Home brewing starter kits - which one is right for me?

So you’re thinking about starting to home brew.

Brewing beer is a fun and rewarding hobby that's been around for centuries. 

Where do you start?

The most popular option for beginners is extract brewing. It’s great when you are starting out, want to keep things simple or when you don't have the time or space for all-grain brewing.

In extract brewing, the brewer (that’s you!) uses malt extract instead of mashing grains to extract the sugars needed for fermentation. The extract comes in two main forms: liquid and dry. Liquid extract is a syrup-like substance made from malted barley and water, while dry extract is a powder made by spray-drying the liquid extract.

Extract brewing requires less specialised equipment than all-grain brewing, making it more accessible for beginners. The range of extract cans available makes it easy to experiment with different flavours and styles.

To get started you’ll need some key equipment - that’s where our home brew starter kits come in. 

To make it easy for you to launch your home brewing journey, we’ve created a range of options for th new brewer:

• Launch Pad - The Basic Starter Kit
• Lift Off - HomeBrew Starter Kit Package
• Apollo - Pressure Fermenting Starter Kit Package and
• Ultimate Starter Kit and Bar - with kegerator fridge

Launch Pad - The Basic Starter Kit

Is just as the name suggests - a starting point to launch your home brewing adventure. At $99 it’s a low cost option. A brewery in a box, the kit includes all the essential equipment to get you brewing and making good quality, affordable beer at home.  It includes: 

• 30L Fermenter - to make your beer in, with tap , airlock and stick on thermometer. 
• Hydrometer - for calculating the alcohol content of your brew
• Brewers Spoon - for mixing your brew
• Bottling Valve - for transferring your brew to bottles
• 30 PET bottles & caps - to put your beer in
• Morgan’s Sanitiser -  trust us you’ll need this

 The kit also comes with the ingredients to make a basic extract lager beer.

Lift Off Homebrew Starter Kit Package

This one includes everything in the Launch Pad bundle and adds some “nice to haves” to make bottling your beer a little easier - a bottle rinser and bottle tree for cleaning all your bottles (they are super handy).

You also get the ingredients to make something a little more special; our take on a Hahn Premium Lager.

Apollo Pressure Fermenting  Homebrew Starter Kit Package

Upgrade things to one of the newer techniques in home brewing; pressure fermenting! Pressure fermenting allows brewers to reduce oxidation or staling of the beer during fermentation. It can also speed up the fermentation process (and makes it easy to transfer your brew directly into a keg - if you want to go down that path).  

This kit includes:

• Apollo 30L Unitank - Pressure Fermenter for brewing beer in, Spunding Valve and Stick on thermometer. 
• Spundy - Compact Spunding Valve, a pressure controlled airlock
• Hydrometer - for calculating the alcohol content of your brew
• Brewers Spoon - for mixing your brew
• Stainless Steel Funnel - to make it easier to get your ingredients into the fermenter
• Inkbird Temperature Controller  and Heat Belt - to maintain the temperature in your fermenting fridge
• Bottling Valve - for transferring your brew to bottles, 30 PET Brew Bottles & Caps and a Bottle Tree and  Bottle Tree to make it easier to keep your bottles clean. 

Of course there’s the ingredients you need - this is our favourite way to brew, so we’ve chosen our take on Australia’s favourite craft beer, Stone & Wood Pacific Ale for the recipe in this kit. 

Ultimate Starter Kit and Bar Package

This is for the brewer that likes to go all in. Our kegerator fridge package, paired with the Apollo Pressure Fermenter Starter Kit, is your ticket to effortless home brewing.

Say goodbye to the hassle of bottling and hello to pouring beers at your place. We’ve taken care of the details and packaged up everything you need to start making great beer at home. 

What’s included? 

• Keg Master XL Premium Kegerator Fridge with options for 2 or 3 taps, two 19L stainless steel kegs, 4.5kg aluminium gas bottle and regulator. 
• 30L Snub Nose Apollo Pressure Fermenter to brew your beer in and Spundy Valve 
• Handy stuff to make brewing easier including - hyrdrometer, long spoon, stainless steel funnel, 5L measuring jug, stick on thermometer, 100ml Measuring cylinder and transfer hose (trust us, you’ll need it all)
• Cleaning Kit to keep all your gear clean (dirty gear = dirty beer) - sodium perc, foaming sanitiser, brush and spray bottle

The only thing you need to think about is what to brew to put on tap first at your place.

Ok! I’m ready to start home brewing!

But Which Homebrew Starter Kit is Right For Me?

There are a few key questions you need to ask:

Do you want to bottle or keg your beer?

How much money do you want to invest to get started?

The Launch Pad is for someone just starting out and not really sure where this exciting journey is going to take them.  It has everything you need to make and bottle a basic brew .Moving forward, you’re probably going to want to add a few extra bits and pieces to make your life easier.  For $99 it's  a great cost effective starting point - it’s where most homebrewers start.

The extra additions of the Lift Off Homebrewing Package make the bottling process easier (which will make your brewing journey more enjoyable).  If you’re in it for the long haul and you want to streamline your homebrewing experience so you can spend more time enjoying your beer and less time bottling it. At $199.95 it’s still great value for money. 

The Apollo Starter kit is best suited to someone who either already has a keg fridge or is looking to get into kegging.  While you can get started with bottles, to get the full benefit of  the Apollo pressure fermenting package it is best coupled with kegs. Your invest to get started is $499.95

The Ultimate Starter Kit and Bar Package  for someone who knows what they want; they want the best. If you want to go all in this is the package for you. Pressure fermenting coupled with a kegerator fridge make it really easy to brew and have your beer on tap at home.   Packages start from $1,819.95 - cheaper than buying a pub!

Need some help deciding which is the best package for you and the types or beers that you want to brew - we are here to help, drop us an email, give us a call or come in store to have a chat about getting started on your home brewing journey.