New Brewer Stovetop Brew-in-a-Bag Starter Kit

For a while now my dad has told that after he retires he would like to try brewing beer again. His retirement is finally upon him, so I figured a good way – a very me way – to welcome him into his post-work life would be a new brewing system.

The requirements I laid out for this system are that it would be smaller scale, all grain from the start, and relatively simple. Naturally my first thought was brew-in-a-bag (BIAB), so I decided to put together a system that closely mirrored my 2.5 gallon BIAB test system. I think it has good appeal as you can try your first few brews without a lot invested per-batch and relies on two vessels: a boil kettle and the fermentor.

Below I am including descriptions that assume you may not know much about brewing, so I’ll describe east item and why it is on the list. It won’t be a definitive how-to guide, but should at least provide context for the choices I made. I’ll provide the basic steps for brew day after the parts list.

New Brewer Brew-in-a-Bag Parts List

Disclaimer: affiliate links ahead

• 5 Gallon Brew Pot: any reasonably priced stainless steel 5 gallon pot will work here. I found a good deal at a my local Meijer on one with a thicker, layered bottom. I have used the cheap 5 gallon stainless pot from Adventures in Homebrewing for a few years, and while it’s usable I find it a bit thin so you need to be careful about scorching. You’ll want a lid to keep the heat in while mashing.
• Coarse Nylon Grain Bag 18″ x 32″: this is where you’ll put your grain while mashing in your brew pot. You can also use nylon paint strainer bags from the hardware store, just make sure you get a big enough one.
• 21″ Stainless Steel Spoon: I bought a spoon like this when I first started brewing and I still use it during every brew session nearly a decade later.
• Star San Sanitizer: when I first started brewing I used Iodophor and after a few years switched to Star San. I prefer it for it’s better storage stability when mixed. As with any concentrated chemical, be careful what you get it on (it can ruin countertops if left).
• 3 Gallon Plastic Carboy: this is your fermentor, where the yeast get to work and turn your wort into beer. Making 2.5 gallons will give you enough head room for all but the most vigorous fermentations. You can put a blow-off tube in instead of the airlock if needed.
• 8″ Filter Funnel: using a funnel you can pour your cooled wort into your fermentor without having to sanitise and use your siphon. This also can have the benefit of adding a bit of oxygen on the way in for your yeast to use. If you use the included filter screen be careful not to pour too fast and clog it with trub before you realise it’s happened!
• S-Shaped Airlock: I used to use the three-piece airlocks and have recently switched to s-shaped airlocks. I find them easier and they don’t seem to need topping up as often.
• #10 Drilled Rubber Stopper Bung: the right size for your plastic carboy.
• Hydrometer: want to know if your mash went well? Or if your beer is done fermenting? Or what ABV it is? Your hydrometer is your best friend!
• 10″ plastic Hydrometer Test Jar: it’s nice to have a vessel for measuring your samples. Never measure directly in wort or beer!
• 3/8″ Auto Siphon: an auto siphon helps move your wort and beer around with little hassle.
• 10ft of 3/8″ Racking Hose: 10 feet should be plenty of racking hose. It’s nice to have a little extra length.
• Bottle Filler w/ Spring Tip (3/8″): using the spring-tipped filling wand cuts down on leakage. Pro-tip: bottle over the open door of your dishwasher (preferably clean) to cut down on clean up.
• Case of 12 oz Beer Bottles: one case of bottles gives you exactly enough to bottle your first 2.5 gallon batch!
• Bottle Caps and Bottle Capper – fairly clear on the need here I think. I’ve used the linked bottle capper successfully for some time, and only recently switched to a bench capper as I needed it for helping set Belgian corks and now have it available.
• Other odds-and-ends you might have:
  • Thermometer – an instant read thermometer is a must for any kitchen, and is indispensable as a brewing tool.
  • Pitcher – I like to keep a pitcher around with some sanitiser in there as a place to put tools I want to stay clean. I also use it for catch dribbles, and if you have a pitcher with graduation marks  you can use it for marking volumes on your carboy.
  • Spray Bottle – you can put some pre-mixed Star San in there for quick sanitising
  • Turkey Baster (or Wine Thief) – if you want to check your gravity during fermentation you’ll need a way to extract a sample.
  • Neutral Cleaner – OxiClean works wells and many people have it, though it is generally recommended that you use OxiClean Free. PBW or generic alkaline brewery wash is your best bet, but not necessary for your first time through.

How To Brew and Bottle Your First Beer

I’m not going to go in depth on how to brew, there are plenty of excellent resources out there already and I don’t believe I can improve on them. What follows is the general structure of your brew day, mixed in with some tips, to help guide you with your new equipment. The following assumes you have a recipe already.

1. Clean everything using something like OxyClean Free, PBW, or the more generic alkaline brewery wash. If everything is new, you won’t likely need to scrub too much. A quick soak, wipe, and rinse will do it.
   • Don’t go overboard with sanitising. On my first brew day I basically scrubbed down and sanitised my whole kitchen and forbade anyone else enter the space. Definitely not necessary! Just sanitise the things you’re going to use.
   • It’s handy to get a spray bottle and fill it with Star San for quick sanitising of things during your brew session.
   • Don’t use metal tools on plastic surfaces – especially inside your carboy.
   • If you use a carboy brush on a plastic carboy make sure it is the red bristled kind, which is softer and won’t scratch plastic.
2. Figure out how much water you need. Grain will absorb 0.5 quarts per pound of grain, and I assume you’ll want 13 qts of pre-boil volume. Use the following equation for a 2.5 gallon batch:
   • quarts needed = 13 + (grain weight in lbs * 0.5)
3. Using the number you just figure out, use this Brewer’s Friend calculator to figure out how hot to heat your water.
   • Switch the ‘Water Volume Entry’ option to ‘Strike Water Volume’
   • Fill in the rest of your info, and get the strike water temperature
4. Measure out the now calculated amount of water into your boil kettle and heat it up.
   • There are many options when it comes to the water you use, and the rule of thumb is if it tastes good you can brew with it. With that in mind, here are a few things to watch out for:
     • City water that contains chloramines, which can cause very unpleasant off-flavours during fermentation
     • High iron water
     • Softened water
   • At the very least consider running your tap water through a charcoal filter. If you’re unsure about your water you can use spring water or RO water from the store.
   • An alternate method for removing chloramines is to use campden tablets, one tablet will treat up to 20 gallons so you won’t need more than a quarter of one for a small batch.
5. Once your water is heated turn off your stove, place the grain bag securely over rim of the pot, add the crushed grain, and stir like mad! You want to make sure you don’t have any ‘dough balls’, which are pockets of grain that are dry on the inside.
6. After you’ve stirred your mash, check the temperature in a few spots to make sure it’s consistent all around. If you’ve accidentally dropped a degree or two low, don’t worry about it. If you wildly missed your mark, you can turn the burner back on to put a little more heat in. Be sure to keep the mash moving while you do this to avoid hotspots, and use low power to do it slowly.
   • There is a small risk of burning or melting your grain bag if you apply heat to the kettle, so be aware of where it is and make sure it doesn’t rest on the bottom while heat.
7. Place the lid on your pot and set a timer for 60 minutes.
   • 60 minutes is the standard mash length, though conversion may be done sooner than that. Don’t worry, for your first time just go with 60 minutes.
   • I like to wrap my pot with a thick towel or two to keep the heat in. If you do this please keep in mind the fire danger of having a towel on your stovetop.
8. During the mash you have some time to kill, so you can do things like weigh out your hops, prepare sanitiser, clean and sanitise your fermentor, and most importantly: grab a beer! (just maybe not a barley wine, you’ve got a lot of brewing ahead)
9. When the mash is over, carefully gather the edges of the grain bag and lift it out of the pot. You’ll want to hold it over the pot until it’s done dripping, and many people will squeeze extra wort out of the grain. That’s not easy without the right protective equipment, don’t forget your mash is pretty hot!
   • Tips for squeezing:
     • find a way to hang the bag over your pot to free up your hands
     • use thick silicone kitchen gloves to handle the hot grain bag
     • if you don’t have gloves, you can use pot lids to squeeze the bag
10. If you can, check that your volume is where your calculated pre-boil volume should be. Add more water as necessary. Checking your gravity now would be good, as well. Most recipes will list a pre-boil gravity target.
    • Ways to measure your volume include:
      • Before brew day, fill your kettle in 0.5 gallon increments and either mark your spoon or some other tool (don’t use a marker, you need to notch or scratch the mark on). You can also use a metal ruler and write down the measurement corresponding to the volume.
      • Go by weight, though that can be much more difficult. If you have a postal scale capable of handling a pot of liquid, you can measure the weight of it and subtract the weight of the pot. This relies on you having weighed your pot ahead of time. You can multiple the weight of water by your pre-boil gravity, which also requires you to know your pre-boil gravity.
    • If you have too much wort you can extend your boil time. Start your boil but don’t add your bittering hops yet. Boil until your reach your original pre-boil volume, and then add your hops and start the timer.
11. After the grain is removed, fire up your stove on full and wait to reach your boil.
    • How long this takes depends on the power of your stove. Keep an eye on the strength of your boil to make sure you don’t boil over. The risk of a boil over exists very early in the boil and any time you add a hop addition.
12. Follow your recipe’s boil time instructions for hop additions, finings, etc. Most boils are 60 minutes long, and additions are listed in minutes from the end of the boil (ex: 5 min addition is 5 minutes from the end of the boil, or 55 minutes after the start of the boil).
13. Cooling a small stove top batch is fairly easy. Fill your sink with cold water and add ice to it, put your pot in the ice water and stir it with your spoon. Moving wort will chill much faster than still wort.
    • For those worried about sanitation, if your spoon is in the wort while it’s boiling, it’s sanitary to keep it in there while cooling.
    • Aim to cool as low as possible, down to or even below yeast pitching temperature.
    • If you can’t get the wort to cool or are too impatient to wait any longer, you can pour it into your fermentor and wait for it to cool in there. Just remember if you use a plastic fermentor that you need to be cooled down probably below 100F to be sure you don’t risk melting or warping the plastic!
14. After cooling pour the wort into your fermentor, using your sanitised funnel if you have the above linked 3 gallon carboy or similar. If you have a bucket, just pour it in.
    • Now is a good time to pull a sample to check your original gravity. You can simply pour some wort into a container, or use a sanitised turkey baster or thief.
15. Pitch your yeast, insert the bung and airlock, and put it somewhere cool and out of the light if you’re using a clear carboy (and old t-shirt makes a good light blocker).
    • Use some extra Star San to fill your airlock (cheap vodka works too).
    • Most ale yeasts are happy in the upper 60F range, but it can be tough for new brewers to manage temperature control. Temperature swings are thought to be more detrimental overall than the specific temperature the beer is held at.
    • The beer will reach a temperature 3-5F higher than the ambient temperature around the fermentor – fermentation is exothermic!
    • You can use a tub of water with an old t-shirt over the fermentor to help with temperature control. Add ice or ice packs to the water as needed, and use an old t-shirt to aid in evaporative cooling.
16. As your beer ferments you may notice many things, such as bubbles coming out of your airlock at various rates, thick foam on top of your beer, potentially weird-looking darker sludge-like stuff, clumps of tan coloured stuff floating or swirling around – all of this is completely normal!
17. Your beer will be done when it is done – different yeasts and strengths of beer will take different amounts of time to finish fermenting. Generally you can leave most beers in the fermentor for two weeks and be fairly confident it’s done fermenting (most should finish within a week). The only way to truly tell if your beer is finished is by using your hydrometer. If you check the gravity a few days apart and don’t see any further gravity drop then you can consider the beer done.
    • Record your final gravity measurement to use to figure out your ABV later on.
    • Don’t put gravity samples back into wort or beer, just drink them!
18. When your beer is done, it’s time to bottle. First clean and sanitise your kettle, auto siphon, tubing, and enough bottles for your whole batch (about 24 12oz bottles in 2.5 gallons).
    • Bottling can be done alone, but it’s easier if you have a helper.
    • Attach the tubing to the auto siphon and pump it a few times in a container of Star San to get the siphon and tubing sanitised easily.
    • Your clean dishwasher is a great drying rack for your bottles.
19. Next calculate the sugar needed for bottling. Measure out the amount of sugar needed in a pyrex measuring cup, add just enough boiling water to dissolve it all. Put the sugar solution in the kettle and then rack the beer into the kettle using the auto siphon.
    • If you want to be extra safe with sanitation you can microwave the sugar solution after mixing, but it shouldn’t be necessary.
    • Be careful not to move the auto siphon after you place it – gently – on the bottom of the fermentor to avoid picking up too much trub.
    • Try to avoid splashing or anything else that might introduce air into the beer – this will shorten the shelf life of your beer.
    • To avoid having to stir your finished beer, put the hose in so that the beer gentle swirls around the kettle.
20. Put the auto siphon in the kettle full of beer and attach the bottling wand to the other end of the tubing. Put the end of the bottling wand in a sanitised container, depress the end, and pump the siphon to start the flow. Once the beer reached the end, stop depressing the wand’s stopper.
21. Fill each bottle almost all the way to the top – when you remove the wand the level will drop a little. If you have a helper, have one person fill and one person cap. If you’re alone, work in small batches – you’ll find a rhythm that works for you.
    • If you bottle over your (preferably clean) open dishwasher door you can greatly minimise cleanup.
22. Post bottling cleanup is required, and overall pretty easy compared to post-brew day. The only pain-point can be cleaning the dried, stuck-on krausen off the top of your carboy. A good soak with an alkaline cleaner is a great start. Here are some tips on cleaning your carboy.
23. After bottling you’ll want to wait about two weeks with the bottles left at about the same temperature as fermentation. Too cold and carbonation takes longer or might not happen. This step is less temperature sensitive than fermentation, though.
    • Some like to filled a single empty 12oz soda bottle alongside the standard glass bottles. When the soda bottle is hard to squeeze you know your yeast have eaten the priming sugar and carbonated your beer.
    • Don’t like waiting so long? Start your next brew now! Or start kegging 😉
24. Your beer is now ready to drink! I recommend a minimum of 24 hours in the fridge before drinking them to allow the CO2 to properly equilibrate.

The above may seem like a lot going on just to make some beer, but the more your practice the easier it gets and after a few batches you’ll probably be able to skip the basic instructions. Good luck and remember to RDWHAHB!