Homebrewing on a Budget: What You Actually Need to Start

Most people assume brewing your own beer means laying out a small fortune before you get a drop, and it is the single biggest thing that stops somebody having a go. It is not true, the gear list is shorter than people expect, and you can be drinking something you made inside a month.

What one customer worked out for herself

Back in 2024 a customer told me she had run her own blind test, her homebrewed Coopers stout against a long neck of Coopers stout off the shelf at the bottleo. Her words, and I have never improved on them.

Cost me $10 for the long neck and whilst the original is fractionally better than my homebrew, I'd rather keep the $9 in my pocket because my long neck cost me a dollar, because my stuff is pretty damn good.

She is not saying hers was better. She is saying it was close enough that the difference was not worth what it cost her, which is a far more honest verdict than most people give you, and it is the whole argument for brewing in one sentence.

What you need to get started

1. A 30L fermenter. New ones come with an airlock, a stick on thermometer and a sanitising sachet, so that is three things off the list already.
2. A hydrometer. This is the one people skip and then wonder why the beer is flat or over carbonated, because it is the only thing that actually tells you fermentation has finished.
3. A mixing paddle.
4. A liquid malt extract in whatever you like drinking. We stock the Coopers range.
5. Dextrose or a brew enhancer. The enhancer gives you body and head retention rather than only alcohol, which is the difference between a beer and a thin beer.

And once it is ready to bottle

1. Bottles and caps.
2. Something to cap them with.
3. Carbonation drops, or a priming spoon and sugar.

Then patience, which is free and is the part everybody runs short of.

Kit, or buy the pieces

A starter kit gets you everything in one go and usually has a brew tin in the box, which is tidy. The catch is that the tin in the box is whatever the kit came with, and it may well not be the beer you actually drink. If you already know what you like, buying the pieces and picking your own tin gets you a first brew you are more likely to finish.

That is genuinely it. There is not much to starting, and the cost per bottle after the first setup is what makes people keep going.

Shop related products

• Coopers Original Draught 1.7kg. A safe first tin, and a beer most people will drink.
• Coopers Original Stout 1.7kg. The one from the blind test above.
• Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 1kg. Body and head retention, not just more alcohol.
• Coopers Dextrose 1kg. Plain fermentable sugar, and what you prime the bottles with.
• Coopers Light Malt Extract 1.5kg. For when you start building your own recipe.

Did you know we also stock fermenters, hydrometers, crown seals and carbonation drops in the shop. A fair bit of the homebrew range carries our supplier's branding so it does not go up on the website, which means the shelf holds more than the site does. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is there.

The tins and the malts are in the homebrew collection and the rest is under beer supplies. If you want to work out a first brew before you come in, Brewhilder is our homebrew helper and it will talk you through it. Or just come in and ask, because this is a ten minute conversation and a lot less work than reading about it for a fortnight.

More from the brewing bench

• How to Brew Your Own Stout at Home
• How to Brew Beer with Liquid Malt Extract
• A Brewer's Guide to Using Hops

Cheers, Candeece. I am reliably told the hardest part is leaving it alone for the second fortnight.