Essential Brewing Accessories Every Home Brewer Needs

So, you've finally decided!

After all those beer drinking sessions, thinking about starting your own bar with friends, making your own booze, etc etc..... you've finally decided to start brewing! Awesome!!

But how?

We do have a short Beginners Guide which you can find here.

In this post, I'll specifically list down the major home brewing accessories which you'll need to start, along with their use.

1. No Rinse Sanitizer This is non-negotiable item in your list. Any contamination can cause your brew to go bad with weird flavours. So, sanitizing every single equipment which comes in contact with your brew, is extremely important.
   

2. Yeast This is a no-brainer! The only question is "Which Yeast?" There are many varieties of yeast available for fermentation. Every single strain has it's own specialty. But, to start things, any Wine yeast works. (Make sure it has an alcohol tolerance of 15% ABV, so that the yeast can operate even if your brew becomes strong)
   

3. Honey Since, we are brewing Mead, honey is a necessity! Just like yeast, there are many different types of honey available in the market. Any honey works to start things off - just make sure that it's Organic. We do not want any chemicals / preservatives from the honey into our brew. As you get used to the basic process, you can experiment with all the varieties in the market!
   

4. Fermentation Vessel This is where all the action happens. Yeast is added to a mixture of Water and Honey, and fermentation takes place. The size depends of the scale at which you're operating. But again, a 4 gallon Glass Carboy is sufficient to start things off. It is preferable that you get glass containers instead of plastics. (This might be my bias talking, because I hate Microplastics!)
   

5. Airlock When the fermentation takes place, a lot of Carbon DiOxide is generated. If the gas accumulates inside the fermentation vessel, the increased pressure can even break the vessel. (there have been numerous cases of vessels exploding) So, it is important that this generated gas escapes properly. At the same time, we do not want any other contaminants to enter our vessel. Airlock does exactly that. An airlock is basically an outlet filled with liquid. As the CO2 is generated, it starts forming a bubble in the airlock liquid. As the pressure increases, the bubble get pushed out of the airlock through the liquid. And, since the atmospheric pressure is not enough to push some air through the liquid, no air from the outside enters the vessel Genius, right!?
   

6. Secondary Vessel This will be used for your secondary fermentation. You can transfer the liquid from the primary fermentation vessel into this, after the fermentation is complete. Many people prefer adding fruits or flavours in the secondary vessel to retain the flavour.
   

7. Siphon This is used to transfer the liquid out of any container, Either from a. Primary Vessel to Secondary Vessel or b. Secondary vessel to Bottles Ensure that the vessel which you are filling, is kept at a lower height than the one which you're emptying, and watch gravity do its magic!
   

8. Hydrometer This is one of the most neglected accessories. Hydrometer is used to measure the amount of alcohol present in your final brew. It measures the amount of sugar in your solution. Comparison between the reading at the start vs at the end, gives you an idea about the ABV % of alcohol. (since it is the sugar which gets converted to alcohol) . While it may not matter in the initial stages, it is a basic requirement to measure the inputs and recreate any recipe that you like.
   

9. Glass Bottles Mead is very similar to wine i.e. the more you age, the better it tastes. And it's better to age your mead in glass rather than a plastic! (Microplastics......aaaah!)
   

10. Journal Last, but definitely not the least! Imagine, you've brewed a batch and you absolutely loved it! Now, you try to recreate it, but alas! You do not remember the measurements. To avoid such tragedies, note down every single thing that you do while brewing, in as much detail as possible. Measurements, process, ingredients, ....... everything. This will not only help you recreate the brew, but also help you keep a track of all the different experiments you carry out.
    

And that's it! You can get all these things in your local homebrew store or even on Amazon. This is just a one-time expense, which you can use in multiple brews, and boy, is that worth it !!

So, get these items ASAP and Happy Brewing!

Cheers!