you'll need plus take you through a synopsis of the brewing process. In the remaining portions we'll take you through home brewing step-by-step, but you'll have to stay tuned!

By: Jack Etach

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If you'd like to get the comprehensive article on the remainder of the brewing process, visit www.backyardbeer.com/2011/01/beginners-guide-to-home-brewing-part-1/. Visit often as we continue the series in more detail to give you all the info you need to become a successful home brewer!