Equipment To Get Started

The first thing you will need is an Equipment Starter Kit for either wine, beer or cider. These kits contain all the necessary equipment (fermenting vessels etc). You may need to collect empty bottles, and in the colder months of the year, a heating belt (brewbelt) will be required to keep the temperature of your brew high enough for the yeast to go to work.

Next you will need a wine/beer/cider ingredient kit. These kits contain the raw ingredients (malt extract, grape juice etc) that you are going to ferment. They also contain yeast and any other ingredients you will need. The beer equipment starter kits usually come with a beer kit, but the wine starter kits usually do not have a wine kit included.

Some kits require the addition of sugar. You will get a better result if you use Brewing Sugar (Ingredients and Chemicals Section) instead. For beer, Malt Extract or Spraymalt (also in the Ingredients Section) can be used instead of sugar to give a much better quality beer. Generally, these sugar replacements should be used for the better quality beers (such as the mid range and top range Coopers beer kits).

If you are going to make spirits and liqueur, you will also need to go to the Spirits and Liqueur Kits section and purchase a HBW Liqueur Starter Kit which contains all the equipment you will need to make 5 litres of liqueurs.

http://homebrewwest.ie Bringing real value to Irish homebrewing