A large stainless steel pot is an important piece of equipment for boiling the wort mixture. One or two pots can be used, depending on the amount of wort to be prepared. Pots that are made from other metals, including copper, should not be used, as they may affect the taste of the resultant homebrew. Though they can be an expensive purchase, homebrewers should always use stainless steel.beer.

A glass carboy comes in several sizes, ranging from 3 gallons to over 7 gallons. When fermenting using a glass carboy, homebrewers should always use one which exceeds the amount of wort that is to be fermented. That is, if a 5 gallon batch of homebrew is prepared, it is best to use a 7 gallon carboy.

Carboys can be purchased at many homebrew supply stores. Sometimes they can also be obtained for a lesser cost from companies that supply office drinking water. It should be noted that it is best to stay away from plastic carboys. Some plastic carboys can affect the taste of the finished homebrew.

In addition to using a glass carboy, some beer recipes call for using a plastic bucket for fermenting a wort mixture. Homebrewers should ensure that the buckets they use are 'food grade', and have never been used to store anything other than food. They should also ensure that the bucket comes with a sealable lid. Most sealable lids have a rubber gasket that sits within the rim of the lid. The gasket provides an airtight seal.

Sometimes food-grade buckets can be obtained from bakeries and grocery stores. Many of the cake mixes and other baking powders that bakeries use come in plastic food grade buckets. I have had a lot of success obtaining food grade buckets from bakeries and supermarkets, which in the long-run, have saved a lot of money.Newcastle.

A fundamental must when homebrewing, all equipment, utensils, surfaces, tubing, bottles, and vessels must be properly sanitized before use and during preparation. Sanitation is key to avoid any bacterial contamination that will ruin homebrew. B-Brite sanitizing powder is the brand that I use when homebrewing. Other alternatives exist, such as using a diluted mixture of chlorine bleach, however, I have found that using B-Brite has been the most convenient method for sanitization.

There are several varieties of airlocks available on the market. I have found that this variety has worked the best. All airlocks essentially allow carbon dioxide to exit the fermenting vessel while not allowing any air into the vessel. Airlocks work by creating a water-seal, much like elbow joints do in household drains. Airlocks are also an important must - as fermenting vessels should be completely sealed with the exception of the airlock itself. If an airlock is not used, there is a risk that enough pressure could be built up in a sealed fermenting vessel to cause a mini-explosion.

Standardized plastic tubing is also a must with homebrewing. It should also be carefully sanitized before each use. Plastic tubing will need to be used when transferring wort from a primary fermenter into a secondary fermenter.

Carefully and slowly using plastic tubing to transfer the wort should be emphasized - rather than simply pouring the wort mixture from one bucket to another. By pouring one bucket into another, there is a risk of 'aeration', which may allow too much oxygen to become mixed into the wort mixture, and hence provide the right conditions for bacterial infection.

All standard homebrewing implements - bottlers, clamps, spouts, etc, utilize the same gauge tubing. Like fermenting buckets, it is important that 'food-grade' tubing be used, rather than the tubing that is found at most hardware stores. It is best to acquire the proper tubing from a homebrewing supply store, rather than obtaining it elsewhere.

Hose clamps are an important must.

Hose clamps are used to regulate and control the flow of wort whenever it is being transferred from one vessel to another, or when bottling.

A spring bottler is used for transferring homebrew from a fermenter to bottles.

Most bottlers use a spring action, which, when connected via hose to a fermenter, do not dispense the homebrew unless the bottler tube has been depressed.

Using a bottler is much easier than using tubing alone, as it allows homebrewers to control the amount of homebrew that is dispensed into each bottle, while at the same time stopping the flow of homebrew when moving the bottler from one bottle to another.

As with other equipment that works with plastic tubing, most bottlers come in a standard size - that way they can easily be attached to the plastic tubing. years.

A bottle washer typically consists of twisted, rigid wire that has stiff bristles attached at one end. The bottle washer enables homebrewers to sufficiently wash bottles prior to bottling.

Dipping the bottle washer into a mixture of B-Brite and water provides sufficient detergent action, along with sanitation, to ensure that each bottle has adequately been cleaned prior to use.

Flip-cap bottles serve as excellent vessels when bottling homebrew. Unlike bottles that require capping, a flip-cap bottle enables homebrewers to fill each bottle with homebrew and simply close the bottles.  When using flip-cap bottles, homebrewers should ensure that each cap has a rubberized gasket affixed to the ceramic caps. Without such gaskets, the bottles will not attain an airtight seal - which without, could cause bacterial infection as well as disallow carbonation. As with carboys, plastic bottles should never be used. This is to avoid any contamination of flavor.

Standard bottles that require sealable bottle caps can be obtained at most homebrewing supply stores. They are typically available in amber, green, and clear glass. sMany homebrewers have differing opinions as to which tint works best. In the past, I have used combinations of all three, with the best success obtained from amber bottles.

Homebrewers should ensure that they obtain bottles which are NOT threaded, as they will not properly accept bottle caps when capping. As with carboys, plastic bottles should never be used. This is to avoid any contamination of flavor.

Hand bottle cappers are the most simplest and least expensive tool to use when capping bottles. Lever-type-action bottle cappers are also available on the market, however, they are significantly more expensive than a hand bottle capper.  Those who wish to try their hand at homebrewing should start with a hand bottle capper until they are sure that homebrewing is a hobby that they wish to pursue, and until they have determined that the volume of homebrew exceeds the convenience of using a hand bottle capper.

Unused bottle caps must be used when sealing bottles. Spent, or used bottle caps, should never be used, as the edges of spent bottle caps have already been crimped and cannot form an adequate seal with the bottle. Screw-top bottle caps should also be avoided. Bottle caps can be obtained at most homebrewing supply stores, and are very inexpensive.

For those who wish to label their bottles, label making paper is available at many homebrewing supply stores. Regular labels, such as those found at office supply stores, should be avoided at all cost. Because most homebrewers recycle their bottles, using labels not intended for homebrewing can be difficult to remove.

Some label papers can be loaded into laser and ink-jet printers.