The Kit

Some of you may be wondering what exactly my starter kit came with - so here are some shots of what the kit came with, as well as some information of what the items are and their function for those who are interested.

First off, a book:

This is "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing," (TCJOH) written by _______. I've read only the first 70 pages or so - covering the section for Begginner's Brewing, and some of "Better" Brewing. (As a side note, I've read about half of "Home Brewing for Dummies"  which provides a bit more technical information than I have encountered so far in TCJOH, I'd still recommend TCJOH  of Dummies if you're wondering).

Here's the actual "beer kit", Whitewater Wit, that I purchased along with the brewing kit.

It includes:

Malt Extract - This is what gives beer its body, and contributes to much of it's flavor; it's also where the sugars come from that the yeast feed off creating the alcohol.

These are "adjunct grains" which are steeped in the malt adding additional flavor and body to the beer.

Yeast - This is dry yeast (as opposed to liquid yeast culture), it's also just generic brewer's yeast, as opposed to a particular type of yeast which would create much of the flavor for a particular type of beer; additionally, liquid yeast culture is more effective at converting sugars into alcohol - generally - as it is a living culture; dry yeast is comprised of dormant yeast spores that must be "awoken" prior to pitching the yeast, this does not always happen completely.

Hops - hops are used as a bittering agent as well as a preservative; bitterness helps balance out the sweetness of the malt and the preservative properties help inhibit any bacterial growth that could result from the incomplete conversion of sugars.

Priming Sugar - added to the "post-fermented" beer just prior to bottling; this is what creates the refreshing bubbly CO2 in the beer.(additional extract can be substituted resulting in a "purer" product).

Now, on to the actual brewing equipment:

This is a Carboy, in this case a Five Gallon carboy. The carboy is used as the fermenter, it's made of glass usually (or high quality plastic in some cases, for example "Better Bottle" Carboys).

A bucket...yep, high tech stuff, this is used primarily for bottling the beer. (It's advertised as the primary or "initial" fermenter in this basic kit as well - it's made with FDA-approved Food-Grade Plastic). But I'm not lagering my first batch so it will serve as part of the bottling system only.

This here is a siphon and Bottle Brush - the siphon is used to move the beer from one vessel to another. Pretty Basic; and the brush cleans the interior of the bottles prior to filling them with beer.

Next we have a Fermentation Lock, this is a very simple yet VERY important piece of equipment. It allows the CO2 produced during fermentation to escape without letting any air into the carboy. (the presence of oxygen only increases the potential for beer-destroying  bacteria to find their way into the brew and spoil the beer).

Hydrometer - this measures the "weight" of the liquid, or specific gravity, and is used to determine the alcohol content of the beer, among other calculations.

Bottle Capper - self explanatory, the capper puts bottle caps on the bottles.

Bottle Caps - just the regular run-of-the-mill variety (as opposed to the oxygen absorbing type); these will be boiled to sterilize them prior to bottling.

Finally, a few bottles with which to bottle the beer following fermentation. (a few more are required - two cases to be exact...it's very enjoyable to acquire that many empty beer bottles) they will be soaked to remove labels, cleaned, and sanitized prior to bottling.

[One item was not included in the kit but is ESSENTIAL to brewing, a brew pot. At this stage a brew pot is used for heating/mixing the malt extract and adding the hops, prior to fermentation. (Picture forthcoming).]