Brewing at Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing the Essential Supplies

Do you enjoy the way a cold beer makes you feel after a long, hard day at work? Do you long for the effervescent, golden concoction that soothes all of your concerns and offers you and your companions the ideal blend of pastime and enjoyment? If this is the case, you may want to consider brewing your beer at home.

Homebrewing has become increasingly popular in recent years because of an increase in resources, improvements in equipment, and a strong feeling of community. Technology has also contributed to the rise in popularity of homebrewing. New machines appear to be entering the market at a quick pace, each touting the potential to create wonderful, distinctive craft beer flavours with the addition of pre-packaged ingredients and a few judicious button pushes.

But, when it comes to buying home brewing supplies, there are a few things you need to think about. If you’re starting from scratch, the following guidelines might give you a hand in buying the right supplies as there are plenty of opportunities to spend money and end up with something you hardly use or is just not right for you.

Find a Reliable Home Brew Shop

According to experts, if you’re planning to make a good beer at home you will only need two things: patience and a good supplier. Therefore, up your homebrewing game by shopping from a reputable and well-stocked home brew store that has the largest range of distilling supplies available. And, while there are no hard and fast rules about where to shop, supporting your local homebrew shop is always a nice thing to do. But, even here, some options are better than others.

When on the hunt for a good home brew shop, look for ones that have excellent customer service, a huge selection of equipment and ingredients, and often offer the lowest price available. Also, equally great options are those retailers that offer a lot of promotions and sales throughout the year that can help you get homebrew equipment upgrades at a cheaper price than you would normally spend elsewhere.

On the other hand, purchasing your starter kits online is also a valuable shopping option. Take some time to explore and determine which option is most suitable for your brewing desires and requirements. And remember, you can choose more than one.

Although one of the most popular ways of shopping is online, not all retailers found on the internet and reviewed as good are good enough. So, when choosing the one that will best suit your requirements, look for those that offer full customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These stores should reply quickly to your rookie questions.

Moreover, what’s the point of ordering something and waiting for it so long that you almost forget what you’ve got? Therefore, shop from that online home brew store that offers fast delivery, same-day delivery will be ideal, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. These guys have you covered.

Don’t Hesitate to Ask the Shop Staff for Advice

This is where going to a shop comes in handy, especially if you’re new to home brewing. If going to your local homebrew shop makes you feel perplexed by everything on the shelf, you can ask for help from the staff, and 30 minutes later, you will be at home brewing a pale ale using extracted crystal malt and entire hops. The staff can also show you how to brew the beer using straining/hop bags and the stock pot so that you don’t need to buy as much equipment.

Shop Wisely

If you visit any home brewing forums, you’ve probably seen folks write about where to get a good bargain. Large equipment and boilers, in particular. Some shops are better than others for finding deals, and shopping around from time to time allows you to keep more money in your pocket to spend on other things.

Buying in bulk is also an excellent method to save money; for example, many home brewers would buy 25kg bags of pale malt because they know that it will be the main ingredient in the majority of their beers. Even if you don’t use all of it, malt can be stored for a long time without spoiling, particularly if it is kept in a cool, dry place. It means you won’t have to run out and buy more every time you want to brew.

Look for Freshness When Choosing the Ingredients

When purchasing home brewing supplies, you want to ensure that the ingredients are as fresh as possible. A beer brewed with fresh ingredients will taste far superior to one made with stale ones. In certain ways, you can verify this for yourself by going to your local home brew shop; most ingredients have a date on them, whether it’s a packaging date or a use-by date. If the tin of malt extract on the shelf is dusty and the label is faded from the sun, it’s usually best not to buy it.

Yeast is a very crucial item to double-check the expiration date on. The vitality of the yeast begins to decline the moment it is packaged (liquid yeasts in particular). And, buying yeast before it expires is essential for producing high-quality beer. You don’t want to spend your time and money on a batch that will turn out sub-par because the yeast is too old.

Think Long-Term When Shopping

Short-term savings are not always the greatest way to shop. If you are purchasing equipment, such as a boiler, spending that little bit extra to obtain a step up on the budget may be the best option. When you think about it, spending a bit more on a boiler that will last for years rather than buying a cheap one that may need to be replaced in a few months will save you money in the long run.

Another point to make here is that many people put off brewing all grain because of the initial investment to acquire all of the necessary equipment. When you’re playing the long game, however, buying grain is less expensive than extract and allows you to brew whatever you want.