Complete Beginner's Shopping List for Starting Home Brewing

Staring at a homebrew supplier's catalogue for the first time is overwhelming — there are easily a hundred items on there and you need maybe fifteen of them to brew your first batch. Here's a realistic shopping list broken into what you genuinely need to start, the ingredients for a first batch, and the extras that are worth adding once you know you're going to keep brewing.

Core Equipment

• A fermenter with a lid and airlock (food-grade bucket or a PET/glass carboy), sized to your batch — 20-25 litres is a common starting size.

• An airlock and bung (grommet) to seal the fermenter while letting CO2 escape.

• A hydrometer and test jar, to measure sugar content before and after fermentation and calculate alcohol content.

• A large stock pot for boiling, if you're doing extract or partial-mash brewing on the stovetop.

• A long spoon or paddle for stirring the brew — food-grade plastic or stainless steel.

• A no-rinse sanitiser for cleaning everything that touches the beer after boiling.

• A siphon or racking cane to transfer beer off sediment without disturbing it.

• A thermometer to check wort and fermentation temperatures.

Ingredients for Your First Batch

• A beginner-friendly recipe kit — these come pre-measured with malt, hops and often yeast, and remove a lot of first-batch guesswork.

• A packet of dry ale yeast suited to the style (a clean, forgiving strain if the kit doesn't include one).

• Priming sugar, for carbonating in bottles, or CO2 if you're kegging from day one.

• Bottles — swing-top bottles are a popular reusable choice since they don't need a capper, plus enough caps or replacement gaskets if using crown caps.

Nice-to-Have Extras Once You're Hooked

• A second fermenter, so you can start a new batch while the last one is still conditioning.

• A kegging setup (keg, CO2 regulator, disconnects and push-to-connect fittings) to skip bottling altogether on future batches.

• A grain mill and mash tun, if you want to move from extract brewing to all-grain.

• A wine or fruit press, if cider or fruit wine is on your radar.

• A fermentation temperature controller, to brew reliably through hot and cold seasons alike.