How to Make Beer at Home - Where to Start

How do I start brewing beer at home?

This is a question we get a lot.

The answer depends on quite a few factors but if you want a simple answer – get an all-in-one basic starter kit like the 3 or 4 options we have here, follow the included instructions and enjoy your beer!

This is the way the majority of people start brewing – the kits are quite cheap and it gives you an idea of whether this hobby is for you and whether you want to explore it further. You’ll also learn a lot about keeping things clean and fermentation which are super important at any level of brewing.

But Beer Kit Brewing certainly isn’t the only type of brewing and depending on how ambitious you are – you can start anywhere.

Here are the 3 main levels of brewing (in increasing complexity)

Beer Kit Brewing - using premade Beer Kits

Extract Brewing - using separate Malt Extract and Hops (this includes partial mash brewing where you also use a small amount of grains).

All Grain Brewing – using separate grains and hops (no malt extract). A mini version of how a commercial brewery makes beer.

Here is a comparison of the different types of brewing outling their key differences:

	Beer Kit Brewing	Extract Brewing	All-Grain Brewing
Base Ingredient	Pre-hopped malt extract tin/bag + water + yeast	Unflavoured malt extract (liquid/dry) + separate hops + yeast	Crushed malted grains + separate hops + yeast
Mashing Step	None (skipped)	None (skipped)	Required (Takes about an hour)
Boiling Step	None	Approx 30mins-1 hour	Approx 1 Hour
Brew Day Duration	30–60 minutes	1-2 hours	4–6 hours
Equipment Needed	BASIC Basic fermenter, sanitiser, spoon, hydrometer	BASIC plus a little extra Kettle/pot, heat source, fermenter, cooler/ice bath. Cooler is optional	COMPLEX Lots of options ranging from old school 3 vessel system to modern All-in-one system like a Brewzilla
Flavour/ Recipe Control	Low (locked into kit recipe, though yeast/dry-hop can tweak)	Moderate (custom hops/specialty grains/steeping, limited by base extract color/fermentability)	Total control over mash temp, gravity, malt bill, and water profile
Ingredient Cost per 23L batch	Lowish (£15–£30) Around 40p-80p per pint	Moderate (£20–£40) Around 50p-£1 per pint	Lowest per batch long-term (£15–£35
What beer can I make?	Only what is available as a premade beer kit	Lots of options but complexity / variety can be limited	Anything / unlimited
How good is the beer?!	Can be really Good – modern 2 can (more expensive) kits can make great beer	Works really well for some styles (simpler styles tend to work better) – can produce brewery quality beer	As good as your technique and ingredients. Quite easy to brew brewery quality beer or better!
Startup Gear Cost	Minimal (£30–£50)	Low–Moderate (£50–£100). You might have suitable equipment in your kitchen	Higher (£200–£500+ for an all-in-one system like a Brewzilla)
Skill & Complexity	Very beginner-friendly	Easy (manage boils and hop timing)	Complex (temperature control, sparging, gravity/pH management)

So how is it best to start?

As we've already said, you can't go wrong with a simple starter kit but there is no one-size-fits all solution.

If you want to ease yourself into the hobby - then (as explained above) Beer kits are likely best for you. They are reasonably straight forward and the cost is quite low. The Muntons Flagship Range is great and will make beer you are proud of.

But if you've spent hours researching online or have a friend that can show you the ropes you might be OK starting off with All-Grain. Just be aware - the learning curve is much steeper for All-Grain Brewing but if you like a challenge then go it - and modern all in one systems make the process easier than ever.

The key things are to take your time and sanitise everything properly. Sometimes beers can get infected or just end up tasting nasty. This can be for many reasons but it more likely with All Grain (especially for a first time brewer due to its complexity). This is disappointing enough if you've spent an hour (and some money) making a basic kit beer but its even more frustrating if you spent your whole Saturday making your first beer as an All Grain batch only for it to not turn out as you'd hoped. Sometimes the learning curve for All Grain can be too steep and people give up before they make their fist good batch. Its a lot harder to get a beer kit wrong so most poeple will make a drinkable tasty beer first time. WIth All Grain you need to be careful with water volumes, timings, temperatures using much more complex kit even before fermentation starts.

So it’s great to begin with a starter kit - and you can certainly just stick with that - making beer kits (as lots of people do). If you then seek more flexibility or better tasting beer you can move up to extract brewing or all grain brewing.

Moving to extract brewing (from basic kit brewing) is a much smaller step and wont require a lot more equipment (you only really need a large stove top pan on top of the basic kit). The benefit of these first 2 steps is also how quick they are compared to All-Grain Brewing. If you’re time starved - extract brewing might be a great compromise between quality of the beer, time and cost.

How do I make the best possible beer?

If you want to make the best possible beer - you can step up to (or even start with) All-Grain Brewing. This was once quite an undertaking and you needed a lot of equipment but with the advent of modern All-in-One brewing systems (such as the Brewzilla) it's much easier.

Once you’ve got the equipment (our Brewzilla range starts from around £250) it’s the cheapest way to make beer as the ingredients are cheaper compared to Malt Extract or Beer Kits. Our All Grain kits start at £19 and you can save even more money if you get your grain and hops separately in bulk and even mill it yourself.

So whatever your experience or ability there is a homebrewing methof for you. As long as you like beer and can make a cup of tea (basic kit brewing is about as easy!) , you can make great beer at home. At BrewKegTap we have everything you need to get going - from basic brewing to a small commercial system and all the ingredients you could possibly wnat. If you're still baffled we are more than happy to chat through your options on the phone or via email - and we dont do hard selling - just honest (and only a little biased..) advice. Give us a shout!