We’ve all been there. A special someones’ birthday is right around the corner and our minds draw a blank when considering a gift. Well, here’s a great gift idea that will be easy on the wallet and always result in a very happy ending, a home brew kit.

Home brewing your own beer is not a new concept. Folks have been brewing beer for as long as America has been a country and, in the 1970’s President Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing. The US federal law states that an individual may brew up to 100 gallons his or own beer in a year, provided it’s used solely for personal consumption.

Like everything else locating the right home brew kit can be a small challenge. There are so many variations online these days that it can be quite confusing. However, if you keep in mind that it’s not necessary to overpay for a home brew kit, you’ll quickly find the right kit at the right price. Home brew kits are a lot like automobiles. You can always purchase the fancier model, but be prepared to pay a premium for it. For beginners, purchasing an expensive home brew kit with all the bells and whistles might in fact be a huge waste of effort and money. Your first car wasn’t a Ferrari, so your first home brew kit needn’t be the top of the line kit either. An old Ford will get you from point A to point B just as well as a brand new Ferrari will. The old Ford has a set of tires, wheels, an engine and a steering wheel. Therefore, just keep in mind that a starter home brew kit will produce the exact same beer as one of those expensive fancy kits, it’s just going to be about half the price. Below we’ve put together a quick list of mandatory equipment when it comes to home brew kits, so here they are;

1. Food grade buckets, at least two, one with a tight fitting lid!

(make certain the buckets are HDPE food grade buckets)

2. Airlock

(a device that keeps oxygen out yet allows CO2 to escape)

3. Thermometer

(without a thermometer you won’t be able to monitor the temp of the wort)

4. Siphoning system

(either an auto siphon or siphon syringe will work)

5. Hydrometer

(you’ll need this to test the gravity of your wort)

6. Test jar

(you’ll need this in conjunction with your hydrometer)

7. Racking cane

(used to siphon your wort between buckets)

8. Sanitizer

(an important step in home brewing)

9. Muslin bags or cheesecloth

(eliminates the straining of hops and other particles)

That’s it! Believe it or not with this basic equipment you can easily brew beer in your kitchen. Now there are a couple of other items you’ll need to consider, but they aren’t normally sold with a home brew kit. Those items are;

1. A brew pot or kettle with a 3 to 8 gallon capacity

(a 5 gallon batch is the standard, so an 8 gallon pot is required)

2. An ingredient kit

(sold by the same retailers, this is your recipe)

3. Beer bottles.

(12 oz. or 22 oz. sizes, you’ll need 48 12 oz. bottles for 5 gals of brew)

The above ancillary equipment is not expensive. It’s usually purchased from your local brew shop since shipping bottles is expensive and bottle breakage during shipment is always possible.

Now, should you purchase your home brew kit from your local brew shop? Well, in short the answer is “compare prices first”. Local brew shops charge a premium for their home brew kits simply because they have tons of overhead. We’ve never seen a home brew kit at a local brew shop that was in fact a good deal. A a matter of fact most kits sold at brew shops are over priced. Again, nothing wrong with the over priced kits, brew shops do need to pay rent.

There are a number of online sites that sell brew kits at really good prices. One that comes to mind is TheAmericanHomeBrewer.com, another one is NorthernBrewer.com. Unfortunately, Northern Brewer doesn’t sell brew kits in all the different sizes, whereas with The American Home Brewer you can pick up a brew kit in 1¼ gallon, 2½ gallon and 5 gallon sizes. Northern Brewer, because they are such a large company, provides a larger selection of ingredient kits or recipe kits however, for first time brewers this can be confusing. The American Home Brewer carries about 20 to 25 different recipe kits and that’s all you’ll need for starting out. At Northern Brewer you’ll find over 70 recipe kits.

We’ve compared prices from most of the major online retailers such as Midwest, Northern Brewer, Bruhaus, Williams Brewing, E Krauss and The American Home Brewer. After careful research we can safely tell you the best priced brew kits are at The American Home Brewer’s website. This is an honest opinion which has resulted from many hours of research. We don’t work with or for The American Home Brewer, but we do purchase from them quite frequently.

So there you have it. Next time you’re looking for a special gift and you’re all out of ideas, consider a home brew kit. It’s a fantastic gift idea well under $100 and you’ll definitely be the most appreciated gift giver at the party!

Source by Richard Gennovase