Category:Beer equipment

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The equipment used in homebrewing ranges from simple household items to ingenious homemade gear to commercially-produced equipment, all designed to meet the needs of home brewers from the most humble to the most affluent.
The most basic peices of equipment needed to make beer at home are a pot or kettle and a long-handled spoon for stirring. Pots designed for use on a range or a propane or natural gas burner may be made of stainless steel, aluminum, or enameled steel. You can even use plastic buckets with sealed electrical heating elements installed. The most useful kettles are those with a minimum capacity of at least twelve quarts, and may range up in size to 30, 40, even 120 gallons or more. But the most common sizes among home brewers are those ranging from twelve to sixty or so quarts.

The brewing equipment can be classed into 3 main groups.

• Wort Production
• Boiling Equipment
• Fermentation Equipment

Brewing kits

Different equipment is required for the different methods of brewing; the more involved methods generally require additional equipment.

Beginning brewers can purchase extract brewing kits which typically contain two 6.5 gallon food grade buckets, a lid with a hole and grommet, a spigot which attaches to one of the buckets, an airlock, a length of vinyl tubing, a hydrometer, and a bottle capper.

As the complexity of the brewing process increases, additional equipment such as glass carboys, mash tuns, lauter tuns, and heat sources can be added.

Some all grain brewers have their brewing equipment assembled onto a Brewing Sculpture, whilst other leave there kit as separate components allowing them more flexibility in how and where they brew.

Hot Liquor Tun

A simple vessel for heating and storing the hot liquor (water) required for mashing and sparging the grain.

Mash/Lauter Tun

Mash Tun

• A vessel to hold the grain and water at the required temperature(s) to allow the starch in the grain to be converted by enzymes to sugar.

Lauter Tun

• A vessel to rinse the sugar from the grains. Basically a strainer. The Lauter Tun can be the same vessel as the Mash Tun

Mash/Lauter Tun Parts

Converted Cooler

converted cooler

A cooler makes an ideal mash/lauter tun for the Homebrewer. It is easily machined, water tight and any but the cheapest cooler will hold the mash within the required temperature for the required time. The cooler can be used without modification but for ease of use a few small additions will turn it in to an efficient mash tun. A strainer and a tap are the most useful additions. The strainer can be plastic/copper manifold or a simple stainless steal braided pipe cover.

Converting a cooler to a mash tun

Brew Pot

• Stainless Steel The chosen material for many brewers due to ease of cleaning, strength and durability. It is more difficult to machine and modify than Aluminum. The thermal conductivity of stainless steel is 8.09-8.11BTU/(hr-ft-*F) depending on the alloy.
• Aluminum Lightweight, cheap, easy to machine. There are always discussion on the safety and durability but there seems to be no strong evidence of any problems. Used by many brewers with good results. Caustic products should not be used for cleaning and the pot should not be scrubbed bright. Another advantage of aluminum is it's thermal conductivity is much higher than stainless steel's at 136BTU/(hr-ft-*F).
• Enameled Steel Usually cheap and easy to find although more common in sizes of 1 to 3 gallon. Care needs to make sure if they are old that they do not contain lead. Care also needs to be taken not to chip the enamel.
• Keggle or Converted Kegs Made from converted brewers kegs. Durable and rust proof. It should be confirmed that they are not Still owned by a brewery. The top is cut out and couplers or nipples welded in for spigots and other accessories.
• Electric Boiler

Heat Sources

Stove Top Range - Electric

The method of choice (or, of last resort) for many a new brewer and apartment-dweller. Most electric ranges are acceptable to reach a rolling boil with a partial boil. However, once a brewer decides to go All-Grain, which requires full boils, most electric ranges are woefully inadequate. In this case, it can take over an hour to heat the wort to boiling, and keeping a rolling boil going is exceedingly difficult.

Stove Top Range - Gas

While generally better than electric ranges, the typical residential gas range is still less than optimal for full boils.

Propane Burner

Widely available from homebrew supply shops, DIY superstores, and various online retailers, propane burners are the weapon of choice for many brewers. Available in different BTU ranges, these burners are typically standalone units that the user hooks up to a standard gas-grill-type propane tank. The heat output from most propane burners is usually adequate for partial and full boils. Some Brewers have had success with burners rated at 30,000 BTU for five Gallon Boils, Others prefer to go for 200,000 BTU units.

Turkey Fryer

The "poor-man's propane burner". In the month or so preceding Thanksgiving each year, many retailers (see: Wal-Mart, Target) stock Turkey Fryer Kits, generally for drunken rednecks hell-bent on burning down their trailers on thanksgiving. The units are propane-fired, like the propane burner, but typically do not have the BTU ratings of standalone propane burners. Often, the kits come with thermometers and aluminum kettles, which serves as an added bonus for the cost-conscious homebrewer. These units, while typically in the 55,000-BTU range, are adequate for full 5 gallon boils, and are the poor homebrewer's friend. Turkey fryers are not readily available outside of the USA.

Electric Heating Element

These can be of several types. Electric kettle elements, Immersion heater elements are designed to be in contact with the liquid to be heated, cleaning and scorching the wort can be an issue with this type of element. Some boilers have the heating element under a false bottom and is not in contact with the liquid.

Natural Gas Burner

A heating element consisting of multiple jets through which natural gas is distributed and ignited. Most commonly found on kitchen stove tops or outdoor grills designed to use natural gas. Kitchen gas ranges and outdoor grill side burners average less than 20,000 BTUs, making them unsuitable for homebrewing operations larger than about 3 gallons. Less common, but more well suited to homebrewing, are larger natural gas burners with outputs as high as 200,000 BTUs available through outdoor grill suppliers and specialty shops.

Steam

RIMS

HERMS

A Heat Exchanged Recirculating Mash System (HERMS) is an all grain beer brewing system designed to accurately achieve and maintain the temperature of the mash during the entire conversion process. It consists of a mash tun, hot liquor tank, heat exchanger, pump, and boil kettle. Typically, water is heated in the mash tun to the desired strike temperature while sparge water is heated in the hot liquor tank. A heat exchanger, often just a simple copper coil, is immersed in the hot liquor tank, thus giving the hot liquor tank dual roles: heating the sparge water as well as the heat exchanger.
After doughing-in, the mash is slowly recirculated through the heat exchanger in the hot liquor tank via a pump and filter/false bottom to contain the grain within the mash tun, such that only the mash water is recirculated. The temperature of the mash is regulated by changing the temperature in the hot liquor tank. Constant recirculation sets the grain bed for sparging and provides a gentle stirring action that promotes even heating and high extract efficiency.
Once conversion is complete, the hot liquor tank assumes the role of providing sparge water, and the wort is drained/sparged from the mash tun into the boil kettle.

Cooling Devices

After boiling, wort needs to cooled to a suitable temperature for pitching yeast. It needs to be done as quickly as possible for a number of reasons including reduction of DMS, limit exposure to potential infections, and assist in cold break. Several devices available to the home brewer, including both commercially manufactured and home made, are used in this important step. Bobby M 14:28, 12 February 2007 (CST)

Ice

For the extract brewer, ice is one of the most economical ways to quickly chill wort. It is typically used in two different ways.

1. It can be used in place of top off water when one boils only part of the overall volume of the batch. Care must be taken that the ice itself is free of contaminants because it will become part of the finished beer. The brewer my pre-boil some water to sanitize and transfer it to a sanitized container (Tupperware, etc) and placed in the freezer. This ice is placed into the primary fermenter and the hot wort is carefully transferred onto it. The resulting temperature is usually within acceptable yeast pitching range.

2. The second use of ice is to make an ice water bath into which the boiling kettle is immersed. This method of cooling takes some time due to the limited surface area between the hot and cold liquid. Faster cooling may be achieved by gently stirring both the hot wort and ice water occasionally as long as the spoon used in the wort is sanitized.

Immersion Chiller

An immersion chiller is basically a copper tube that has been coiled so that it can fit inside of your brew pot. It is usually added to your brew pot 15 minutes before the end of your boil, thus sanitizing the copper. At the end of your boil, water is ran through the copper, extracting heat from your wort. *Be careful of the water leaving the chiller, it will be extremely hot for the first 5 minutes or so*

Counterflow Chiller

Plate Chiller

Tools/Accessories

Grain Mill

Thermometer

Hydrometer

PH Meter/Test Strips

Spoons

Vinyl Tubing

Pyrex

Fermenting and Conditioning

Many vessels can be used to hold fermenting beer. Common items range from plastic pails to stainless steel conicals.

Bucket

The most basic vessel is a Food Grade Plastic Pail. These are normally 6-7.5 gallons in capacity and have a lid that can be sealed. The lid has a hole drill into it so a airlock (or blow off tube) may be placed to let gas escape from the fermentation.

Carboy

Another common fermentation vessel, Ranging from 1-6.5 gallons these vessels normally have a 1.25" opening on the top. A drilled rubber bung is placed in this opening to accommodate an airlock (also a 1" ID tube may be use for a blow off tube).

Conical

An advanced fermentation vessel used in home brewing is the Conical fermenter. Made of durable Stainless Steel and ranging from 7.5 gallons to in excess of 30 gallons these are the preferred fermenter of professional brewers.

Fermentation cabinet

An insulated cabinet for keeping the fermentation temperature cool or at a set temperature. They can me made from a refrigerator or custom made from insulation material.

Walk-in Cooler

A dedicated room that is insulated and chilled.

Airlocks

Fitted to a fermenter to allow CO2 out of the fermenter but keep out contamination. Generally available in 3 styles.

Bottling, Kegging and Casking

Bottling

Kinda hard.

Much Easier.

Many beginning brewers prefer bottling their beer, as it requires a much smaller initial investment, and allows more portability if one desires to share their homebrew. 12oz and 22oz bottles seem to be the most commonly used, although 16oz and 500ml bottles are also somewhat common. 750ml Belgian-style bottles can be used as well, but they require corks, a corker, and wire cages to hold the corks in place when carbonation builds in the bottles. Twist top bottles are normally avoided, although some homebrewers say they can be used without concern about a proper seal.

Disadvantages of bottling include sanitization, which can be difficult with so many bottles. A typical 5 gallon batch will yield approximately fifty 12oz bottles, forty 16oz bottles, or twenty-five 750ml bottles. There are also risks with handling glass as opposed to a metal keg, which has virtually no risk of breaking.

Kegging

It is for these reasons that many homebrewers take up kegging, which normally involves transferring a five gallon batch of beer into a five gallon cornelius, or corny, kegs.

Advantages of kegging include the fact that only one container needs to be sanitized for an entire batch, the fact that serving sizes can be as large or as small as desired, and the ability to more quickly carbonate and drink batches in kegs.

However, the initial investment for kegging can be quite high, as it generally includes purchasing at least one keg, all the equipment needed for carbonating beer, and more than likely, a separate refrigerator to store and chill kegs. Also, transporting a keg is not as easy as moving a few bottles if that is all that is needed, although it can be done.

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Casks

A vessel for condition and serving "Real Ale" without force carbonating.

Mini Kegs

5 litre reusable kegs

Party Pigs

The Party Pig® is a self contained 8.5 liter (2.25 gallon) reusable beer package/dispenser.

Polypins

Low-cost beer containers for 'real ales'. Heavy duty polythene cube with combined cap/dispensing tap contained in a strong cardboard box. Usually used with a Beer Engines

Serving

Kegerators

A refrigerator for serving draft beer modified with tap handles, kegs, a CO2 tank and all of the serving and gas lines to connect it all. They can be built out of small mini fridges, regular household refrigerators, chest freezers and even commercial walk-in fridges.

Jockey boxes

Utilizes an ice chest and a metal coil to chill beer. Works like a reverse immersion wort chiller.

Beer Engines

• Beer line
• Push fittings
• CO2