Equipment: Part 1

Welcome back! Today and tomorrow I will be showing you the equipment we have been using. I've taken some pictures and hopefully this will give you an idea of what kinds of stuff it takes to make beer! After covering equipment, the following post will be an introduction to the brewing process and I'm hoping that this equipment guide will be a useful aid for understanding the basic brewing method.

First up: Carboys

A carboy is an enormous glass jug, much like a glass version of the jugs used in water coolers in offices around the world. The one pictured to the left is a 5-gallon carboy. We have stuck a basic thermometer onto it so we can see at what temperature our beer is fermenting. We have three carboys, two 5-gallon carboys and one 6.5-gallon carboy.

The 6.5-gallon carboy is used for primary fermentation while the two 5-gallon carboys are used for secondary fermentation. See the next posts for more on fermentation.




Airlocks/Blow-off Tubes

An airlock is the strange looking device shown on to the right. The kind we use is a 3-piece airlock consisting of the main housing, the bell-shaped piece inside, and the cap that has a number of small holes punched around the rim. The purpose of the airlock is to allow carbon dioxide created during the fermentation process to escape the carboy, thereby relieving pressure inside the carboy, without allowing any oxygen in.

You fill the main housing with about an inch of water, place the bell on top of the interior tube, and snap the cap on top. As carbon dioxide is pushed into the airlock, it bubbles through the water and out the top of the cap. This video has some brief footage of an airlock in action, to give you a better idea of how this really works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK-UoULKyTo

We have 2 airlocks. We also made a blow-off tube which accomplishes the same goal while allowing foam and particulate matter to escape through a larger diameter hose. This is used only if fermentation is particularly active. In the upcoming post on the beers we've been making, I'll have some images of a blow-off tube in use.

Brew Pot

A good, extra large pot is essential to the brewing process. Ours is a 7.5-gallon, stainless steel pot. While this has been adequate for our purposes, so far, we may eventually need a larger one when we decide to take the plunge into all-grain brewing. We also have a thermo-foam cozy (pictured below) that we made for this pot to help insulate it and keep internal temperatures constant while steeping specialty grains.

Carboy Brush
As you will learn in subsequent posts, sterilization of brewing equipment is essential to successful beer-making. This type of brush, with a right angle in it, can help clean fermentation residues off the interior of the carboy. This task is nearly impossible without such a brush.

Funnel

The last piece of equipment I will be discussing today is the funnel. A large funnel makes transferring the young beer, called wort, from the brew pot to the primary fermentation carboy (the 6.5-gallon one) a cinch! We bought one that has a high back wall so you can pour as fast as you want and not spill precious wort in the process. We originally had a nylon mesh screen in the funnel but have since discovered that the screen created more problems than it solved. Pouring through a funnel also helps to aerate the wort as it goes into the carboy.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the somewhat-exciting conclusion to our equipment primer!