Brew Beer No Gear - How to brew beer with no brewing equipment

An exercise in homebrewing without buying any brewing equipment. If you want to learn how to brew beer, this will guide you through starting homebrewing with only the items found in your kitchen or shed.
This is preparation of beer at the basic level, and a great way to start.
#homebrew #homebrewing #ale #brewingequipment #fermenting #mangrovejacks #start #beginner

[@Stevethesearcher]

Excellent tutorial. I watched a ton of American guys with expensive equipment doing videos for “Making beer for beginners” They made it seem like rocket science. If you are a total beginner you are not going to have all the fancy equipment or be familiar with all the brewing jargon. This was the perfect video for someone wanting to try their hand at brewing a beer at home for the first time. Thanks for keeping it simple! Subscribed!

[@brewandbuild]

Thanks for the kind words. I didn't start with bottles, but this was the level of simplicity that I taught myself to brew at (It's not as you point out "rocket science"). It was very no-frills, and taught me a massive amount along the way. Good to have you on board.🍺🍺

[@TrailBlazer5280]

This is great, quick and simple no overly scientific language. No acting like you need a lab and a cleanroom to succeed in brewing. If you're young or broke or just testing it out this is a great intro. I once bought a whole amateur kit but what I didn't have money or room for was a dedicated large burner, so even with the equipment I ruined my beer trying to boiled five gallons on a standard stovetop. You made better beer with items you already had around the house.

[@brewandbuild]

I think we've all got a similar story like that from our early brewing days. Good to hear from you.

[@MrKongatthegates]

I used a stock pot, maybe 3 gallons on the stove, put a can of beer extract in it, some hops, poured strained into the carboy, cooled it with tap water up to 5 gallons, added the yeast and it worked out great. I used bleach water for sanitising because I am cheap as can be. Rinse well. A good fermentation in an anerobic environment will eliminate most bacteria, people obsess about contamination. Never even had 1 batch be off tasting, as long as the recipe was done correctly. Cheap hops, cheap can of beer mix, heck you can do it in food grade buckets, but I like glass carboys with a good bung and bubbler. Made plenty of country wines the same way. Use the correct brewers yeast or wine yeast but I have heard bread yeast will work in a pinch

[@johnmcmullan9741]

That was one of the most genuine and honest home brew videos I've seen in ages. Anyone can have fun brewing beer without expensive equipment. If they can make a pot of tea and boil an egg, they can brew a good beer.

[@brewandbuild]

That's very much the idea behind doing this video. I'm really glad you appreciated it. We can get very hung up on all the technical small details, but at the end of the day, it really isn't hard to get into this hobby.

[@jamesyeh7106]

Nice, so many people had told me that I had to buy a brewing kit, and buy the proper equipments lol. Thanks for doing a video showing that for the home brewer it’s possible to do it without it. Years ago I made wine with minimal equipment. Currently I got a ginger bug going, I’m attempting to brew ginger beer. I’m going to try your recipe next

[@brewandbuild]

Lol, thanks for that. I also started my brewing with hedgerow wines and ginger beer (really need to make another one sometime) and it just grew from there. Admittedly I didn't start in a bottle, but it was almost as basic as that. Don't feel constrained by my recipe on this. It's very basic and fairly one dimensional, but it's a good place to start down the malt beer road. It's nice to hear from you, and I hope you enjoy the beer process.

[@mrzif0013]

My new favorite how to site. great job. Right on the money$. I want to use what I have in the garage vs buying equipment.

[@brewandbuild]

Good to hear, and thanks for joining. Using the gear that you have can be a great way to start, and if you're pretty handy at making/modifying things, then you can get some really good results. But be warned, if you get into it and enjoy it, the lure of shiny expensive gear that promises to make your life easier, is very hard to resist. 😁😁 You've been warned.... Good luck brewing 🍺🍺

[@williamseice9767]

Hello, I just ordered the ingredients to try this recipe. super excited to give it a go. thanks for the inspiration.

[@brewandbuild]

I really hope it goes well for you. Take your time, and most of all, have patience with the fermentation. Good luck, and let me know if it works out for you or not. 🍺🍺

[@Oldman899]

Thank you for sharing.

[@kkhong1836]

was wondering if I needed fancy equipment for mead making. I’m glad I found this channel. Subscribed!

[@brewandbuild]

It's good to have you onboard. Cheers 🍺 Don't worry, if you get bitten by the hobby, you'll end up with fancy equipment eventually. It's definitely not required tho. 😁

[@Erin-bd6jg]

I'm glad I stumbled across this video. Great job and thanks for showing beginners that it doesn't take a lab and college course to be a homebrewer. Cheers!

[@brewandbuild]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@joshuaheathcote2116]

Excellent video, very professional, so happy I came across this channel.

[@brewandbuild]

Thanks for the compliment. I hope I can put out a few more things that you'll find interesting.

[@clubroot3383]

That is the best home brewing video I have watched out of many video years. You obviously know your stuff, but some home brewers after only very limited experience go commercial and do a great deal of damage to the product, and then go bust.

[@brewandbuild]

It's nice to hear that some people appreciate this video, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@willallen7757]

I make wine and am currently drinking a bit, but after watching the pour I want a beer more than I have in years. I'll have to grab some ingredients and give it a go, I subbed this is the exact kind of content I enjoy.

[@brewandbuild]

Lol, you've got to love the power of suggestion huh? I've got a couple of other videos of that nature in the works at the moment. Good to have you along.

[@FlorianGolemo]

Thanks so much for making this. I've always been itching to try my own beer but the initial setup price was always intimidating. But this recipe I can try next week. 😊🎉

[@brewandbuild]

That's great to hear. I hope it goes well for you, let me know the result. No matter what though, you'll learn loads I'm sure.

[@brewandbuild]

I have also written a web article about this brew. It's got more detail on some of the important points that I had to leave out on the video. It's worth a read if you're going to try this. brewandbuild.co.uk/homebrewing/homebrewing-recipes-and-ideas/how-to-make-beer-with-no-gear/

[@Alex-ir9nx]

This is very much how I started out and just moved to a larger pot and a 5L glass fermeter. And then got to the all grain using the same gear. If you want to follow this, just get a no-rinse sanatizerlike he said when getting the dry malt, yeast and hops.

[@xxx_madman_xxx5868]

alright, you have earned a subscriber, and I will be using your videos as a reference to how to brew beer. I brew wine and mead on the regular I have a peach and spice wine in my 3-gallon fermenter as we speak bubbling away I have a conical fermenter 3 gallon to experiment with the only problem is I don't have a brew shop close so I need to order my ingredients witch is a massive pain in the a** but ill manage thank you for giving me the confidence to finally take the leap and hopefully brew something ill truly love

[@brewandbuild]

There are some people that subscribe because they like something, and just want to keep an eye on what might come out in the future. There are others that I feel I have to work very hard to justify their subscription. I feel you are in the second category. I appreciate you subscribing. If I have inspired someone to try something new, then the work was worthwhile. If you brew mead and wine, then you already have half the knowledge you'll need. I think you'll find it an easy transition. I also brew mead, and on the odd occasion a fruit wine, maybe some of those to follow.

[@plundra]

Here I am, browsing stainless stuff just to do my second ever cider... I should go with something closer to this route :-) Glad I stumbled upon your video! Cheers

[@brewandbuild]

Stainless is great, but this stuff is free. 👍

[@gregw988]

I made a batch similar to this (15 liter bucket) while my all-grain brew gear was in transit after moving overseas. I was stunned how good a beer can be made with dry malt extract (much better than liquid extract).

[@brewandbuild]

Yeah I agree, I haven't used extract for many years, so this surprised me how good such a simple brew can actually be.

[@user-gq6sf4si6j]

Good video but would recommend different plastic bottles as those soda bottles are only designed to be used once. Any light plastic bottle will leech estrogen if used more than once or with a hot liquid.

[@brewandbuild]

I think that's a fair point. Certainly if you were to be looking at using this method a number of times, I think you're exactly right. As a way to try brewing once or twice, I can't imagine it's too bad though.

[@emsdiy6857]

Bread yeast works great for wine

[@jamiecurran3544]

I make wine but am interested in making beer also so thanks for the tutorial!😁✌️

[@brewandbuild]

Thanks for taking an interest 🍺

[@niallmurphy8939]

I am impressed, Sir ! I'd willingly drink a bottle of that. Inspired to start collecting larger water bottles, maybe 5 - 8 lts and upscale your recipe. Cheers N

[@brewandbuild]

That's the spirit I was hoping to inspire. Don't just stop at my basic recipe either, get inventive 🍺🍺🍺😁

[@skepticfucker280]

You can ask the baking department in your local grocery store if they have an empty icing bucket you could have, they usually have a couple. Just need to clean them out and you have a nice food grade fermentation vessel. Wish I had this video couple years ago. Cheers!

[@brewandbuild]

Nice idea. I like it.

[@christianwilliams1690]

I remember once seeing a recipe for 'apple jack' somewhere here on youtube that started with a story about how it was generally made with no equipment at all, and then proceeded to give a 30 item kit list! I'm going to attempt something like this soon, maybe make 5 2-litre batches over an afternoon so if my inexperienced technique results in a ruined bottle or two I still have something to show for my efforts.

[@brewandbuild]

Yes yes yes, I remember a video like that. I then was going to make some apple jack, but clean forgot. Thanks for reminding me, I might try that this autumn. Its a good plan on not the multiple bottles. It won't take much longer, and will give a chance to make slight changes to each batch if you wanted. Good luck if you try it..

[@Clintotron]

Excellent. This seems like it may be a cost-effective means to experiment with different flavors. Thank you for making this. You earned my subscription quite easily.

[@brewandbuild]

I really appreciate your support. Thanks. Funny enough, you've guessed my intentions. I'm planning on using these to split batches for small comparison brews.

[@Miata822]

Fascinating. I have had people suggest buying a kit to try brewing a beer. I'm no stranger to fermentation. There is a nice corn whiskey mash bubbling away behind me right now. Beer-making always seemed overly complicated, equipment-intensive, and somewhat cultish to me, but your demonstration shows me that the fundamental steps are fairly straightforward and could use much of the equipment I already possess. Question- Is the hops simply a flavoring or does it serve some other purpose?

[@brewandbuild]

No doubt about it, if you can ferment for whiskey, then you have most of the basics for knowledge and equipment to start brewing beer. Hops really have three main purposes. They provide bitterness which is needed to offset the sweet malt, and makes it more balanced and drinkable. This bitterness is usually derived from early additions of the hops, which draws out more of the acids. They give aroma and fruit/herbal flavours. These aromas and flavours are from oils that can be quite volatile, and will boil off if left in too long. So the 'aroma addition' tends to be late in the boil, or after it. They also are a preservative for beer, and will give shelf stability for a much greater time.

[@Miata822]

@@brewandbuild Thanks for the informative reply. I have a couple projects in front of me, next a new Cider recipe, but after that I'll definitely try a beer. I already use LME sometimes for a flavor boost. Subbed.

[@MrCaseymetallic]

awesome video! How long did the bottles have to stay in the fridge after you added the sugar and beer to it?

[@brewandbuild]

I possibly confused people a little there. Once the sugar and beer are capped in the bottle, it needs to go back into a warm place for about 2 weeks to carbonate up. Then pop it in the fridge and drink🍺

[@MrCaseymetallic]

@@brewandbuild ohh okay, thanks for the clarification! 🍻

[@MrKongatthegates]

i use glass carboys, its not much. Guys here in canada spend thousands on brewing setups! Its crazy all computerised, like in a brewry.

[@brewandbuild]

👍🍺

[@david1alan1morgan1]

How long did you condition in the bottle

[@brewandbuild]

I kept the bottles in a warm room for about a week and a half, then put them out in cool storage for about two or three more weeks. Generally beer is carbonated in about two weeks, if kept at around 20c / 68f

[@garyballared2077]

love the stripping back vid = thanks

[@timothywilliams2021]

Problem with this is the volume. I could easily drink 1.5 liters in one sitting.

[@brewandbuild]

You're absolutely right. This was merely a proof of concept idea. The size bottle a person uses, is up to them.

[@hc8714]

Always like tutorial that does distract beginner with unnecessary detail. I too went back to the basic now a days, did even bother to replace my cracked airlock. A rubber glove poke a hole at thr tip of middle finger with needle works just fine.

[@brewandbuild]

I almost went with the rubber glove method on this as well, because it is so simple. In the end I decided that someone beginning home brewing would probably overfill the fermentor, and without a blow-off tube, it might get a bit messy. 🍺