A guide to home bottling equipment

If you're planning to begin bottling your own home-made beer from a home brew kit, there is no need to buy an elaborate set of equipment. Many suppliers will provide you with an all-in-one kit online which can be easily shipped to you in a few days. To learn all about home bottling equipment, read the guide below.

Equipment required

Large pot
This should hold at least 3 gallons or 12 litres, if possible buy a larger one as this will help to produce less spillage when making your beer. Tubing and clamp These are needed when siphoning the beer from the containers during the bottle filling process. A section of food grade tubing measuring around
1 ½ metres in length will be sufficient for this task.The bigger the diameter, the faster the beer will be siphoned. The clamps will fit into the tubing and so should be of the same size.
Carboy This is essentially a 5 gallon (20 litre) glass container, you could use an airtight bucket of equal size although a carboy is preferred by most home brewers. The carboy has a rubber stopper attached creating an airtight seal, essential in home brewing. Air lock and stopper Available sizes do vary, make sure that you have one that fits your fermenting container (carboy or plastic bucket). If you buy a complete kit, the correct size will be provided.
Bottle filler
You can buy bottle filling systems complete with tubing and clamps sized to fit your bottles. This type of filling equipment is an additional supply to the standard home brew kit. Thermometer
This important item of equipment needs to have a range of 0 to 100 C or
32 to 220 F. A good option is to use a floating thermometer. Sanitizing solution Beer, whether it is home brew or mass produced, is susceptible to infection or contamination. It is important to use a good quality sanitizer before and after the brewing process. Bleach can also work but needs to be thoroughly rinsed after use.

Bottling process

Bottles
Calculate how many bottles of beer your home brew will fill. 5 gallons will fill
54 x 12 oz bottles. Use high quality bottles that will seal correctly or your preparation will be wasted.
Bottle brush This piece of equipment is not essential but recommended to ensure that each bottle is thoroughly cleaned before use. Bottle capper
This is a hand driven capping machine to ensure that each bottle cap or top is firmly in place and correctly sealed. Bottle caps To complete your list of home bottling equipment, you will need an equal number of bottle caps as you have bottles.