The HopTech Homebrewing Kit

HopTech sells only one equipment kit. It gives you all the brewing equipment you'll need to get started brewing. We have taken great care in the design of the kit and in the selection of components to make sure your first brewing experience is a happy one. But it is much more than simply a "beginners" kit. The inclusion of higher grade components means that you'll be brewing with this kit for many, many years to come. Yes there are less expensive kits on the market. But they only get less expensive by leaving out things you'll eventually have to buy (maybe even before you can brew) and/or including components that you'll be wanting to upgrade or need to replace after only a few brews. The low price of these "beginner" kits is attractive, but the problem with getting less or cheaper equipment is that what you give up in cost you gain in how hard it becomes to use and make good beer. We want you as a continuing HopTech customer, so we want your first brewing experience to be an enjoyable one, not one that is frustrating and turns out questionable beer. So we decided to just make one kit that really includes the works and does everything possible to insure a great batch of beer the first time.

One of the most important features of the HopTech Homebrewing Kit is that you never have to siphon the beer. Siphoning the beer is one of those things that frustrates even experienced brewers. This is accomplished by the inclusion of spigots for each bucket. But that's not the whole story. We also include our unique SpigotGuards^tm that keep the spigots clean and sediment-free in addition to acting like a racking tube placed just above the layer of sediment. Another important feature is that we give you two buckets instead of just one. We know of no other kit that uses one of the buckets as an intermediate settling tank to keep hop particles and trub out of your fermenter. The same bucket doubles as a bottling bucket to insure you get the clearest beer possible when bottling.

Other "upgrades" include a high quality hydrometer, and nice thin hydrometer testing jar that not only makes it easier to read the hydrometer but uses the smallest amount of beer in the process, a precision dial thermometer, a great high temperature/extra long brewing spoon, an extra large nylon grain steeping bag and the highest quality hand capper on the market. If you'd rather have a bench capper, you can upgrade for the difference in cost. Click here for descriptions and prices.

Some kits include a thin, out-dated book on brewing and little else in the way of documentation. We not only include the newly revised and updated version of Brewing Quality Beers, but also include our own step-by-step instructions on exactly how to use the equipment that comes with the kit.

There are a few other items you'll need that are not included. The most important and expensive of these is a boiling kettle. We recommend that the minimum size be at least 16 qts (4 gallons) with a 20 qt (or larger) pot preferred. It must be made of either stainless steel or coated with enamel (that is unchipped on the inside). Aluminum is not recommended due to the acidic nature of the wort. If you don't have a suitable pot, HopTech offers a 20 qt. stainless steel pot with lid for $39.95. See the Equipment section for more details. You'll also need about two cases of 12 oz. beer bottles.  We don't ship bottles.  Your best bet is to obtain bottles locally and/or save them from commercial beer you drink. Note that they should not be the twist-off types. Lastly, you'll need ingredients for your first beer. Choose any of the ingredient kits in this catalog.

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