Equipment
For those starting out, the items in the table from Home Brew Online should be bought together to minimise shipping costs. You do not have to buy 2 bins unless you plan to syphon into a priming vessel before bottling. This method reduces sediment and makes bottling easier.
Table of required quality items (Jan 21)
| Item | Supplier | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 25L Fermenting bin with tap | Home Brew Online | £14.75 |
| Fermenting bin grommet 3 pack | Home Brew Online | £0.90 |
| Fermenting heater for cold rooms | Home Brew Online | £16.95 |
| 25L Fermenting bin no tap | Wilko | £10.00 |
| Stick on thermometer 2 pack | Wilko | £3.00 |
| Stick on thermometer single | Home Brew Online | £1.74 |
| 2 Pack Bubble Airlock | Wilko | £3.00 |
| Smart Airlock | Home Brew Online | £1.20 |
| Mixing Paddle & Spoon | Ebay | £6.29 |
| Digital food thermometer | Ebay | £4.19 |
| 100ml Trial Jar | Wilko | £2.75 |
| Hydrometer | Wilko | £3.50 |
| No Rinse Sanitiser | Ebay | £11.99 |
| 100ml Syringe and tube (Wort sampling) | Ebay | £4.59 |
| Syphon kit | Wilko | £3.50 |
| Bottle Capper (Inc 100 caps) | Home Brew Online | £13.70 |
| Beer Crates (actually milk crates :) | Ebay | £16.95 |
Fermenting Bins
The recommended 25l bin with the tap is ideal for bottling as it comes with a tap and bottler. The bin without the tap from Wilko is perfect for fermentation but note that the lid will have to be opened to take SG measurements. However, the listed syringe can be used to draw enough wort through the airlock grommet to fill the trial jar and will minimise the risk of contamination.
Another handy tool is an https://www.ispindel.de/|iSpindel but even with this device, hydrometer readings are still more accurate.
Airlocks
There are 2 airlocks listed. Both are absolutely fine but it's much easier to clean the smart airlock and is also very resistant to boiling hot water during top-ups.
Sanitiser
There are two main types of sanitiser, rinse and no-rinse. The difference is obvious but it's best to buy a large bag as this works out cheaper. The link in the table is a 1kg pack. Most sanitisers mix to 5L of warm water to 25g of sanitiser.
Bottles / Crates
- Plastic PET
These are food grade reusable plastic bottles with a screw top. - Glass crown top bottles Traditional crown top bottles. My personal preference as you can easily replace by buying 500ml ales from the supermarket. To remove labels simply leave in a bucket of water for a few days and most labels will slide off. Plastic labels can be hard to remove as the water can't penetrate so for stubborn labels, remove with a glass hob scraper in hot water.
- Glass swing top These work really well. Usually 500ml and you can replace the grommets. However, I had some leaks on these so went back to crown top.
- Bottles crates It's very convenient to keep your bottles in crates. When buying crates be very careful. There are different size 500ml bottles sizes so some of the shorter bottles won't fit. Milk crates will hold any 500ml bottle but won't always stack too well.